Who's Building Those Golf Courses in Saudi Arabia?

[Thomas Dai]

Bigger picture. I did a wee bit of googleing on the population of Saudi Arabia and the number of expatriates from various parts of the World working or living there. Worth doing. Worth looking too into the past and present ownership and operating structure of the oilfields that have contributed significantly to SA's economic position plus the various companies from other countries who operate in SA. And thats not to forget politics, regional 'defence' etc.
atb

[Tom_Doak]

Hate to be the one to break the news...but my guess is that 60-70% of the golfing population is more interested in playing a course designed by Nicklaus or Norman than one designed by Doak, Coore-Crenshaw, C. B. Macdonald, Dr. MacKenzie, Raynor, Colt etc.  To the 75%, Nicklaus, Norman, etc are the hottest brands

Paul:


I am not one to let my ego get the better of me, but it's not so much that I think my brand has gone up as that theirs have gone down.  I think Nicklaus and Norman have spoiled their brands via over-saturation, and I can't remember the last time either of them opened a course that got a lot of attention.


Honestly I think that's been true since the Rio Olympic design competition.  It was clear that all of those guys thought their brand would win the day, and it was just as clear that the Olympic Games did not want anyone else's brand -- they considered their own brand far more important, and anything else a distraction.  But there was no recognition at all about that from Nicklaus, Norman, or Player.