8 Aug 2013

Nothing the publishers of the Asian Golf Monthly Magazine try to peddle should surprise anymore, but the latest announcements regarding the 2013 Asia Pacific Golf Summit, taking place later this year in Indonesia, do warrant some sort of analysis.

Regarding one of the main themes for the Summit, Golf Course Development, they have started promoting one of their guest speakers by asking what would appear to be a rhetorical question – Renovation, Is It Time? The guest speaker in question is Paul Stringer, head of Nicklaus Design in the Asia-Pacific region. And the answer, certainly if you ask Nicklaus Design, is that yes it is time to renovate.

In promoting Stringer’s appearance and the need to consider renovation, organizers stated ‘Asia Pacific Golf Summit has turned to the world's leading golf course design organisation, Nicklaus Design. And the expert tasked with providing the renovation road-map is Paul Stringer.’

Says Stringer on the subject of renovation, ‘some hard decisions have to be taken on the need to renovate existing golf courses, looking at possible re-branding, re-design or just improving these golf courses into the best they can be in their competitive environment.’ He added that, ‘many golf courses in Asia were designed in the 70's, 80's and even early 90's and haven't had much done to them. Just like hotels, houses, or restaurants, and like any business they need some kind of renovation at some point. Determining the "when" and "how" is the critical question’.

Sadly, the practice of spruiking for work for Nicklaus Design has become all too frequent with the publishers of Asian Golf Monthly and the label ‘world’s leading golf course design organization’ further discredits attempts to portray themselves as an independent, impartial media outlet.

More worrying than the loss of editorial credibility within a marginal magazine, is the opportunity afforded here for the Nicklaus Group to further promote their redesign services. These services are largely aimed at existing Nicklaus clients, whose courses were designed by a company that have now identified redesign as a potential growth area within a sluggish economy, and believe they can do better. It certainly could be argued that the courses they have redesigned in recent times have needed the work, but equally that they needed work because they were poorly designed in the first place. That’s surely the case with the second course at Reignwood Pine Valley in China, which is less than 10 years old but has already been redesigned twice.

According to the APGS press release, Stringer’s presentation will be one that ‘all golf course owners and managers should pay heed to because it is important to understand that in order to re-capture that special look and feel, the renovation process requires unique attention from experienced professionals.’

These guys certainly are experienced, and clubs looking to spend money on short-term fixes could do worse than listen to the presentation and engage the Nicklaus crew. Those interested in real improvement, however, might instead ask the question, should the same company who created the problem be engaged to fix it? That’s if redesign is even needed at all. Given the title of this presentation, could it be that organizers actually expect Stringer to present a balanced argument both for and against renovation? Now that would be worth listening to.

Asia Pacific Golf Summit - The Nicklaus Connection

2009 – Jack Nicklaus presented with the Summit’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

2010 – Jack Nicklaus inducted into the inaugural class of the Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame.

2011 – Jack Nicklaus delivers an address to the delegates, but receives no awards.

2012 – Lingering resentment from 2011 snub rectified with the creation of a Global Legacy Award.

2013 – No awards or accolades, but senior representative selected to deliver keynote address.

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