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      Tiger Woods at the Masters: “It Will Be A Game-Time Decision”

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      Woods, who won his last major in 2019, at the Masters, is trying to return to golf after sustaining significant leg injuries in a single-car crash in February 2021.AUGUSTA, Ga. — In a career of impressive comebacks, Tiger Woods continues to work toward attempting his most remarkable return to golf yet.Thirteen months after a car crash left him with devastating leg injuries, Woods said that he would travel to Augusta on Sunday to continue practicing before the start of the Masters Tournament, beginning on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.“I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice,” Woods wrote in a post on social media. “It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete.”I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete. Congratulations to 16-year-old Anna Davis on an amazing win at the @anwagolf and good luck to all the kids in the @DriveChipPutt.— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 3, 2022
      Woods, a 15-time major champion with a reputation for willing himself to victory under the most challenging circumstances, has been undergoing rehabilitation on his surgically rebuilt right leg since his sport utility vehicle tumbled off a Los Angeles-area boulevard at a high speed on Feb. 23, 2021.On Tuesday, Woods flew from his home in Florida to Augusta on his private jet with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, according to people who were familiar with Woods’s schedule but who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. He played an 18-hole practice round at Augusta National with Justin Thomas, a PGA Tour pro who is also Woods’s neighbor and close friend.The length of the course and its unforgiving elevation changes would be a daunting challenge for Woods. On Wednesday, in a conference call with reporters, Curtis Strange, the two-time U.S. Open champion who is now a golf analyst for ESPN, called Augusta National “the hardest walk in golf.”Another two-time winner of the U.S. Open, Andy North, who is also an ESPN commentator, said he thought the British Open would be a likely place to return to competition for Woods because this year’s venue — St. Andrews — is “flat and it’s an easy walk.”“Augusta is the last place you would have thought he could possibly play,” North said.But Woods, who won his first Masters title 25 years ago, in 1997, has carefully managed expectations — of the golf world and, perhaps, of his own — for a return to the tour at several points since the crash.In mid-February, before the Genesis Invitational, Woods said in a news conference that he had worked mostly on chipping, putting and short irons, but had not spent time “seriously” on his long game because of his right leg.“I’m still working on the walking part,” Woods said then. “My foot was a little messed up there about a year ago, so the walking part is something that I’m still working on, working on strength and development in that. It takes time. What’s frustrating is it’s not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place, but I’m not. I’ve just got to continue working. I’m getting better, yes. But as I said, not at the speed and rate that I would like. You add in the age factor, too. You just don’t quite heal as fast, which is frustrating.”In mid-November, in his first public appearance since the accident, Woods cast doubt on his ability to return to a physical condition that would allow him to be competitive and win on the PGA Tour.Woods, who on Nov. 21 posted a short video on social media of himself taking a swing, said he hoped to play competitive golf again at some point, but offered no timetable for doing so, and ruled out a full-time return to the PGA Tour.“I got that last major,” Woods said Nov. 30 at a news conference, recalling his stunning 2019 victory at the Masters, golf’s most watched event, at age 43.Woods sustained open fractures, in several places, of the tibia and the fibula in his right leg. He spent a month in the hospital, and doctors had considered the possibility that his leg might have to be amputated.“I’ve had a pretty good run,” Woods said in November, then nine months removed from the crash. He added: “I don’t see that type of trend going forward for me. It’s going to have to be a different way. I’m at peace with that. I’ve made the climb enough times.”Woods after a missed shot on No. 2 during the final round at the 2020 Masters.Doug Mills/The New York TimesApparently not.At the 2020 Masters, played in November rather than April because of the pandemic, Woods struggled and finished tied for 38th. But it was the 2019 Masters, his first major tournament victory in 11 years, that would make any outcome — even his return to the Masters next week — seem possible.After undergoing multiple back and knee surgeries, Woods was not considered a serious contender that year, yet through the final round he played his best golf, birdieing three of the final six holes to win his fifth Masters title. When he sank the winning putt on the 18th hole, he celebrated with a primal scream as thousands of fans encircling the green roared.Two years earlier, Woods had ranked as low as 1,119th in the world. His comeback, given his off-the-course hardships then, is among the greatest in sports history.Does he have another one in him?In December, Woods played 36 holes with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship. The scramble format allowed for the use of a cart, and Woods walked with a limp and struggled on some drives to push off with his right leg. On many holes, he declined to hit shots from difficult or uneven lies that would have put added stress on his right leg. Since Charlie’s ball was often in the best position, Woods could pick and choose when to participate.In the moments before his 2021 crash, Woods was speeding. The police said he was traveling about 85 miles per hour in a 45 m.p.h. zone when he lost control, crossing a median and hitting the curb on the opposite side of the road. The vehicle struck a tree at an estimated 75 m.p.h., and went airborne before stopping in some brush. More

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      For a Few Days at Augusta National, the Spotlight Shines on the Women

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      When the club held its first national women’s amateur tournament in 2019, it hoped to benefit women’s golf, especially the junior circuit. It seems to be working.AUGUSTA, Ga. — Anna Davis had just turned 12 when Augusta National Golf Club, in a surprise, announced it would create a new national women’s amateur championship. On Saturday, now 16 years old, Davis won the tournament.Annika Sorenstam, who won 10 L.P.G.A. major championships, attended the club’s news conference in 2018, when Augusta National officials said it wanted the 54-hole tournament to benefit women’s golf at all levels.“This is a dream come true,” Sorenstam said at the time. “It will be an exciting carrot for these young amateurs.”Sorenstam sat behind the first tee on Saturday as Rachel Kuehn, who was 16 when the tournament was created, teed off in the final round.“I turned around and Annika Sorenstam was there and I thought, Oh my gosh, I have to hit the fairway,” Kuehn, who would finish seventh, said later. “I didn’t hit the fairway but it was really cool to see her and so many people out supporting women’s golf. It’s what this tournament was meant to do.”Amari Avery was 14 when Augusta National announced the event, which included the news that the national women’s amateur championship would be broadcast live on NBC on the weekend before the start of the Masters Tournament.“The very first year they played it I saw how electric it was and I made it a goal for myself to be a part of that atmosphere that very second,” Avery said Saturday after she finished tied for fourth.Amari Avery after a missed putt on No. 18.Doug Mills/The New York TimesIf Augusta National’s intent was to benefit women’s golf, especially the junior circuit, Kuehn, whose mother, Brenda, was a top amateur who would have loved playing competitive golf at Augusta National, and Avery, whose father is Black and mother is Filipino, each insisted the club’s relatively new amateur championship is achieving its objective.“It’s just been incredible,” Kuehn said. “It’s a testament to what Augusta National is doing here.”Avery, whose appearance nine years ago in a Netflix documentary about elite grade school golfers earned her comparisons to Tiger Woods, said the Augusta National tournament was “huge.”“It’s hard to find words for how much this has impacted amateur women’s golf,” she said. “Seeing all these people lined up and clapping and cheering for us, it’s how it should be and it’s a step in the right direction, for sure.”Andre Avery, Amari’s father, saw the symbolism.“For my daughter to turn on the TV years ago and see young women playing on the golf course where the Masters is played, I mean that was a turning point for her,” Avery said. “And today, for African American kids to be watching TV and see someone that looks like them on the same course, that’s a really big deal, too. It’s important for them to see that.”The first Augusta National Women’s Amateur was held in 2019 and the 2020 event was canceled by the pandemic, which inhibited attendance at the 2021 tournament as well. But on Saturday, the crowds at Augusta National, which began admitting women members in 2012, were hearty, with the galleries around the closing holes 10 deep with fans. (Augusta National does not release attendance figures.)“I’ve never played in front of such big crowds,” Davis said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”Girls watching the trophy presentation at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.Doug Mills/The New York TimesBrenda Kuehn could not help but notice how many women were in attendance — and how many had brought their grade school and preteen daughters, who surged around the golfers as they finished their rounds, clamoring for autographs.“I gave my golf ball to a little girl as I came off the 18th green today and I’m not sure if she understood what was going on, but the look and smile on her face was a beautiful thing,” Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, who finished tied for second, said.Lindblad, a junior on the golf team at Louisiana State, said that one of her professors even knew she would be competing at the storied golf club.“Not many people normally talk to me about one of our college tournaments,” Lindblad said. “Only family and close friends go to those. But that’s how this tournament is different. There’s no question it’s raised the profile of women’s golf. And that will continue to have positive effects.”Kuehn’s coach at Wake Forest University, Kim Lewellen, said she has seen a rise in participation at junior girls’ camps and in the number of women recruits who have contacted her since the tournament’s inception. She credits the appeal of seeing women at a renowned golf course and the fact that it is contested the weekend before the Masters is played.Anna Davis, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, on No. 18 after missing a birdie putt.Doug Mills/The New York TimesThere are other prominent American women’s amateur championships, like the U.S. Women’s Amateur, first played in 1895, but Augusta National seems to have captured a distinctive foothold.“It’s the platform,” said Avery’s golf coach at Southern California, Justin Silverstein. “Arguably, everyone in golf has heard of Augusta National and even most casual sports fans have heard of the Masters. It’s the most recognizable golf course in the world.“Young women golfers turn on NBC, and that’s another huge platform, and they see people that look like them — or people not that far removed from them — and they think: Maybe I can do that too.”Sometimes, that is all it takes.Davis, who shares her March 17 birthday with Bobby Jones, one of the founders of Augusta National who died in 1971, said on Saturday that she had not heard of the event until last year — when she watched it on television.“It made me very excited to try and compete in this event,” she said. “Then I was excited when I learned I was going to play here.”Now she is the tournament champion. More

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      Finding the Balance Between a Golf Course and a Golf Community

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      For the course architect Tom Doak, holes and fairways are only two pieces of a puzzle that includes topography, infrastructure and much more.Golf may be one of Scotland’s gifts to the world, but the golf community — a course surrounded by real estate — is almost purely an American idea. A flyover of the American Sun Belt will show you homes packed tightly together with threads of green fairways running through their mostly parallel lines.Early in his career, the golf course architect Tom Doak chased golf community projects as he hunted work, but “I quickly realized I didn’t have the kind of name that would be attractive to someone wanting to buy a homesite,” he said. That lack of brand value may not be as apparent today as Mr. Doak has seven of his courses in the world’s Top 100, according to Golf Magazine. In Golf Digest, Doak has four designs among the Top 100 and seven others he has helped remodel.Tom Doak at Tumble Creek, a course he designed in Washington State.Courtesy Tom DoakThough Mr. Doak does not do a lot of developments, he is acutely aware of how one must incorporate housing, lodging, a clubhouse and other infrastructure into a world-class design without ever distracting from the golfing experience. The following interview has been edited and condensed.What are the challenges of designing a course when you know homes will be present? What are the things you consider?The biggest challenge is whether or not you will be allowed to put the golf holes where they fit the topography, or whether you will have to rebuild the topography around where the homes need to go.Every developer says they have given the golf course architect free rein on where to place golf holes, but that’s actually pretty rare, because it’s not efficient in terms of use of space. Developers don’t want to build a road with houses on only one side; that’s way more costly. So, a lot of times, if the property is going to be densely developed, you start with lots and roads from the outside boundary working in, and that width has a lot to do with determining where the golf holes will go.Your new project, Te Arai Links in New Zealand, features homes along the 18th fairway. That kind of housing arrangement seems to be designed for the course to be showcased when one looks outside. Does that affect how you might make the hole look? Or do you think more about how you might make the surroundings look for the golfer playing the hole?Well, as at Pebble Beach, the homes on the 18th at Te Arai are looking across the fairway toward the beach and the ocean, so I don’t know that it’s important for the features of the golf hole to stand out for the homeowners. You probably just want the fairway to look like your backyard. There might be some cases where I think about how a hole will look from the lots, but for the most part, my focus is on what the golfer will see.Homes set back a reasonable distance from the edge of the fairway are not that distracting, but if homes start to creep into the line of sight for the golfer playing the hole, then it starts detracting from the golfer’s feeling of playing “out in nature.”A backyard in Mamaroneck, N.Y., with the 11th hole of Winged Foot Golf Club just over the fence.Suzy Allman for The New York TimesThe American model of a golf community is not one that has been replicated very often internationally. Often the homes get the best land at the expense of the course. Can you speak to communities in America or internationally that you think have managed to achieve a balance?Lots of famous older courses have homes around the perimeter of the course — Merion, Winged Foot, Pebble Beach. Others, like Yeamans Hall or Fishers Island, were master planned to marry golf and real estate as we do today, but they were only trying to get 50 lots around the golf course, not 250.It’s when you build homes between the golf holes, that the priorities are truly flipped. There were tons of those sorts of golf developments built across America in the past 50 years. The lots got sold, and the developer was happy, but in the long term, many homeowners decided they didn’t really like having the course right in their backyard, where the maintenance crew is mowing a green at 6:30 in the morning, and where a stray shot into the backyard happens every couple of days.How can good course design aid the development of not only housing but other essential golf infrastructure such as a clubhouse, maintenance buildings, and even restroom and eating facilities?If we are thinking about the community as a whole while we design the course, we can incorporate things together much better. I’m working on a plan now where the halfway house for the course will be right next to a community park, so it can be used not just by golfers but by everyone who lives there as a great picnic spot.If we understand the land plan, we may be able to incorporate walking trails through the course, so residents can really enjoy the value of the open space the course provides. That’s harder to do in America because everything is so litigious, and the safety of nongolfers is a concern as is potential vandalism to the course. But my experience from overseas is that when the two are integrated, the residents come to understand the rhythms of golf and when it’s safe to proceed — even if they know nothing at all about golf — and the golfers respect the safety of their neighbors.One of the first projects you worked on was Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C., built by your mentor, Pete Dye. Many of the homes on that course are hidden from golfers, though they are not far from the course. What did you learn about routing a course on that project that you carry with you today?Nearly every hole at Long Cove is surrounded by homes on both sides, but the corridor for the golf holes is wider than normal — 400 feet instead of 300 — and there were lots of trees on the site. We only clear about 150 to 200 feet of trees for our fairways, so there’s 100 feet of trees on each side of the hole before you get to the homeowner, whether he cuts down all his trees or not. That’s enough to make it feel like you are playing through the trees, not through the homes.Pete’s one rule was that he didn’t ever want to see a home located behind a green, where golfers would aim at it. The lots are always to the sides of the holes, but they don’t wrap around them. More

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      Golf Homes Where You Play Inside

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      Fans have decamped from their hallways, opting instead to build stand-alone homes where they can practice putting and driving in any weather.The outside of the 2,000-square-foot building next to David Orlofsky’s home in Spring Lake, N.J., doesn’t seem unusual. The building’s exterior matches his residence next door, a six-bedroom house with 4,600 square feet of living space.But step inside and its interior is startling. The entire space is given over to his favorite hobby — golf. There’s a TrackMan simulator as well as a four-hole physical putting green, complete with artificial turf. Mr. Orlofsky added a bar in the style of many a 19th hole, and a bathroom complete with a urinal. His sole concessions to overnight guests are the two bedrooms tucked away upstairs, grudgingly incorporated into the blueprint.“I don’t really want people coming there. This is my space,” he said by telephone, laughing. “I could spend days in here, my little oasis from everybody else. It’s my happy place.”It’s an example of a new kind of golf home — not a greens-fronting mansion, but rather a house built expressly for indoor golf.Dedicated golf fans have many more options now than just practicing on a putting machine in the bedroom or hallway. Those who can afford the costs have decamped from their kitchens, opting instead to build a stand-alone home where they can practice putting and driving indoors, whatever the weather or time of day.The exterior of Mr. Orlofsky’s golf house, left, across from the porch, right, of his other home in Spring Lake, N.J.Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesMr. Orlofsky said he did not intend to create a second golf-centered home when he bought property on the New Jersey shore in 2013. The 52-year-old consultant and his family normally live in Hoboken but spend extensive periods in Spring Lake; he and his wife, Danielle, had demolished the original Spring Lake home to build to their own specifications. It was only when a smaller, neighboring house came onto the market that an idea crystallized. Why not buy it, they thought, and level the structure? They could then merge the backyards to create a larger outdoor space while also constructing a convenient stand-alone building.Mr. Orlofsky, who already spent long hours playing a simulator in his garage, resolved to use that new space as an oversize, golf-specific rec room. It was custom built with ceilings of around 12 feet to accommodate his simulator — much higher than the 8-10 feet typical in residential construction — but ideal for swinging golf clubs. He estimated that the entire project, including the building and the installation of the golf systems, cost $1.2 million, but he had not set a budget. “I wasn’t going to nickel and dime because I’m going to have this house for the rest of my life,” he said.Todd Kaufman looks at the golf home he is building in much the same way. The 59-year-old moved from Southern California to a 5,300-square-foot home in the Clear Creek Tahoe development in Carson City, Nev., in March last year. “I wasn’t really that into golf until I got to the club here, and like a lot of people, got the golf bug,” he said by phone. “Man, it’s powerful.”His newfound hobby prompted him to plan an addition to his property: a stand-alone 1,800-square-foot casita built primarily as a golfing hideaway. Mr. Kaufman said he planned to install a simulator, a bar and a lounge and would configure it as a guest cottage too at some point.Mr. Kaufman said he budgeted around $1,000 per square foot for construction and expected the golf hideaway to be ready in about 14 months.It is a deliberate upgrade from installing a simulator system in the garage or living room. “Out here, we have a half year of perfect weather, and the rest of the year, the course is under snow, and we can’t use it,” Mr. Kaufman said. “I really wanted a more posh, customized setting for the golf experience.”The stand-alone golf simulator room at Celine Dion’s former residence on Jupiter Island, Fla.Alexandre Parent/Studio Point de VueSuch projects are commonplace at real estate’s highest end, according to Angela Reynolds, an interior designer who is based in the golf-heavy town of Jupiter, Fla. She specializes in large projects for multimillion-dollar homes that take several years to finish.The first such stand-alone golfing house Ms. Reynolds created was for Celine Dion’s estate, later sold, on Jupiter Island, which included a 13-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot house. The golf house was centered around a simulator but its aesthetic determinedly resisted country club chic. “We did this black epoxy floor, almost like a nightclub,” Ms. Reynolds recalled by phone. “You’re no longer talking about going to a man cave in the garage. This is next level.”Clients might spend up to $1 million on such golf houses, Ms. Reynolds said, adding physical greens around their simulators from companies like Full Swing or PuttView. These playing mats shift and change their slope and undulation as needed, able to mimic various putting contours. “These amazing rooms where you can invite people over for a cocktail are the ultimate status symbol on the golf course,” she said. “Most people are doing these as a place for socialization, perhaps to go to after a dinner party, hang out and play a round. That’s the key element: you’re not going in alone, like getting on a Peloton.”A golf simulator by Carl’s Place, a company based in Wisconsin. Carl’s PlaceNot all golf homes, though, cost six figures or more to create. Carl Markestad, president and founder of Carl’s Place, a golf simulator firm based in Milton, Wis., said he regularly tackled such projects for several thousand dollars.“We’re getting more and more requests for stand-alone sheds. You can go nuts and make it a whole man shed for all kinds of entertaining, or we can do it for $5,000 — a 20-by-15 foot shed that’s just for this is a pretty efficient way to do it,” he said by phone. “And that’s our bread and butter as a business.”Carl’s Place will provide the design blueprint for a golf shed, as well as the technology; owners then hire a local contractor to execute its construction as directed by Mr. Markestad and his team. Prices for such simulators have dropped in recent years, mostly because of more-affordable screens, although supply-chain issues have affected costs recently. “If you could afford a home theater five years ago, you can do a golf sim now,” he said, “The vast majority of our customers are ordinary Americans.”A golf bay at the Intown Club in Atlanta.Intown ClubThe growth of indoor golfing at home, and stand-alone shrines to the sport, has generated unexpected side effects. Simulator-based, indoor golf is emerging as a hobby, for instance. Michael Williamson co-founded Intown Golf Club, in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta just over two years ago; his 13,000-square-foot facility has 10 TrackMan-equipped golf bays, a restaurant and a bar. He said he did not charge by the hour, but instead had adopted a club model, with monthly dues from $200 to $275. Affordability is key to its appeal, Mr. Williamson said, as is convenience: Players can avoid the five-hours-long rounds on standard greens and play any time of day or night.“We’re really busy at lunch and at happy hour,” he said by phone. “Indoor golf is more accessible and less intimidating, especially if you’re learning to play. It can really help people get into it.”He said he would open a second facility, in Charlotte, N.C., later this year, and was scouting sites in cities including Chicago, Nashville, and Scottsdale, Ariz.But those with their own golf house won’t need to wait. Mr. Orlofsky, the consultant with his golf home on the New Jersey shore, treats the golf house like his own private country club. “I don’t let too many people in there,” he said jokingly. “You think it’s hard to get into some golf clubs? You’re not getting into the Orlofsky man cave unless I let you in.” More

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      Greg Norman Knows About Golf and Golf Homes

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      The former player shared his perspective on emerging golf locales and what makes an ideal golf home today.When it comes to golf, Greg Norman is a familiar name. Born in Mount Isa, Australia, the retired professional golfer, 67, is the chief executive of Greg Norman Golf Course Design, a firm that has designed more than 100 courses in 34 countries. Mr. Norman, who now resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is also behind residences in more than 17 golf communities globally, including Rancho San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Pelican Waters in Queensland, Australia, and Reflection by Greg Norman in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Golf has gained tremendous popularity in the wake of the pandemic, according to Mr. Norman, and the interest in owning a golf property has increased in the same vein. “Golf takes you outdoors for hours and is an automatically socially distanced sport,” he said. “After years of declining traction, it’s now being rediscovered in new destinations and has seen well-established markets full of activity again.”Below are edited excerpts from a recent interview with Mr. Norman where he shared his perspective on emerging golf locales and what makes an ideal golf home today.In your opinion, what are the most up-and-coming destinations today for golf homes?Saudi Arabia is definitely hot. The kingdom is making a massive investment in tourism, and golf tourism is a big part of this larger initiative. There are 25 golf courses slated to be built in the country by 2030. I’m working on a 27-hole design in Diriyah Gate, a planned mini-city of sorts that’s just outside of Riyadh. It will have shopping, entertainment, housing and much more.Costa Rica is also emerging and has great golf courses on its Pacific Coast. Some are part of developments with residences, and others aren’t. Either way, there are a lot of golf home options. You have apartments in buildings with lots of amenities, townhouses and villas on the beach. The perk of owning a home here is that you get to enjoy great surfing and fishing and that real estate is inexpensive when you compare it to other places with high-quality golf.I also can’t leave out the coastline north of Cabo San Lucas, which stretches for hundreds of miles. Cabo itself is saturated with golf courses and properties, but the region has lots of open space with new properties coming up.Can you talk about the appeal of golf in Vietnam, where you’ve designed seven courses, are working on 10 more and have residential projects?Similar to Saudi Arabia, the country is investing heavily in golf tourism by building new courses and developments that have residences and golf. There are options all over Vietnam, and each has its own appeal. Near Ho Chi Minh City, NovaWorld Phan Thiet has two 18-hole championship courses that we designed inside an almost 2,500-acre resort along the coast. The property reminds me a lot of my home country, Australia, with its broad undulations and rugged vegetation. The sandbelt of Australia was the inspiration for the design of our courses there and they fit very naturally with the terrain.The Bluffs Ho Tram, located southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, is an 18-hole course with 60-meter sand dunes and views of the ocean.A view of the Ho Tram Open at The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The course was designed by Greg Norman.Khalid Redza/Asian Tour, via Getty ImagesWe just started design work on our first course outside of Hanoi. It has a significant amount of topography and dense vegetation, so they are clearing the property now. I’ve designed several courses in high terrain, such as the mountains of Korea and Japan, so I’m looking forward to drawing from that experience to create something different than the coastal region courses we’ve designed in Vietnam.What are the benefits of buying a golf home in Vietnam?For starters, it’s an incredibly beautiful country that’s diverse — from its tropical rainforests to the gorgeous coastline to the historical cities. Then there are unbelievably friendly locals and delicious, fresh food. It’s also very safe and has lots of activities including snorkeling, swimming, hiking in the rainforest and boating. The cities have amazing sightseeing, and from a value point of view, I would put it in the top three destinations in the world. Your money goes a long way in Vietnam. You can find a great three-bedroom property with amenities like a pool in a luxury development or on the beach for less than $500,000.Tell me about the golf scene in Dubai, where you’ve designed several courses, and are also behind the residences Fireside by Greg Norman. What makes Dubai so appealing?One of the great things about Dubai is that it’s very centrally located from a global standpoint and the government has done a great job staying ahead of the curve with air travel into the country and infrastructure. Dubai has also done a great job of showcasing its culture, which has played a big part in the growth of tourism in the country.The par 5, 18th hole with the clubhouse behind on the Earth Course designed by Greg Norman at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.David Cannon/Getty ImagesWhat makes a golf home destination a strong one?It depends on what you’re looking for, but you want a place that’s easy to reach. You won’t use the property if it takes all day to get there. You also ideally want to buy in a location that you can enjoy most of the year and has non-golf diversions. You can only play the game so much.Aspen is an example or Big Sky, Montana. You can ski during the winter, golf most months and also enjoy recreation like hiking and mountain biking. Bodrum, Turkey, is another example because there’s great golf, mild weather year-round and beautiful beaches. Plus, it has good accessibility with lots of flights daily from Istanbul and nonstop flights from other cities in Europe.In golf markets that are saturated such as South Florida, is it still possible to find an affordable home?Yes, but you must look outside of areas that are super popular and where inventory is limited. West Palm Beach and Naples are expensive, and it’s hard to find a home at all, let alone an affordable home. The scenario changes if you look north to Martin County. My top tip is to look to secondary markets.Sustainability in golf course design and golf properties are priorities for you. Can you share sustainable features of both that interested buyers should look for during their search?With golf courses, look for electric golf carts, using recycled water to irrigate the courses, and avoiding the use of chemicals to care for grass as much as possible. Sustainable courses also don’t rely on plastics in their restaurants and use local food purveyors whenever they can.Sustainable golf homes should rely on solar energy and be constructed with green materials like pine. And they should have heating and cooling systems that are energy efficient.Many sustainable features aren’t overly apparent when you’re looking at properties and courses so the only way to know is to do your due diligence. More

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      Golf Courses Are Adjusting to Longer Shots

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      With advances in equipment, balls are going farther, posing risks to people who live nearby.Thanks to advances in golf equipment, shots travel farther and higher than golf course designers had envisioned years ago. With enhancements to both clubs and balls, even duffers can hit for greater distance.As a result, courses are being reimagined to keep them challenging for elite players. But in the process, golf course architects are looking anew at golf course communities — often developed decades ago — to ensure that the game remains safe for people in adjacent homes. Adding to the trend of longer shots is the fact that more casual players are getting fitted for their clubs, which may improve distance and accuracy. And many golfers are more fit, spending several days a week training.“There’s a whole crop of people who can hit the ball much, much farther,” said Jason Straka, a golf course architect based in Dublin, Ohio, who is also president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. “It’s not necessarily bad that balls can go farther; there’s just no consensus on what to do about it.”How much farther balls travel depends on the player, of course. Todd Beach, the senior vice president of research design and engineering at TaylorMade Golf, said that in the 40 years since the Carlsbad, Calif., company began operations, clubs have moved from steel to graphite and titanium. (TaylorMade just introduced “Carbonwood,” a new line of drivers that, as the name suggests, is composed of carbon.)Professional golfers can now drive a ball roughly 40 yards farther than they did in the past, Mr. Beach said, while average players are hitting drives that travel a few extra yards. That’s why architects are rethinking distances, hazards and screening as they renovate courses and golf communities. To be sure, the risk to homes, residents and pets remains low. According to Forrest Richardson, a golf architect based in Phoenix, “it’s only occasionally that the ball can go farther and cause a problem.”Nonetheless, older communities are examining how to improve safety. Because property setbacks cannot be altered, a starting point is to move the tees closer to property lines so that golfers hit away from residential areas. In addition, sand bunkers or water hazards may be incorporated closer to homes so that players aim in a different direction, Mr. Straka said. Trees or other vegetation may also align a golfer closer to where he or she should be hitting.“We might put something in the way of where a lot of people might otherwise want to land their shot to force a golfer to hit in a more controlled way,” Mr. Richardson said.In other instances, Mr. Straka said, it may mean straightening out a so-called dogleg hole by shortening it, which may mean transforming it from a par 4 to a par 3.Another option for older communities, which often have houses on both sides of the course, is to make the courses smaller, said Art Schaupeter, a golf course architect based in St. Louis. To renovate those courses to accommodate bigger swings, “we are converting some by making them into smaller courses, whether eliminating some holes or taking a regulation 18-hole course and converting it to a par 3 course” or one that is a so-called executive length to allow more distance from the existing homes.Ultimately, “it’s all about examining the landing area, where balls are most likely to go off line,” said Ron Despain, a senior vice president of Troon Golf, which operates golf courses worldwide.Nets are another option for residential areas and courses adjacent to public spaces and roads, but these are costly because they need to be at least 120 feet high. Adding in the cost of steel poles, Mr. Straka said, nets can exceed $1 million. And apart from the cost, a net’s aesthetics often mar the open spaces associated with golf course life.The risks also extend to driving ranges and practice areas. Three Carpenter, who manages the Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport, Iowa, faced the problem when land adjacent to Crow Valley’s driving range was getting developed for offices and townhomes. For one of the areas, the developer planned a project 15 feet from the property line, Mr. Carpenter said, and the initial solution was to build a berm. But because even that was insufficient to shield all errant balls, the driving range now requires a so-called “limited flight ball” which cannot travel as far, a solution that some golfers dislike because it is an imperfect measure of a swing, Mr. Carpenter said. Separately, the club has purchased additional land abutting the driving range because buying the property was less expensive than constructing an extensive net.There is by no means a one-size-fits-all solution, and not just because golf courses vary in shape and length. Factors like the terrain, climate, wind conditions and altitude all affect how far a ball can travel. In addition, designers are looking at who the players are — amateurs or more elite. New developments can anticipate these issues. Jim Birdsall is one of three co-owners of TPC Colorado, a multiuse community in Berthoud, Colo., that includes a championship golf course that can be stretched to just under 8,000 yards. That length, he said, can accommodate longer drives. But, he said, added length comes with the additional expense of maintenance, including water and fertilizer.He said that newer balls, which seek to add spin to a shot, can be problematic. “If a weekend warrior doesn’t know how to control the spin of a shot and they overcook it, there can be unintended consequences,” including the errant ball that winds up in someone’s yard.The harder hitting among elite players is leading some to contemplate dialing back equipment. The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Britain’s governing golf entity, two years ago suggested studying the issue — the Distance Insights Project.Mr. Beach of TaylorMade said his company is working with the golfing organizations but hopes there are no restrictions on advances in equipment, which he said would be costly and difficult to monitor. But for some golf course architects, technical advances are not the primary motivation for golf course renovation. “Golf courses are natural. They evolve and they can get worn out,” Mr. Schaupeter, who designed TPC Colorado, said. “There can be just one house that gets a dozen balls in their backyard over the weekend. That’s when you might shorten the hole or move the tee.” More

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      Short Courses Are Gaining Favor With Golfing Families

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      Many golf communities are adding pint-size courses, which appeal to children as well as to parents who lack the time to play 18 holes.Even in Cabot Cape Breton, a golf community perched across sandy cliffs in remote Nova Scotia, the waves pounding against the dunes can’t erase the pandemic pressures of video calls and remote-work deadlines.They also can’t extend the stamina of a child or novice golfer, so last summer, Cabot Cape Breton opened the Nest: a 10-hole short course that can be completed in just over an hour.The Nest’s opening came as hundreds of other short courses have been designed or unveiled across the globe in golf communities, which have seen record-breaking sales to families with young children.At Haig Point, a golf community on Daufuskie Island, S.C., where prices are up 14 percent since before the pandemic, families have comprised nearly 25 percent of new buyers and the average age of residents is now 51. Before Covid, it was 63.As parents increasingly convert a quick turn on the golf course into a family activity squeezed between virtual meetings, golf communities are boosting their amenities with pint-size courses that can shift a round of golf into a true family affair.“Short courses are all the vogue now,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, chief executive of Cabot Cape Breton. “We’ve seen them everywhere.”Short courses are not new — courses with nine or 10 holes have been gaining steam since the 1950s as fast and fun alternatives to the full 18-hole experience.But as social mores have shifted over the decades, so has the demand for a different type of golf experience. Women worked their way not just into the boardroom but also onto the back nine; men began to take more active roles in their children’s lives; smartphones, and all their buzzing alerts, began accompanying people everywhere they went.Then came Covid-19, and its trifecta of remote work, virtual school, and the need for activities in the open air.As sales of golf homes rose among families with children, “short courses really took flight because they allowed families to recreate together safely, outside and socially distanced,” said John Kirk, a partner at the architecture firm Cooper Robertson. “Younger golfers don’t necessarily have the stamina or patience for a more prolonged golf outing, and have other things going on in their lives, so this works.”Short courses, where a round of play can cost half as much as on a full-size course, also are part of a bigger cultural shift, said Rob Duckett, vice president of South Street Partners, which has developed several master-planned golf communities in the Southeast including Kiawah Island Club and Kiawah Island Real Estate, the Cliffs and Palmetto Bluff.With the arrival of younger residents, there’s been a push for more casual, relaxed programming, thinking beyond the traditional parameters of retirees playing golf.“At our properties, we have added fun programming such as night golf, music on the range, and comfort stations to the golf courses with signature dishes and cocktails that make golf more of a social event that is still enjoyable for experienced golfers while less intimidating for new ones,” Mr. Duckett said in an email. “The addition of nongolf amenities that appeal to a broader age range, such as pickleball and shooting, is also a shift I’ve seen. Basically, thinking about programming and activities that appeal to the whole family, rather than just traditionally catering to dads.”Karen and Brad Cook, avid golfers who live in Maui and are building a 3,400-square-foot, four-bedroom home at Cape Breton, are hoping that the community’s new short course will help them pass on their love of golf to their two boys, 11 and 13.“There’s a lot less pressure playing a par-3 course than there is playing the big course,” said Mr. Cook, who owns an engineering company. “And the attention span for golfing for younger kids just isn’t the same.”Cabot Cape Breton has two top-ranked full-length courses: Cabot Links, designed by Rod Whitman, and Cabot Cliffs, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Mr. Whitman, along with Dave Axland, was tapped to design the new short course.Cabot Cape Breton’s real estate offerings, which range from two-bedroom golf villas to four-bedroom homes, run about $825,000 to $2.5 million.Mr. Cowan-Dewar said they were often occupied by families with children. That mirrors trends seen across North America among families, who continue to seek new homes outside of cities.Across the United States, relocation from major urban centers to smaller metro areas rose 23 percent in 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors.Mike Williams, managing director of Innisbrook, a golf resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., said that it was not just families who had been drawn to short courses during the pandemic. With business travel shut down and conventions on hold, he has seen a sharp spike in business colleagues gathering on one of the four courses at Innisbrook in clusters of three or four, where they combine networking and novice golf practice into one or two-hour segments.Innisbrook has taken note and is now converting their full-size North Course into a short course. The project will leave them with some unused land, so they plan to convert those additional acres into spots for new residences. They don’t yet have an estimated completion date.“We have seen a very robust golf group segment grow as conventions and conferences evaporated,” Mr. Williams said. He notes that competitors including Pebble Beach and Pinehurst have recently added their own short courses. “In order for Innisbrook to remain competitive and be mentioned in the same breath as some of those resorts, we feel compelled to put in a short course as well,” he said.At Suncadia Resort in Elum, Wash., nearly 300 new homes have been built in the last two years. Mike Jones, Suncadia’s golf director, said that he had seen the number of children on both the Arnold Palmer-designed Prospector golf course, as well as the Jacobsen Hardy-designed Rope Rider short course, increase by 50 percent.“I used to view this as a second home for a lot of people, and the residents that did live here full time, the majority were retired,” Mr. Jones said. “And since the pandemic, all these young kids started moving here and what I started noticing was I’d be at Prospector and I’d see three young kids on the putting green, and they didn’t know the other kids, and there just wasn’t a community feel.”To cater to the new arrivals, Mr. Jones started a PGA Jr. League, and also launched a meet and mingle program on the green, where members could gather to get to know each other and cocktails were served for the adults.Charles Nay, who purchased a 3,000-square foot, four-bedroom cabin at Tumble Creek, a private neighborhood within the Suncadia community, in September 2020 for his family, prefers to play at Prospector. But he believes the short course is ideally suited for his 13-year-old daughter.“When she and her friends want to golf, they get bored and don’t necessarily want to play 18 holes,” said Mr. Nay, who lives in Seattle.In Big Sky, Mont., the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club community will be putting in a new short course this spring in addition to its existing 18-hole Tom Weiskopf-designed course. It will be a 10-hole par-3 course, something that Mr. Weiskopf said the community had been considering for years.“Covid really gave golf a shot in the arm,” he said. “Spanish Peaks has so many members with big families with grandkids, and they want to do what grandpa and grandma do, or with their dad and mom. It’s a great way to get people started in the game.” More

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      Prize Money and Sponsorships Are Growing in Women’s Golf, but Is It Enough?

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      Golfers will compete for a $5 million purse when the L.P.G.A.’s first major of the season begins on Thursday. But women continue to lag far behind men.Brittany Lincicome started playing on the L.P.G.A. Tour in 2005, when it was a struggling endeavor with few events. Now, in her 18th season, the tour is thriving and she has no plans to retire any time soon.“My parents had said, ‘Play 10 years and you can retire,’” Lincicome said. “Now there’s no end in sight. The prize money is out there. The purses are going up every year. It would be hard to leave. Plus, I would love to get a win and have my daughter there with me.”Lincicome, who is pregnant with her second child, said the difference between her rookie season and today is the sponsors, who have elevated the quality of the courses the golfers play. “It’s cool to see where we came from and what direction we’re going,” she said.Her first major victory came in 2009 at the Chevron Championship, formerly known as the ANA Inspiration and an L.P.G.A. major since 1983. This year’s tournament, which begins on Thursday and has long been associated with Dinah Shore, an actress, talk show host and early supporter of the women’s tour, will be the last to be held at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.A central part of the event has been Poppie’s Pond, where the champion, her caddie and any number of friends and family take a victory plunge adjacent to the 18th green.Whether the pond will move to Houston, where Chevron is headquartered next year, as part of the company assuming the title sponsorship, is unclear. But, pond or not, one of the five women’s majors has a corporate sponsor to keep it going, with a purse that has increased nearly $2 million this year, to $5 million from $3.1 million.“It’s bittersweet,” said Stacy Lewis, whose first professional victory came at the event in 2011, when Kraft Nabisco was the sponsor. “It will always have a special place for me. But as a tournament it was time. When we lost Kraft, the tour needed a lot of time bringing ANA on board. And the fan base has shrunk over the past 10 years.”While the L.P.G.A. Tour lags behind the PGA Tour in prize money, sponsors for the best female golfers in the world have been stepping up — new deals for tournaments, money for the developmental tour and increased support for athletes who want to have families.Purses have also risen to $90 million this year, up from $67 million in 2019.“The purses are super important so we can have the best tournament schedule that we can put together and allow the best women in the world to reach their goals,” said Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who became the L.P.G.A. commissioner last year.Such increases have come slowly. A decade ago, Marcoux’s predecessor, Mike Whan, now the chief executive of the U.S.G.A., encouraged players to talk about their golf, but to make sure they thanked sponsors for getting behind the tour.In his new role, Whan has brought in ProMedica, a health care company, as the first presenting sponsor of the U.S. Women’s Open. The purse has nearly doubled, to $10 million from $5.5 million. But it wasn’t easy.“I saw how much money the U.S.G.A. lost on the U.S. Women’s Open,” Whan said. “I could see they were doing the right thing. But they weren’t reaching out to companies that also wanted to do the right thing.”The companies that are coming in as sponsors of the L.P.G.A. Tour are aligning their financial backing with broader diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. KPMG was among the first to do so with its sponsorship of the Women’s P.G.A. Championship in 2014.“We’ve more than doubled the purse since then,” said Shawn Quill, managing director and national sports industry leader at KPMG. “We’ve been able to put the L.P.G.A. players on the best courses in the world, the same ones that the men play.”This year’s event is at Congressional Country Club, where Rory McIlroy won the men’s U.S. Open in 2011.As a title sponsor, KPMG has not only increased the prize money, but has also added a women’s leadership summit, which focuses on C-suite executives and future leaders. “As sponsors, we saw this could be more than a hospitality event,” Quill said.Hannah Green won $1 million from sponsor Aon in 2021 for recording the best score on the toughest hole. Aon paid the same amount to the PGA Tour winner.Donald Miralle/Getty ImagesAon, the professional services company, sponsors a season-long competition that collects the best scores on the toughest hole each week on both the PGA and L.P.G.A. tours. It made a commitment in 2019 to pay the same $1 million prize to the male and female golfers who won the challenge.“It ties into our inclusion and diversity strategy,” said Jennifer Bell, chief executive of North America for Aon. “We also want to influence other sponsors since we’ve taken on this challenge.”At the end of last season, Bell awarded checks to Matthew Wolff, who turned pro in 2019, is ranked 45th in the world, and has won over $7 million; and Hannah Green, who turned pro in 2018, is ranked 31st in the world, but has won just over $2 million.“When I handed the $1 million check to Hannah Green last year, she had a smile on her face from ear to ear,” said Bell. “I said, ‘What are you going to do with it?’ She said, ‘I think I’m going to buy a home’. She still lived with her mom.”The disparity in earnings between players on the men’s and women’s tours is enormous. Total prize money on the PGA Tour jumped to $427 million in 2022 from $367 million, a figure nearly five times that of the L.P.G.A. Tour. That has meant many top female golfers are living more modestly.Epson America, the United States subsidiary of the Japanese printer and imaging company, has created three additional benefits for players on the Epson Tour, guaranteeing minimum tournament purses of $200,000 and awarding a $10,000 stipend to the 10 players who graduate to the L.P.G.A. each year. It has also lowered entry fees.“They’re one of the biggest barriers,” said Meghan MacLaren, a winner on the Ladies European Tour who is now playing on the Epson Tour. “Before I add all the other stuff on, like flights, hotels, and travel, you’re looking at $10,000 for 20 events.”Increased prize money at the top of the L.P.G.A. or Epson Tour invariably trickles down to players who finish out of contention.“What we really liked about the sponsorship is we’re investing in the future of women’s golf,” said Keith Kratzberg, chief executive of Epson America.Patty Tavatanakit took home $465,000 when she won at Mission Hills as a rookie in 2021.Yong Teck Lim/Getty ImagesCorporate sponsors have also begun promoting the values they espouse in their companies with their athletes.When Lewis was pregnant in 2018, she worried about telling her sponsors. In the past, some sponsors hadn’t paid golfers who didn’t play a certain number of events, usually between 18 and 20 tournaments. Two of the most dominant players of their eras, Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa, both of whom were ranked No. 1 in the world, retired from golf in their primes to have children.For Lewis, it was different. “KPMG said, ‘We’re going to pay you whether you play your 20 events or not,’” she said. “We’re going to treat you like any employee at KPMG.”When she went public with the company’s promise, all but one of her sponsors also agreed to pay her in full.“That set the bar for other companies,” said Gerina Piller, a 15-year tour player who often travels with her son. “It paved another way to make it possible to chase our dream and be a mom and not get stuck with the decision of, do we play or do we stay home?” More