Pikewood National

[Greg Tallman]

I have not and will never play Pikewood National.  I also know that if I attempted to play Pikewood National I would not be allowed.

Care to elaborate?

The owners conduct their business affairs like spoiled children and attack anyone that dares challenge their position. The fight over third tier broadcast rights for West Virginia University athletic programs is the dividing issue here. PN owners held a portion of those rights for 50+ years and were kicked to the curb by a new, highly effective athletic director, Oliver Luck.

The rights were put out for bid (something that was not even required by the way) and the PN guys were basically outbid by about 90 million dollars over a 12 year period. They have since challenged the awarding of the contract to IMG on every basis they can think of, ignoring the fact that they do not have the professional capability to deliver everything contained in the RFP.

The change of ADs was a slap in the fact to them as they basically controlled the AD through their relationship with the former AD and the Associate AD that stayed on and was subsequently let go. Many believe the AAD that stayed on actually worked against the university on behalf of his puppet masters (PN guys) though the university has taken the high road even in the face of lawsuit after lawsuit.

They will drag anyone, including fine upstanding GCA folks through the mud in their quest to take down Oliver Luck as that is all this is about anymore. IMG is going nowhere and has already invested millions per the tier 3 contract.

Truly sad a man, who still lives in the area, will go to such lengths to take down his alma mater for reasons only explained by ego.

[BHoover]

Fair enough. Sounds like a complicated drama.

[Carl Johnson]

Fair enough. Sounds like a complicated drama.

For what it may be worth.  I was born (just a little over 72 years ago) and raised in Morgantown.  Both of my parents were WVU grads and my father taught there as an adjunct at the med school -- big WVU fans (and supporters), as I was as a kid.  I revisit MGT from time to time, and July 8-10, two days from now, will be my next.  I'm quite familier with the Greer and Raese families (the latter originating in the little mountain community in nearby Tucker County that my father was from, which I will also visit July 10-12).  The whole situation is very sad for me.    IMHO, if W.Va. wants to get up and get out into the modern world, the entire WVU sports thing (and party school image) needs to be put aside and a focus on academic excellence put to the fore.  Oliver Luck is nuts - promised he'd bring WVU a national football championship.  Greer Industies isn't helping at all.  Pikewood cannot survive the eventual loss of Raese money.  An earlier somewhat similar situation was Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown, founded by a wealthy coal operator, H. Ward Christopher.  It could not survive his untimely death -- at least not as it had been while he was alive.  

[Greg Tallman]

Fair enough. Sounds like a complicated drama.

For what it may be worth.  I was born (just a little over 72 years ago) and raised in Morgantown.  Both of my parents were WVU grads and my father taught there as an adjunct at the med school -- big WVU fans (and supporters), as I was as a kid.  I revisit MGT from time to time, and July 8-10, two days from now, will be my next.  I'm quite familier with the Greer and Raese families (the latter originating in the little mountain community in nearby Tucker County that my father was from, which I will also visit July 10-12).  The whole situation is very sad for me.    IMHO, if W.Va. wants to get up and get out into the modern world, the entire WVU sports thing (and party school image) needs to be put aside and a focus on academic excellence put to the fore.  Oliver Luck is nuts - promised he'd bring WVU a national football championship.  Greer Industies isn't helping at all.  Pikewood cannot survive the eventual loss of Raese money.  An earlier somewhat similar situation was Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown, founded by a wealthy coal operator, H. Ward Christopher.  It could not survive his untimely death -- at least not as it had been while he was alive.  

Carl, not sure why the hate for the athletic programs which are the de facto marketing arms of the university. In terms of academic excellence the mission of the school basically precludes that. Not to say Clements was not making strides on that front as I'm sure Gee will continue.

Not sure I would label Luck as nuts, he's the most qualified and visionary AD since Fred Schaus and while his aggressive nature does not sit well with many he is a breath of fresh air to a large group of mostly younger supporters.

As for pikewood and the raese clan I thinky previous comments sum him up well. Not surprising he is 0 for 5 when it comes to his political ambitions. Those are completely dead now.

Charlie, 'tis why I jumped in.

[Carl Johnson]

Fair enough. Sounds like a complicated drama.

For what it may be worth.  I was born (just a little over 72 years ago) and raised in Morgantown.  Both of my parents were WVU grads and my father taught there as an adjunct at the med school -- big WVU fans (and supporters), as I was as a kid.  I revisit MGT from time to time, and July 8-10, two days from now, will be my next.  I'm quite familier with the Greer and Raese families (the latter originating in the little mountain community in nearby Tucker County that my father was from, which I will also visit July 10-12).  The whole situation is very sad for me.    IMHO, if W.Va. wants to get up and get out into the modern world, the entire WVU sports thing (and party school image) needs to be put aside and a focus on academic excellence put to the fore.  Oliver Luck is nuts - promised he'd bring WVU a national football championship.  Greer Industies isn't helping at all.  Pikewood cannot survive the eventual loss of Raese money.  An earlier somewhat similar situation was Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown, founded by a wealthy coal operator, H. Ward Christopher.  It could not survive his untimely death -- at least not as it had been while he was alive.  

Carl, not sure why the hate(if you're talking about my opinion, "hate" is way too strong a word - the emphasis on athletics that I see is disappointing - that's all) for the athletic programs which are the de facto marketing arms of the university (agreed, as in the case of Duke University's, one of my alma maters, basketball team, but that does not make it right -- great leadership in either case could make that change). In terms of academic excellence the mission of the school basically precludes that.  (I'd really be interested for you to elaborate on that mission as you see it, and the problem it creates for "academic excellence", assuming I understand you here.)  Not to say Clements was not making strides on that front as I'm sure Gee (I did not realize he'd landed back at WVU!) will continue.  I'll be visiting an academic department tommow or Wed. on a related point -- we'll see how that turns out.

Not sure I would label Luck as nuts, he's the most qualified and visionary AD since Fred Schaus and while his aggressive nature does not sit well with many he is a breath of fresh air to a large group of mostly younger supporters.  Agree about Schaus, and don't know much about Luck other than what I "read in the paper" from time to time and when I read that he promised to bring a national football championship the WVU that struck me as nutty for several reasons.  Of course, I do understand that the press sometimes, well, many times, gets things wrong.

As for pikewood and the raese clan I thinky previous comments sum him up well. Not surprising he is 0 for 5 when it comes to his political ambitions. Those are completely dead now.  You would know about that.  From a distance, down south, it seemed to me John Raese would keep on trying for offices until his money ran out, which I don't think it has yet.

Charlie, 'tis why I jumped in.

[Greg Tallman]

Carl, the original mission was basically to make available higher education to all areas of society with a particular eye toward anyone and everyone from West Virginia. I'm sure it was worded a bit better than that but that was the gist.

You would be happy to see that mission being tweaked toward a higher level of educational offerings now up on the official website.

Gee came over as the interim President when Dr. Clements left for Clemson (shame as Clements was very forward thinking and very aggressive). After only a couple of months as the interim Presidents the Board of Governors (another group targeted by Raese) asked Gee to consider a permanent appointment and eh accepted. While he is very different than Clements Gee is as sharp as they come... just needs to bite his tongue now and them.   

At any rate I am sure Pikewood is a solid course and nice operation but I, like Charlie, won't be visiting anytime soon. Nor will Jerry West if I understand correctly (hope I am wrong but it seems to be par for the course with those guys). 

[Carl Johnson]

Carl, the original mission was basically to make available higher education to all areas of society with a particular eye toward anyone and everyone from West Virginia. I'm sure it was worded a bit better than that but that was the gist.

You would be happy to see that mission being tweaked toward a higher level of educational offerings now up on the official website.

Gee came over as the interim President when Dr. Clements left for Clemson (shame as Clements was very forward thinking and very aggressive). After only a couple of months as the interim Presidents the Board of Governors (another group targeted by Raese) asked Gee to consider a permanent appointment and eh accepted. While he is very different than Clements Gee is as sharp as they come... just needs to bite his tongue now and them.   

At any rate I am sure Pikewood is a solid course and nice operation but I, like Charlie, won't be visiting anytime soon. Nor will Jerry West if I understand correctly (hope I am wrong but it seems to be par for the course with those guys). 

Thanks for the insights.  I've just updated my knowledge of Raese, Luck and Gee.  One thing I didn't know about were the EPA issues at Pikewood.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82137.html

[Greg Tallman]

Great day for West Virginia, just another in a series of losses for Raese. Now if only the EPA would step up.

Good times, Charlie!

[Carl Johnson]

Great day for West Virginia, just another in a series of losses for Raese. Now if only the EPA would step up.

Good times, Charlie!

Greg, not sure about the timing of your post or what it relates to -- but I drove past Pikewood late a.m. on July 12 and as far as I could tell it was deader than a doornail.

[Greg Tallman]

Carl,

Predictably the courts ruled against Raese in his ridiculously frivolous lawsuit against the university and, in effect, IMG. Most believe he will continue his vendetta against the AD with some new legal garbage which would only further demonstrate how devious he truly is.

Again all this nonsense stems from a bidding process where raese's team bid roughly $10 million to IMG's $100 million plus. Shockingly the university went with IMG who partnered with a local media company (raese's competitors) .

The irony is Raese could have likely generated as much profit as past years had he too partnered with IMG for the radio side but he could not bring himself to do so and started down this path which he had to have known was a dead end. Nothing but a smear campaign against Oliver Luck and others in the local community.

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe Bausch's photo gallery:  http://myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/PikewoodNational/index.html