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Nicklaus to enhance Loch Lomond
Anderson takes control with pledge of second course and
new greens
Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 11 October 2000
After buying out his American partners last week and
securing full control of Loch Lomond, Lyle Anderson, president of the club,
yesterday revealed wide-ranging plans to start work on a new Jack Nicklaus
course next summer, replace all the existing greens on Tom Weiskopfs
design and further develop the World Invitational.
In the aftermath of a successful staging of the Solheim
Cup, the Arizona-based entrepreneur explained why he had purchased the share in
Loch Lomond held by DMB, a Phoenix investment company, and how that decision
would affect the clubs future.
Last Friday I bought out my partners DMB, and now
have a 100 per cent stake in the club, he said. Previously we owned
Loch Lomond 50-50 although, to be honest, I was really managing the golf club
for both of us.
There are outstanding people at DMB, but they
didnt come over to Scotland as often as I do, and werent as
interested as I am. One of the reasons I bought out my partners was that
its easier for me to make decisions.
Andersons first move as sole owner was to give the
green light to construction of a second course on the bonnie banks.
Nicklaus design has been around some time, but will now move off the
drawing board on to the turf.
Its going to be a very interesting course - a
completely different type of design from the original one, observed
Anderson, who has previously commissioned Nicklaus to work as an architect in
Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii. It will have a much stronger flavour of
Scotland: more of a heathland course. There will be three lovely holes on the
loch and, hopefully, people will like it.
Weve already got planning permission to build
the new course as well as some cottages. Our plan is to start the clearance
work right away this winter.
Jack and I have a meeting scheduled in November.
Weve got a trip to Hawaii, and will work on this project on the plane.
After that, Jack will need to come back and look at the land at Loch Lomond
again. I would say that the construction work on the new golf course will start
next summer.
Jack has said that he would play in the World
Invitational but for the fact that the TPC Seniors, which is a major event on
that tour, is held the same week. Otherwise, he would really like to come and
play here. His son, Gary, has played every year, and told him all about
us.
Although the appearance of the greens at Loch Lomond during
the Solheim Cup was not what would be expected from such a prestigious venue,
Anderson had already made up his mind to replace them before the match.
Weve done a lot to improve our drainage over
the past couple of years, and the work weve done on sanding the fairways
paid off during the Solheim Cup. Id reckon, on that project, were
two years into a five-year programme - but what a difference its made
already.
Our staff made an error in putting the extra
chemicals on the greens. They used double the amount they should have done, and
it took about two weeks to find that out. They were really sick about it, and
worked morning, noon and night to put matters right.
We were really worried and concerned, but I felt the
greens staff did a remarkable job. There wasnt a point where I thought we
might have to call off the Solheim - but the greens did look terrible. We were
bothered about how they appeared, but they putted great.
No-one at the Solheim complained about the putting
surfaces, and I cant remember any event where the players made more long
putts. The girls told me that if you hit the ball online, the putts went
in.
Now our plan is to re-do all 18 of the greens from
scratch over the next two years. To be honest, the greens here werent
really built properly in the first place. For the longer term we need to
re-build. That work will start this winter, and well aim to complete six
or eight of them for next year. And for next summers tournament at Loch
Lomond, we expect all of our greens to be in great shape.
On the subject of the World Invitational, Anderson branded
talk of the tournament evolving into a revived Scottish Open as premature,
although he is open to new ideas.
People have mentioned to me the possibility of
introducing the Scottish Open title at Loch Lomond. Thats not what
were doing at the moment. Yes, there are discussions going on, but they
are at a very early, preliminary stage.
Were focusing on the tournament we have. And
what we have is one of the great tournaments in the world. Everyone has played
a part in that - the players, the press and the Scottish fans.
So were willing to listen, but as things stand,
were looking at the Loch Lomond World Invitational, and Im the
sponsor!
I gave Ken Schofield [executive director of the
European Tour] my word that I would sponsor the tournament if we didnt
get a replacement for Standard Life.
We know how many other tournaments and sponsors
wanted the week before the Open. Its a great week, and we love it. Having
a Sunday finish is also terrific news for us, and should help us to find a new
sponsor. Standard Life enjoyed terrific value from their involvement with us -
they got way more than their sponsorship investment. Even their own studies
showed that.
I know Standard Life had some internal problems they
had to deal with, and could understand why putting on a golf tournament was not
in their best interests. But they were wonderful to work with, and if they ever
wanted to come back wed be happy to talk to them.
Were looking for a new sponsor, and our aim is
to target a company who can capitalise on the UK broadcast by the BBC. We get
28 hours of live coverage, and that has a tremendous commercial value to
someone who sells products in the UK. But that doesnt rule out a
multi-national. We also get great coverage on the Golf Channel in the US, and
theres a possibility of network TV in the States. All their TV golf
packages are coming up for re-negotiation, which could be
interesting.
While there was speculation that Loch Lomond might lose its
slot in the 2001 schedule, the tournament in July won by Ernie Els, from Colin
Montgomerie and Tom Lehman, was a model of what a European Tour event should
be, and justified Schofields enduring faith in the venue.
The Loch Lomond World Invitational has really become
an event of worldwide stature said Anderson. It has a huge points
value in the world rankings. The players all know that, and it makes it easier
for us to attract the leading golfers. David Duval came this summer, and ever
since has been telling everyone in the States they should come next year. Phil
Mickelson also loved it, and Tom Lehman has always been a big supporter.
My philosophy is simple - to keep doing the best we
can here.
Scotland's most exclusive club may have to change course
to win the Ryder Cup
Paul Forsyth, Scotland on Sunday, 9 July 2000
Somehow it ill behoves the artists who have sculpted from
the banks of Loch Lomond a masterpiece of golfing architecture to follow
footballs populist bandwagon down the tawdry path to world-wide
recognition. Yet, after the shameless politicking prompted by the 2006 World
Cup and frenetic debate over whether Scotland should bid for Euro 2008, the
countrys most exclusive golf club is holding nothing back in its attempt
to host another of sports money-spinning festivals.
On Tuesday, the day before some of the worlds finest
players set off on their quest to win the Standard Life Loch Lomond tournament,
grey-suited officials of the Scottish Executive will exploit the events
breathtaking backdrop by unveiling tourist board plans to market Scotland as a
golfing destination. They know that nothing would do more to enhance the
countrys image abroad than a Ryder Cup.
Loch Lomond, along with Turnberry, Gleneagles and to a
lesser extent St Andrews and Carnoustie, is a candidate to host the biennial
transatlantic showdown in 2009 should a growing campaign to bring it to
Scotland - supported by government, sport and tourist forces - prove to be
successful when the European Tour comes to a decision later this year.
Rhona Brankin, the deputy minister for sport, already has
pledged that significant government money will be made available to make that
happen. Hastings International is being employed to promote and prepare a bid,
likely to cost £8-lOm, and the five contenders agreed last week to join
forces and ensure that internal rivalry does not damage the countrys
chances. Brankin, who believes also that the Scottish Football Association
should bid for Euro 2008, has travelled to Dublin for todays final round
of the Smurfit European Open in an attempt to see how the K Club is preparing
for the 2005 Ryder Cup.
Those lucky enough to be among the galleries at Loch Lomond
this week need only take a glance at the wildlife roaming the course, its
stately home of a clubhouse and the reflection of Ben Lomond shimmering in the
loch to understand why it deserves a place on the map of golfing history. Mind
you, the clubs eagerness in the past to encourage tourism has not been so
much for Scotlands benefit as for the wealthy Americans who want a
millionaires playground far from the madding crowd. International
magnates play there about once a year, in return for an exorbitant membership
fee, and relish the exclusivity of a paradise protected from the road by trees
and reflected in the waters lapping tide. Loch Lomond makes no apology
for eschewing the principle of sport for all and denying access to all but the
most loaded of hackers. Club president Lyle Anderson has long insisted that the
annual tournament, which begins on Wednesday and will be conducted in the
shadow of Rossdhu House on Saturday evening, should emulate the Masters in
Augusta by restricting access and eventually rendering tickets almost
priceless.
"The only way to get into the event would be either to
have one or to know someone who would allow you to use theirs, he has
said.
It is a philosophy which will have to be modified if the
club is to host the circus which attracts fevered interest from every corner of
the golfing world. The idea that only a limited number of spectators should be
allowed in, so that they can enjoy the sumptuous facilities and see the players
without recourse to periscopes and stepladders, doesnt quite tally with
an outbreak of War on the Shore.
But none of the Scots who have shelled out thousands of
pounds in the past to watch the event live, perhaps conscious that there is
little of it to be seen on terrestrial television, will be complaining If Loch
Lomond or one of the other four candidates succeeds in becoming the first
Scottish course to stage a Ryder Cup since Muirfield in 1973. A significant
gauge of the Luss venues suitability will arrive in October when it
stages the Solheim Cup, the womens equivalent of the games most
famous matchplay event. Ken Schofield, executive director of the European Tour,
and PGA chief-executive Sandy Jones are expected to attend with a view to
assessing the clubs potential as a Ryder Cup venue.
In the meantime, this weeks Loch Lomond tournament
represents an important test for the organisers who already are under pressure,
with Standard Lifes sponsorship deal expiring on Sunday night and the
clubs contract to stage a 72-hole Tour event also up for renewal. The
added burden of meeting the specifications necessary to host a Ryder Cup hardly
makes the job any easier.
No expense has been spared in upgrading the course since
Colin Montgomerie won there last year. Some £100,000 has been invested in
a better drainage system and £500,000 has been spent on improving the
internal road network. With one of the best fields on the Tour schedule, and a
prize fund of £l.lm, it is no wonder that Loch Lomond is regarded as one
of the leading tournaments on this side of the Atlantic. Of course, part of the
attraction for the worlds top players is that it precedes the Open and
represents a convenient means of honing the competitive touch. Appearance money
plays no part in luring the best to Dunbartonshire. Anderson steadfastly
refuses to pay for the privilege of hosting professionals on the basis that
they should visit Loch Lomond because they want to - not because they can make
a fast buck from it.
Six of the worlds top ten will be the crowd-pullers
in a field determined to achieve what Thomas Bjorn, Tom Lehman, Lee Westwood
and Montgomerie have already done since the inaugural tournament of 1996. World
No 2 David Duval, whose appearances in Europe are rare, will make his Loch
Lomond debut after deciding to curtail his customary Open warm-up on the links
of Ireland. His preparation in the Republic will be restricted to an appearance
on Monday and Tuesday in the J P McManus Pro-Am in Limerick which features
Tiger Woods and is high-profile enough to have irritated Loch Lomond
organisers.
Duval will be joined in Scotland by Montgomerie (world No
3), South Africas Ernie Els (No 4), Westwood (No 6), Phil Mickelson (No
10). Other notable entrants include US Open runner-up Migiuel Angel Jimenez,
Sergio Garcia and Paul Lawrie. The Open champion, who has been struggling with
a groin injury, will attempt to find his rhythm on Tuesday when he plays
alongside Montgomerie in an eight-hole skins game against the American pairing
of Lehman and Notah Begay III.
Perhaps more absorbing than any of that will be the
appearance of Nick Faldo and former Ryder Cup captain Mark James who have the
potential, with their continued spat about the latters book, to tarnish
the image of a course hitherto known for its class and sophistication. The two
have shown neither in recent weeks when they have exchanged petty insults over
the claim by James that Faldo did not support the Europeans at Brookline last
year.
Those are the kind of headlines Loch Lomond could do
without in its quest to be a positive influence on the future of the Ryder
Cup. more Golf Development
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