BRIEFS Cobblestone acquires two new properties DEL MAR, Calif.— Cobblestone Golf Group, Inc., the Del Mar-based golf course ownership and operating company recently acquired by Meditrust, has pur- chased Sabal Point Country Club in Longwood, Fla., near Orlando and The Champion's Club of Apalachee Farms near . Sabal Point is an 18-hole semi-private CASPER APPOINTS MAURAGAS club. The purchase from American Ski- VIENNA, Va. — Billy Casper Golf ing Company, which operates numerous Management, Inc. appointed Robert ski resorts and affiliated golf courses Mauragas to the position of Regional throughout the country, represents Golf Operations Manager, a capacity Cobblestone's third acquisition in . ClubLink's King Valley GC outside recently picked up a number of public relatives. in which he will direct the implemen- The Champion's Club of Apalachee tation of myriad Farms is also an 18-hole semi-private club. programs for sev- It was purchased from Fairway Proper- ClubLink makes major move into eral Mid-Atlantic ties, L.P. and is region golf prop- Cobblestone's Canadian daily-fee course market erties under the second holding in company's opera- the Atlanta area. By PETER B LAIS tion. Mauragas The two acqui- KING CITY, Ontario, -— ClubLink Corporation has acquired 10 will work with on- sitions expand public courses and 450 neighboring acres of developable land in the Greater site, golf course Robert Mauragas Cobblestone's Toronto Area. The new facilities nearly double ClubLink's holdings to 22 personnel in man- portfolio to 27 golf courses and substantially increase the course operator's presence in Canada's aging projects related to golf opera- properties in six daily-fee market. tions, customer service, capital im- states. ACQUISITIONS The acquisitions totaled $43 million, which will be paid from existing cash, provements, turf management, "We are very ex- debt and $3.5 million in ClubLink shares, noted Bruce Simmonds, president equipment/supplies, MIS, financial cited about the purchase of both Sabal and chief executive officer of ClubLink. and activities reporting, training food Point Country Club and The Champion's The new ClubLink properties include: and beverage, and merchandising. Club of Apalachee Farms and expanding • Blue Springs Golf Club (27 holes) located near ClubLink's existing Greystone Since 1988, Mauragas, a PGA mem- our portfolio of golf courses in the South- Golf Club and RattleSnake Point Golf Club on Toronto's west side. "Strategi- ber, was head golf professional at east Region," said Cobblestone President cally it is important to us because the west end is an explosive growth area," Fiddler's Elbow Country Club, an ex- Bob Husband. Simmonds said. "Presently that market is undeserved by high-end, daily-fee clusive 54-hole private facility in Far In January, Cobblestone Holdings, Inc., courses. ClubLink is also building an upscale, 45-hole facility in [nearby] Hills, N.J. He also participated in parent of Cobblestone Golf Group, Inc., Oakville called RattleSnake Point that will open in early 1999. We're now far and Fiddler's Elbow's development and reached an agreement to be acquired by away the dominant player in western Toronto with 120 holes once RattleSnake construction of 18 new holes designed Meditrust Companies. Meditrust is a opens." by Rees Jones. paired shared real estate investment trust • Georgetown Golf Club (18 holes) and Bolton Golf Club (27 holes) are also and among the nation's largest health- Continued on page 67 KEMPER NAMES LESNIK GM AT BANDON Continued on page 68 CHICAGO — Kemper Sports Man- agement has named Josh Lesnik gen- Fuller seized eral manager of Bandon Dunes, a 54- Assumption of risk still a dicey issue hole, 2,000-acre oceanfront de- opportunities, velopment under By EDWARD EVERETT VAILL injuries. construction on For years, participants in potentially Two interesting California cases made his own Oregon's South dangerous sporting activities accepted demonstrate the gamut of interpreta- Coast. Lesnik has that their pastimes were protected by tions of this law and serve to reinforce By PETER B LAI S served as Kem- the legal doctrine of "assumption of the need for recreational operators to illiam "Billy" Fuller, 48, has per's marketing risk," which held that if the participant identify and prevent safety problems, what many superintendents , , 7 director for the knowingly or implic- and for participants Wwould consider a dream job. Josh Lesnik past several, itly assumed the risk to use common "You don't sit back and plan every years. The first course at Bandon and was injured, there sense. In some in- activity that happens in your career," Dunes, designed by Scottish architect was no liability. That stances that isn't Fuller said. "Some David Mclay Kidd, is scheduled to open isn't entirely true, enough, and the is- of those things just in June 1999. anymore. In the wake sue of fault must be evolve. Opportuni- of some of California's decided in the ties come up and recent legal rulings, courts, often at a I've been very MYRTLE BEACH RESORT RENAMED it is apparent that as- daunting cost to de- fortunate in that DALLAS — Patriot American Hos- sumption of risk is a fendant and plaintiff. regard." pitality, Inc. and Wyndham Interna- complex legal area in which the stakes In one troubling 1995 lawsuit, the Fuller is senior tional, Inc. announced that the Myrtle for potential liability to sports opera- plaintiff was hit on the head by a golf agronomist/ Billy Fuller Beach Hilton Oceanfront Golf Resort tors can be very high. The point is, the ball and sued the golf course operator associate for Cupp converted to a Wyndham resort on provider is never automatically ab- for negligence. A frequent golfer on Design, making him responsible for February 1. The property will be re- solved of responsibility in participant this particular course, the plaintiff meshing agronomic technology with named the Wyndham Myrtle Beach claimed he was injured near the 5th the golf course architectural firm's Resort and undergo an $8.5 million tee, because the operator had removed design and construction programs. renovation. Patriot American acquired EDWARD EVERETT VAILL prac- a diseased pine tree that had protected His involvement begins with the first the resort last August and owns the tices business, antitrust, entertainment the plaintiff in the past from balls fly- day of planning a new course, and proprietary Wyndham brand. The 385- and insurance litigation with the Los ing from the 4th tee. The appellate room property includes Arcadian includes such items as qualifying turf Angeles-based firm of Shaub & Will- Continued on page 68 selections, evaluating equipment Shores Golf Club, a Rees Jones cham- iams. pionship design. Continued on page 65 GOLF COURSE NEWS Assumption of risk PGATTA selects board members differentiated between the duty of Continued from page 61 a golfer, which is to not intention- PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The PGA Tony Piazzi, LaCantera Texas Open as secretary/ court agreed with the plaintiff, de- ally injure another player or en- TOUR Tournaments Association (PGATTA) re- treasurer. Assuming board positions are Ms. termining the operator owed a duty gage in reckless conduct totally centiy elected new officers. Formerly known as Johnnie Bender, Michelob Championship at of care to the plaintiff in the design outside the range of the ordinary American Golf Sponsors, PGATTA is an organi- Kngsmill; Bill Paul, Bell Canadian Open; Kym and maintenance of its golf course activity involved in golf, and the zation for all PGA TOUR tournaments, with tour- Hougham, Quad CityClassic;TomStrong,Greater and should not have removed the duty of a golf course operator. nament directors the primary members. Milwaukee Open; Lou Russo, AT&TPebble Beach tree. (One wonders how the court The court found that the operator Elected to two-yeartermswereDwightDrinkard, National Pro-Am; and Jim Wiser, The Memorial; would have ruled had the golf ball must provide a reasonably safe FedEx St Jude Classic as president; Peter Calihan, Immediate Past PresidentTommy Wulff, Freeport- hit a branch of the diseased tree, course, and minimize the risk that Phoenix Open as incoming vice president; and McDermott Classic. causing it to fall on the plaintiff.) players will be hit by golf balls, for In its ruling, the appellate court example, by the way the various tee, fairways and greens are aligned or separated. Fortunately, such judgments against operators are rare. The courts usually hold that liability for unintended accidents must be eliminated to ensure that the fervor of athletic competition will not be chilled by the constant threat of litigation. We see this doctrine applied in a 1996 superior court decision involving a rock-climbing acci- dent in which the plaintiffs hus- band was killed during a rock- climbing class. The complaint alleged that the decedent's fall was the result of the instructors' negligence in placing four rope anchors into a single-crack sys- tem resulting in the release of the climbing rope holding him. The court found that "inherent in the sport of rock climbing is the fact a fall can occur at any time, regardless of the negli- gence of one's co-participants." As the law in California stands, co-participants in sporting activi- ties — golfers, for example — are largely found not to be liable for causing sporting accidents, even if the golfer does not yell "fore," unless their conduct was reckless or intentional. In the operator or instructor-student setting, liabil- ity is generally not found unless the instructor acts recklessly or with intent to injure, or in control- ling the sporting "playing field," the operator or instructor fails to provide a "safe environment." It is important to remember, however, that when the risk causing the accident is not inherent in the par- Addition of calcium to the soil by traditional developed not only to facilitate absorption by the ticular sports activity, the chance means is not usually efficient or effective in leaves and roots, but to increase mobility of the of operator liability increases. treating the calcium deficiency of turfgrass. Once calcium within the plant as well. applied, the common forms of liming materials can rapidly change to compounds that are Quelant™-Ca is normally applied as a foliar spray insoluble in water and not readily available to the and may also be applied through fertigation. Cobblestone plant. Continuous applications over long time Either way, it is tank-mix compatible with Continued from page 61 periods are necessary to effect even modest herbicides, soluble fertilizers, insecticides, care real estate investment improvements in calcium uptake. fungicides and plant growth regulators. It will even trusts. Meditrust has a market help improve the efficiency of most of these capitalization of more than $4.5 Quelanr-Ca is a newly available amino acid treatments by increasing their absorption and billion. chelated calcium product that corrects calcium translocation within the plant. deficiencies in turfgrass upon application. Cobblestone Golf Group, Inc. Quelant™-Ca provides readily available calcium Best of all, Quelanr-Ca is economical to use and and Cobblestone Holdings, Inc. chelated with amino acids so that it is easily it protects the environment. recently extended their tender absorbed by the leaves and/or the roots of the plant offers for all of the outstanding regardless of most soil and water conditions. The unique Quelant™-Ca — a true systemic. It's new...it's unique... 11.5-percent Senior Notes due formulation of amino acids used for chelation was and nothing else works quite like it! 2003 of Cobblestone Golf Group, Inc. and all outstanding 13.5-per- cent Senior Zero-Coupon Notes For more information about Quelant™-Ca call due 2004 of Cobblestone Hold- Nutramax Laboratories' at: 800-925-5187 ings, Inc. until 5 p.m., The Nutraceutical Com nuTRamax City time, on March 6. The ten- X LABORATORIES, INC. der offers were being extended AGRICULTURE DIVISION to coincide with the expected Baltimore, consummation of the merger with Meditrust.