In the rough

Glasgow Evening Times, 3 November 2008

WIith a membership ranging from royalty to the Hollywood elite, it is one of the world's most exclusive golf clubs.

But now Loch Lomond Golf Club may be the latest casualty of the global financial crisis, with its American owner forced to hand over the course to a firm of business recovery specialists.

The development came after Lyle Anderson, the Arizona-based owner of Loch Lomond - which hosts the Scottish Open - was unable to renegotiate debts with HBOS.

He will now co-operate with the bank to find a buyer for the club, with the threat of closure looming should a saviour prove elusive.

Sources have suggested that debts may be approaching £100million, with the club's annual loss having quadrupled to more than £19m this year.

Letters warning of the deep financial crisis have been sent from the owner to the 700-strong membership, which includes Prince Andrew and Sir Sean Connery.

Mr Anderson wrote: "I am confident the bank shares my view that Loch Lomond Golf Club is one of a kind in the world.

"I have explored many alternatives, including restructured loan arrangements and potential sources and terms for additional equity. Regrettably, I have been unable to conclude arrangements for a restructured credit facility with the bank and have been unable to raise new equity or debt.

"Under the current circumstances, I concluded that it is significantly more beneficial to the club, its members, employees and the local community to take a co-operative approach with the bank, designed to avoid disruption to ongoing operations and to facilitate change of ownership at the appropriate time. I have agreed to fully co-operate."

A source at the Bank of Scotland confirmed a letter would also be sent out by directors, and that the bank would be assisting in the search for a buyer.

Dubai World, a Middle-Eastern golfing giant operating through subsidiary Leisurecorp, was yesterday rumoured to be interested in buying Loch Lomond after paying more than £55m for Ayrshire course Turnberry earlier this year.

A spokesman for Leisurecorp yesterday said that it was company policy not to comment on possible acquisitions.

Other celebrities to have played its course include Clint Eastwood and Robbie Williams. The club's members, fewer than 100 of whom are believed to come from the UK, each pay fees up to £40,000 per year, plus a one-off joining fee of more than £50,000.

Credit crunch forces owner to put Loch Lomond Golf Club up for sale

The Telegraph, 2 November 2008

A new owner is being sought for one of Scotland's most exclusive golf clubs after its current proprietor was hit by the credit crunch.

Loch Lomond Golf Club, whose members include Prince Andrew and Sir Sean Connery, has been put into the hands of a US firm of business recovery specialists amid financial problems.

The move came after its Arizona-based owner Lyle Anderson failed to renegotiate his debts with the Bank of Scotland. Mr Anderson will co-operate with the bank in finding new owners for the exclusive club.

The venue, which hosts the Scottish Open, also recently held the £1m wedding of golfer Colin Montgomerie and his new wife Gaynor. Other celebrities to have played its course include Clint Eastwood and Robbie Williams.

Its 700-strong membership is thought to include no more than 100 UK members, each paying fees of up to £40,000.

In a letter to members, Mr Anderson said: "I am confident the bank shares my view that Loch Lomond Golf Club is one of a kind in the world.

"I have explored many alternatives, including restructured loan arrangements and potential sources and terms for additional equity.

"Regrettably, I have been unable to conclude arrangements for a restructured credit facility with the Bank and have been unable to raise new equity or debt."

He wrote that plans to take "a co-operative approach with the bank" to avoid disruption at the club and said he had agreed to "facilitate change of ownership at the appropriate time".

Mr Anderson added that he is pursuing his own "vigorous independent search for new equity or debt funding for the communities and clubs."

A Loch Lomond member, who did not wish to be named, said Mr Anderson's letter was the first communication they had received since rumours began sweeping the clubhouse in recent weeks.

The tycoon's plans for a 140-acre park, including a golf course and housing in Hawaii, also in conjunction with Bank of Scotland, was held up earlier this year over funding concerns.

Meanwhile, the billionaire owner of an iconic Scottish building faces legal action if he fails to tidy it up before it serves as the backdrop to the Open Championship in 2010.

Anger is mounting in St Andrews over the condition of the former Hamilton Hall student residence, which overlooks the 18th green of the historic Old Course.

The landmark Victorian multi-storey property, which featured in the film, Chariots of Fire, was bought from St Andrews University by an American real estate firm in 2004 for a reputed £22 million.

But the distinctive red sandstone building has been lying empty ever since and is now showing clear signs of deterioration.

Planners are trying to force US property tycoon David Wasserman to carry out urgent repairs on the building before pictures of its crumbling state are beamed around the world during the Open Championship in 2010.

If Mr Wasserman fails to improve the appearance of the B-listed building, which has pigeons roosting on the windowsills, Fife Council is threatening to gain entry, carry out the needed work, and send him the bill.

Council officials have so far been unsuccessful in their attempts to contact Mr Wasserman, whose Rhode Island-based Wasserman Real Estate Capital bought the six-storey building four years ago.

Last month, Mr Wasserman was quoted as saying he planned to scale back his original plans for luxury apartments. He was not available for comment.

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 Weiskopf’s 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 club’s 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 didn’t come over to Scotland as often as I do, and weren’t as interested as I am. One of the reasons I bought out my partners was that it’s easier for me to make decisions.”

Anderson’s 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.

“It’s 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.

“We’ve 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. We’ve 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.

“We’ve done a lot to improve our drainage over the past couple of years, and the work we’ve done on sanding the fairways paid off during the Solheim Cup. I’d reckon, on that project, we’re two years into a five-year programme - but what a difference it’s 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 wasn’t 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 can’t 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 weren’t really built properly in the first place. For the longer term we need to re-build. That work will start this winter, and we’ll aim to complete six or eight of them for next year. And for next summer’s 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. That’s not what we’re doing at the moment. Yes, there are discussions going on, but they are at a very early, preliminary stage.

“We’re 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 we’re willing to listen, but as things stand, we’re looking at the Loch Lomond World Invitational, and I’m the sponsor!

“I gave Ken Schofield [executive director of the European Tour] my word that I would sponsor the tournament if we didn’t get a replacement for Standard Life.

“We know how many other tournaments and sponsors wanted the week before the Open. It’s 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 we’d be happy to talk to them.

“We’re 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 doesn’t rule out a multi-national. We also get great coverage on the Golf Channel in the US, and there’s 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 Schofield’s 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 football’s 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 country’s most exclusive golf club is holding nothing back in its attempt to host another of sport’s money-spinning festivals.

On Tuesday, the day before some of the world’s 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 event’s breathtaking backdrop by unveiling tourist board plans to market Scotland as a golfing destination. They know that nothing would do more to enhance the country’s 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 country’s chances. Brankin, who believes also that the Scottish Football Association should bid for Euro 2008, has travelled to Dublin for today’s 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 club’s eagerness in the past to encourage tourism has not been so much for Scotland’s 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 water’s 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, doesn’t 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 venue’s suitability will arrive in October when it stages the Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of the game’s 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 club’s potential as a Ryder Cup venue.

In the meantime, this week’s Loch Lomond tournament represents an important test for the organisers who already are under pressure, with Standard Life’s sponsorship deal expiring on Sunday night and the club’s 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 world’s 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 world’s 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 Africa’s 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 latter’s 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.