Postcards from the golf design fringe.....

[paul cowley]

All my work in the States is on hold.....in these shining times most developers just can't pull the trigger, and I can't say I blame them at all.

Our plum Cabo/Mexico job just came to a screeching halt this week.
Lehman Bros is/was the lender.

A potential course in Cancun still seems in play....for now.

Faldo seems to have locked up the market in Iceland.

A course I have been pursuing in Costa Rica is remote enough that when I was last dining there a skunk walked under and out of from beneath my table .....which didn't interest the waiters much until it wandered over to another table and sprayed the restaurant when someone stepped on its tail.

I just responded to a request for design services to build three courses in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Togo [I still love their stamps].

Where do we go next?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Paul,

You are braver than I......I got that email but didn't respond.  Other than that we are on similar career paths - I have three 18 hole courses signed.  None is guaranteed financing, even Indian Casino courses.  Funny thing is, I have also have a few more "great prospects" out there, so at least its good news that some developers seem to be thinking about putting product out for when the next up cycle hits in a few years.......

[paul cowley]

"Paul,

You are braver than I......I got that email but didn't respond"

Ah yes....just one of the many "fringe" benefits of being a ASGCA member!

Not sure if bravery has anything to do with it.

[Jeff_Brauer]

15 years ago when I was building a few courses in Indonesia, a bulldozer guy I brought over there hit a tree and a wasps nest fell in his lap. He got stung 100 times and we dragged him to the local hospital, which was so filthy I wouldn't take my dog there.  I figure those places to be similar, should some medical emergency arise.  (he did live to tell the tale)

Add in the general safety factor of those countries and I would raise my fee substantially to make sure Miss Dawn was well taken care of should something happen to you!  Just some good advice from one ASGCA guy to another.

[paul cowley]

You know Jeff, that got me thinking.....Maybe Richardson would want to team up with me.

I hear he's got African experience.

Forrest, are you out there?.....wait, let me re phrase that, as I already know that answer.

Forrest, Sir, would you care to participate on an into Africa experience?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Jeff,

A buddy of mine works in the oil industry, and has recently been in Nigeria. Apparently it's not very difficult to get your hands on a machine gun on the east coast of Africa.

If you go there, just make sure you get the biggest gun  

[Jeff_Brauer]

Whats the old movie line -"This skin don't stop bullets."

[Adam Clayman]

All my work in the States is on hold.....in these shining times most developers just can't pull the trigger, and I can't say I blame them at all.

Great to see developers are building GC's for all the right reasons.