Waverly Oaks in Plymouth (Brian Silva) Might Soon Be NLE

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Dang.  I liked Waverly Oaks better than the Pinewoods courses down the road.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/07/plymouth_golf_c.html

Plymouth golf course eyed for $300M studio project
July 3, 2008 01:02 PM

By Globe Staff

Plymouth Rock Studios has picked a golf course in Plymouth as the site of its $300 million "Hollywood East" project.

The studio has selected the 240-acre Waverly Oaks Golf Club property on Long Pond Road, about a mile north of Exit 3 on Route 3, said Kevin O'Reilly, a local project consultant for the studio.

The company plans to build a film and TV production studio featuring 14 sound stages, back lots, a multi-purpose theater, along with a hotel, office buildings, and an educational campus.

The company said it had been evaluating over a dozen sites in the Plymouth area. The company had originally picked a site on Bourne Road in south Plymouth, but ran into title problems. The company has already signed an agreement with the owners of the 27-hole course, which would be closed, O'Reilly said.

"I've talked to the Board of Selectmen and the some of the members of the Planning Board and their staff. In some ways, people think this may even be a better site than the original one," O'Reilly said.

Officials from the company, the town, and the golf course are expected to discuss the project at a 3 p.m. news conference today at the golf course.

The placement of a "Hollywood East" sign on the lawn of the Plymouth County courthouse caused some controversy recently because the sign obscured a veterans' memorial. The sign is expected to be moved by Monday.

[PCCraig]

Wow! What a bummer, I played there a couple of times while in School in Boston and tought it was a solid spot to play. I would put it even with the more pricey Pinehills.

[Keith Durrant]

That would be a shame. Certainly a fun layout. Supply and demand, I suppose.

[Cliff Hamm]

That would be awful.  Waverly Oaks is among my favorite courses in New England.  BTW there was an article in the past few days of how this group put their Hollywood sign in front of a veteran's war memorial in Plymouth.  It blocked the memorial which had a lot of meaning for relatives of those who lost their lives in the armed services.  Needless to say there was an outcry but they refused to take it down until after the 4th.  If they need to build on a golf course I vote for Pinehills, especially near the condos.

[Brad Tufts]

Blah...

Why didn't they just do it at Crosswinds?

The deal may just be financially too good to turn down for the course owners, but this whole thing sounds strange.  The town helped them find the site?  Did the town know they could just buy the golf course land and build over the course?

Why is everyone so excited about bringing a movie studio to Plymouth?  Who cares?  Why is "Hollywood East" exciting?  Why is the town ready to do anything to help this studio project get off the ground?

I suppose movie industry folks would say "who cares about golf?" but why is bringing money into town through the movie industry more important than having a place where the public can spend an afternoon with friends enjoying the outdoors?

And where are the enviro people on this one?

I know golf courses sometimes come and go, and that sometimes cannot be helped, but this to me just reads "closing a beautiful public area to build private development."

A tough loss for MA public golf that is not terribly great as it is even with WOGC.

[Cliff Hamm]

Sent an email to see when they would be closing.  Said they would be open thru October 2009.  How sad.  BTW played Atlantic in Plymouth the other day.  How disappointing.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

BTW played Atlantic in Plymouth the other day.  How disappointing.

Sounds like your expectations were too high.  Atlantic is nice, but not a destination in my book.  How far did you travel to play there?  Maybe that had something to do with it.

[Cliff Hamm]

Traveled about 1.5 hours.  Had a 2 for 1 so that helped.  Played at 8:30.  Unfortunately a group of women play every Thursday starting at 7.  Ended up being over 4.5 hours, which certainly affected my take on the course. 

Impression was just too many doglegs and too many uphill lies.  Don't mind uneven lies, this is NE, but found Atlantic to be rather unmemorable and frankly not for me.  I thought it would be better as it was the first of the Plymouth courses and had read some good things about it.  Will miss Waverly Oaks greatly.  I rank it with Newport National, Blackstone and Red Tail in the greater Boston/Providence area.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Why didn't they just do it at Crosswinds?

I find nothing as tiresome as a lame conspiracy theory. 

However...  I have a vague recollection that Crosswinds is owned by the town of Plymouth.  I can't confirm or disconfirm it via Google.

But if it is...  Isn't this just a good way of reducing the competition?

I've never played Crosswinds, so I'll have to go with Brad's 2008 list of Top 100 Public Golf Courses in Plymouth, MA:

1.  Plymouth CC (haven't played OS, might hold this spot)
2.  Waverly (I like Waverly despite a touch of wackiness....)
3.  Pinehills Nicklaus
4.  Pinehills Jones
5.  Atlantic
6.  Crosswinds

It seems like Crosswinds would have been a better choice, from a strict public-golf perspective.

[Ray Richard]

Just when the bulldozers were warming up, a slight problem. It's that money thing again. The Boston Globe ran a feature article worth checking out http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/15/a_grand_studio_dream_runs_headlong_into_reality/

They want to build a Hollywood style movie making complex in the middle of the Plymouth Puckerbrush. I can see Sandra Bullock fighting a snowy North East gale to get to her shoot while hubby is on the chaise in Malibu.

Time for a change in philosophy. Keep the golf course and get Mel Brooks to do a movie about the development of a movie studio on a Plymouth Golf Course. Explain paying 16 million for a golf course and snookering every dreamer in Massachusetts.

[Tom_Doak]

Didn't see this thread when it started, but I am not surprised by the last post.

Everywhere I go lately they seem to be talking about movie production as just what the area needs for its economy to recover.   It was all over the radio in Michigan and Indiana this week ... at least three towns between here and Muncie are planning production facilities!

It seems as ridiculous to me as the "one new golf course a day" call years ago.  (Which is too bad, since my son wants to be a filmmaker.)  The competition in local economies to throw tax credits at businesses is economic suicide.

[Jeff_Brauer]

As a gca, I can tell you nothing makes you feel older than having one of your courses go out of existence.  I hope it doesn't happen to Brian, no matter what the circumstances, since it seems like a nice course.

As to the movie plans, I agree with TD. I can recall working in Asia years ago.  The father of the Japanese company had made his fortune buying up land in Nagasaki after the bomb and creating factories, and was more than a little disturbed that his son was focusing on building resorts with his part of the family fortune.  I am no economist, but somehow, chasing movie dreams doesn't seem like a long term solution for any community rather than subsidizing something less glam and more practical that creates real value.  But, maybe I am old fashion that way.

[Cliff Hamm]

Played Waverly two weeks ago.  Wonderful day as usual.  Was going to post RIP, then saw the Boston Globe article last Sunday.  There is hope!

[Jim_Kennedy]

Seems more like a lack of integrity, never mind the lack of cash.

[Brad Tufts]

Saw another article in the Globe today that praised the state govt. for denying the development any public funding.

Still no word on the course, etc...