Meeting News - December 17, 2007 - (Page 42)

Insider Report: Golf Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Course Review: Get Up to Speed on Venues Around the world, bulldozers are moving dirt to make the next great golf course In China, Golf Instructor Analyzes Swings in Slo-Mo High-speed cameras gauge attendees “Seeing is believing,” said Cindy Reid, who heads the new Mission Hills Golf Academy by Cindy Reid, in Shenzhen, China. Reid, like Rick Smith, David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon, and other big-name instructors, utilizes the V1 Digital Coaching System, a golf swing analysis program that uses high-speed digital cameras to see an attendee’s swing in extreme slow motion or even frame by frame. Images and data are then compared with the swings of PGA Tour players. Reid, formerly the director of instruction at TPC at Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, who now oversees a 28,000-sf teaching facility at Mission Hills, has worked with Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Fred Funk, and other Tour players in her 25-year career. “The V1 is the best thing out there to help an instructor more accurately diagnose a student’s strengths and weaknesses that can’t always be identiﬁed by the naked eye,” said Reid. United States The Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale, in Scottsdale, AZ, opened in November. Designed by Randy Heckenkamper, the public-access course rolls through Sonoran Desert terrain. G The Conservatory, a Tom Watson Signature Golf Course, debuted in the summer at Ginn Hammock Beach Resort, in Palm Coast, FL. G Opening in September 2008, Heron Point by Pete Dye at Sea Pines Resort, on Hilton Head, SC, is on land once occupied by the Sea Marsh Course. Heron Point has no resemblance to the former layout. G Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, in Hershey, PA, has assumed management of the Wren Dale Golf Club and renamed it Hershey Links, bringing its golf offerings to 63 holes. A new clubhouse at Hershey Links is slated to open in spring 2009. G In November, Indian Wells Golf Resort, in Indian Wells, CA, opened the John Foughtdesigned Players Course, which will be accompanied by a new clubhouse, lighted putting course, and practice facility, all slated to open this spring. G Mount Washington Resort, in Bretton Woods, NH, is restoring its historic Mount Washington Course, originally designed by Donald Ross in 1915. The restoration, conducted by classic course expert Brian Silva, is scheduled for completion in summer 2009. G Ocean Edge Resort & Club on Cape Cod, in Brewster, MA, is in the home stretch of a $6-million Nicklaus Design renovation to its 18-hole golf course scheduled to debut in the spring. G Meanwhile, at Pinehurst Resort, in Pinehurst, NC, the No. 1 course will complete a nine-month, $1.7-million renovation in March, while the Nos. 2 and 4 courses will receive championship treatments in preparation for the 2008 U.S. Amateur in August. Pinehurst Resort was recently selected to host the 2014 U.S. Open. G In the Paciﬁc Northwest, Chambers Bay arrived in Tacoma, WA, in June 2007. Designed by Robert Trent Jones II, the 18-hole course has been voted “Best New Course 2007” by Travel + Leisure Golf magazine. Nestled on the shores of Puget Sound, the course offers spectacular views. G International Opening in January is the Blue Shark Golf Club, in Nassau, Bahamas, a Greg Norman design with stunning Caribbean views. Future plans call for an accompanying 600-room hotel, beach club, spa, and casino. G Another Travel + Leisure Golf pick, the Kinloch Club, in Kinloch, New Zealand, is Jack Nicklaus’ ﬁrst signature design there. The course opened on Lake Taupo in March. G Slated to open next summer in St. Andrews, Scotland, is the Castle Course, the seventh course in the St. Andrews Links Trust portfolio, which includes the Old Course. The Castle Course designer is David McLay Kidd, best known to Americans for Bandon Dunes on the Oregon Coast. G Donald Trump’s plans for a $2.1-billion golf resort complex north of Aberdeen, Scotland, has been rejected by a Scottish council, reportedly prompting Trump to look at alternative sites in other European countries, including Ireland. He did not rule out an appeal to the ruling, however. G In 2007, Mission Hills Resort, in Shenzhen, China—ranked as the World’s Largest Golf Club by Guinness World Records—added a Pete Dyedesigned course and an 18-hole, par-three layout designed by Zhang Lianwei, China’s number-one player, to bring its course total to 12. G Pennsylvania’s Wren Dale course is now the Hershey Links (right); the Bahamas tees up the Blue Shark next month. 42 MeetingNews December 17, 2007 www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - December 17, 2007

Meeting News - December 17, 2007 Contents What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Inside the Meetings Industry MN Webcast Report Successful Meetings University Malibu Hospitality Safe After Third City Fire Advertisers Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - December 17, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.