Golf Inc - August 2008 - (Page 37)

Campeche Playa near Cancun north side of the island. One of the biggest blessings for golf development in the Caribbean and nearby areas has been the advent of salttolerant grasses like seashore paspalum, said course architect Perry Dye, who worked on courses at the Dominican Republic’s Casa de Campo when they were done by his father, Pete Dye. “The Caribbean is really back on the forefront of development now,” Dye said. “The grass has changed the whole situation.” He’s now designing a course on Roatan, a small island off Honduras, as well as a number of Central America layouts — in Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador. Mexico has many projects in the planning stages, but may not be moving as rapidly as the Caribbean toward completing them. According to Larry Cole, senior vice president for development for Troon, his company is involved with six golf resort projects there, three that are open and three still in the works. The Baja Peninsula remains a hot area for development, Cole said, including Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and Todos Santos. Troon is involved with a resort and residential project called Campeche Playa in the Cancun area. Jack Nicklaus is designing the course. “One of the biggest problems with development in Mexico is the environmental permitting process,” Cole said. Another difficulty is lack of airports and planes to get tourists in and out of the destinations. “You can fly in and out of Cabo now,” Cole said. “But it took years to develop the airport infrastructure there. That’s 17th and 18th holes at Roco Ki why the Rocky Point area (a few hours south of Phoenix) has developed slowly. It doesn’t have air lift. It depends on a driving market from Southern California August 2008 www.GolfIncMagazine.com 37 and Arizona.” Like other countries in the region, the Mexican government has relaxed the rules for buying property in order to spur more foreign investment and drive residential sales at resorts. “It’s now possible to buy property in what are called the restricted zones, near the ocean and the border,” said Kevin Roberts, vice president and counsel for Contact Development of Sausalito, which has assisted developments in many parts of Mexico. “You can do it through a bank trust, and you can even buy title insurance through American companies now.” Among Contact’s clients has been the Punta Mita Resort near Puerto Vallarta, which includes one completed Jack Nicklaus course and another being built. Another project in the same area is Resort Litibu where Greg Norman is designing a course. According to Gil Martinez, president of GMA International in Newport Beach, his planning firm is doing several projects in Mexico, including one near Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Ocean and another on the Sea of Cortez near Culiacan. “For many years American investors supplied more than 50 percent of the money for development in Mexico,” Martinez said, “but now a lot of money is coming from other parts of the world.” —Rebecca Larsen http://www.dyedesigns.com http://www.GolfIncMagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Golf Inc - August 2008

Golf Inc - August 2008 Contents Editors Column Around the Industry: Big Green in Arizona Data Collectors Combine Forces GPSI Hires Chessler, Files Suit Americas Europe/Africa Asia/Australia Machrihanish Dunes Draws on the Past to Make History Again in Scotland Innovative Superintendent Finds Way to Keep the Nation's First Totally Organic Course Green Latest Clubhouse Designs Reflect Changing Lifestyles: It's All About Casual Camelback Conference Brochure More Operators Embracing Initiatives Aimed at Bringing Families Together on the Golf Course State of the Industry 2008 Muni Maddness? The Last Word

Golf Inc - August 2008

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