Japanese style memberships could provide capital for U.S. developments By Bernard Baker land, high development costs (often more A unique feature of many memberships Japanese-style international member- than $50 million) and the mere 1,800 is that "use" rights can be "stripped" from ships are appearing on the American scene courses for the country's 20 million - other membership rights and handled and may provide the foundation for new ers. separately. A person may own the mem- capital markets for golf projects. Yet another factor has sent the cost of bership for its investment potential and By U.S. standards, golf club member- Japanese memberships soaring. "rent" the right to use the club facilities to ships bring astronomically high prices in Tradeability. another person approved by the club as a Japan. Many Japanese clubs sell member- Most memberships in Japanese clubs "designated user." The membership can ships for more than $1 million. Member- can be traded. Some people invest and be traded subject to the rental arrange- ships at Koganei near Tokyo recently traded speculate in club memberships. There is ment with the designated user. COLBERT GOLF ACQUIRED for $2.7 million. The average Japanese an over-the-counter market for member- This transferability makes memberships SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Golf Enter- membership trades for about $200,000. ships with brokerage houses specializing suitable for purchase in blocks for later re- prises, Inc., has acquired the Las Vegas-based The high prices reflect the scarcity of in them. Continued on page 41 golf course management company, Golf, Inc. It will be operated as a wholly owned sub- sidiary, and the ac- quired properties will Managers can win at the TV interview be managed under the By Peter Blais pleasant and productive experience for the Offensive weapons name of Jim Colbert The Book of Lists indicates the 10 Most club manager, Delaney said. Before dwelling on the negatives, club Golf. Feared Things in Life. No. 6 is Death. No. 7 is "Like it or not, you are very logical targets for managers should realize they have many Golf Enterprises Divorce. No. 1 is Having to do a Major TV reporters. As the club manager of important positives to discuss — the millions of dollars now manages 20 pub- Interview. institutions in your communities, you're the clubs donate to charities, the thousands lic, private and resort "It's that awesome for a lot of folks," said source, the expert You're the one they want to awarded in scholarships, tax dollars and eco- properties in nine call and ask, 'Hey, whafs going on over there? nomic activity generated within the locality Bob Williams Kevin Delaney, a 30-year veteran of print and states. The company broadcast journalism who spoke at the re- What's the problem we're hearing about? And and state, the many community projects, and will manage all facility operations, including cent Club Managers how are you dealing with it?' " Continued on page 38 food and beverage and pro shops. Association of America Golf Enterprises was founded in 1990 by Conference in Dallas. The graphs below show where money comes from and where it goes at private country clubs nationwide. Bob Williams, former president and chief With charges of ra- executive officer of American Golf Corp., and cial discrimination and 1990 Country Club Income Dollar E.C. "Sandy" Burns, former senior vice environmental negli- president of acquisitions. gence being leveled at Colbert, a 22-year veteran of the PGATour, golf clubs, any club will compete on the Senior PGA Tour but manager who hasn't remain affiliated with the company in an yet received an inter- Kevin Delaney advisory capacity. view request from a reporter may be hearing from one in the not-too-distant future. PRIVATE CC INSURANCE AVAILABLE But there are ways to deal with the televi- sion interview that can make it a much more MANCHESTER, N.H. — The New Hampshire Insurance Co. has introduced Coverage Par Excellence, a comprehensive protection program for private country clubs. Why can't I have It offers an extensive array of coverages and options, including expanded building bentgrass and firs? and fine arts coverages, pesticide and herbi- Editor's note: This is the first in an occa- cide applicator coverage, and Hole-In-One sional series on golf course maintenance de- coverage for tournaments. signed to give the club manager a basic working Input was obtained from club managers, knowledge of maintenance issues confronting golf pros, course superintendents and others the superintendent Dave Fearis , CGCS, is who live the business to ensure total tee-to- head superintendent at Blue Hills Country green coverage. Building coverage has been Club in Kansas City, Mo., and has given expanded to include bridges, walkways and seminars on golf course maintenance for the 1990 Country Club Expense Dollar other paved surfaces, and business interrup- Club Managers Association of America. Balance Available tion coverage ranges beyond vandalism to Real Estate Taxes for Debt Service, include revenue replacement. and Insurance 6.6C .Capital Improvements Paul Budde, director of the standard By Dave Fearis 0.9C commercial accounts department, is in charge The United States can be divided into three of the program for the insurance company. grass-growing regions — cool-season, tran- sition and warm-season. Certain grasses FERREE JOINS COLLETON RIVER thrive in each particular region while others struggle to survive. HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Long- The cool-season region covers roughly the time Hilton Head resident and PGA Senior upper half of the country, running from Tour member Jim Ferree has joined northern California in the West, across the Colleton River Plantation as director of mid-section of the United States and tapering golf. up to the northern half of Cape Cod in Mas- While Colleton River continues con- sachusetts. struction on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Temperatures drop as low as minus-40 golf course, Ferree will serve as an adviser degrees in the winter and occasionally venture to the course developers, Colleton River into the 90s in summer. Hie optimum root Co. soil temperature for most cool-season grass He will advise on the construction of the growth is 50 to 65 degrees with a foliar range course, design of the planned 23,000- of 60 to 75 degrees. square-foot clubhouse, hiring of the golf Bentgrass is perhaps the most cold-tolerant professional and greenskeeping staff, for- of the cool-season varieties. Improved mulation of club policies and golf course creeping bentgrasses can be spread by seed- operations. Continued on page 40 Source: Pannell Kerr Forster m A NA G € M € N T What grows well and where

Continued from page 36 chemicals and water, further pro- just after Labor Day. ing or stolons. They have low to moting a "Management on the Like grass, trees grow best in cer- medium nitrogen requirements and Edge" mentality. tain regions. Take them out of that mowing frequency rates, excellent Certain maintenance practices are region and they fallprey to many pests tolerance for half-inch or lower required on all grasses, although the and diseases. For example, the East- mowings, good traffic tolerance and timing may vary depending on turf ern white pine is very popular in the high competitiveness and thatch type and region. For example, Southeast But when planted in the formation. zoysiagrass should be aerified be- Piedmont soils common in that area, On the negative side, they are sus- tween June and August while blue- they live only 15 to 25 years, their ceptible to many diseases and require grass aerification usually is done after canopies thin and there is a strong the daily care of a professional super- Labor Day. possibility of root rot intendent, especiallywith toda/slower Bermudagrass is normally There are also trees and shrubs cutting heights and environmental overseeded in October and No- that grow best in wet soils, others pressure to use fewer pesticides. vember in the South while blue- that thrive in dry soils and those Dave Fearis Other strong cool-season per- grass overseeding is recommended that do well in clay soils. formers include Kentucky blue- grass, perennial ryegrass, and the hard, chewings, creeping and tall fescues. Zoysiagrass is gaining popularity as more cold-tolerant varieties are developed, but they are still difficult to establish and manage on Northern courses. Certain zoysiagrass species, like zoysia japónica, can be very effective in the transition zone, a relatively narrow region that snakes its way across the country from central Cali- fornia down into northern Arizona, across northern Texas, into northern Missouri and southern Indiana before angling up the East Coast through southern New England. Temperatures can drop to mi- nus-10 and climb to more than 100 degrees. It is too hot for cool-season grasses and too cool for warm-sea- son grasses to do well all the time. A warm-season grass, like Bermudagrass, will die if it gets too cold. That happened in December 1989 during a week-long cold snap that wiped out many transition-zone Bermudagrass courses. Bentgrasses struggle when tem- peratures crest and stay near 100 degrees with high humidity. Bermudagrass and some zoysiagrass species are particularly suited to the warm-season zone, a region covering roughly the lower third of the country. Low tempera- tures range from 0 to 30 degrees with highs frequently exceeding 100 degrees. Optimum root soil tem- peratures are 75 to 85 degrees and foliar temperatures 80 to 95 degrees. Many Northern golfers have grown up on bentgrass and en- courage Southern courses they visit to grow it. Bentgrasses have a very difficult timewit h the summertime heat and humidity. Many Florida courses have replaced their bentgrass greens with Bermudagrass in the past year be- These Pros Know A Great Bentgrass When They See It cause of the time and expense in- volved in maintaining the cool-sea- It takes a real professional to of both cultivars: the color, texture, important to superintendents, son turf. The object is not to grow recognize the benefits of a superior density, disease resistance, golfers, architects, and greens bentgrass in August and September, turfgrass. These superintendents and heat and drought tolerance committees. but to keep it from dying. are pros at growing grass. Their are outstanding. So nationwide the pros agree, Still, some courses continue a expertise is invaluable in evaluating Providence and SR 1020 also Providence and SR 1020 really "Management on the Edge" mental- new turfgrass cultivars. So when produce excellent putting quality. are exciting new cultivars. They we developed Providence and SR ity, ignoring the regional adaptations That's important to the superinten- represent the new generation of 1020 we went straight to them. We of turfgrass and maintaining a grass dent and to the golfer. Especially, creeping bentgrasses. realized that university data was a like Ben that isn't well suited to that particular useful but that evaluation by out- Crenshaw. Ben knows golf greens region. Doing so often leads to more standing superintendents under and appreciates a bent that can chemical use, poor irrigation practices varied golf course conditions was provide a fine textured, uniform and lack of proper nutrients. more important. surface with an absence of grain Golfers' demands for daily play- These superintendents have all for true putting quality. ing conditions like those they see i used Providence and/or SR 1020. Both cultivars produce this SEED" RESEARCH on televised tournaments also force Their comments have been en- outstanding turf and putting quality OF OREGON, INC the superintendent to use more thusiastic about the performance with reduced maintenance. That's P.O. Box 1416 • Corvallis, OR 97339 • (800)253-5766 CIRCLE #138