With Cabot Citrus Farms and Cabot Highlands, although they already possessed nice golf, you continue to noticed alternatives to do some various things. What’s the impulse behind revamping the programs in Florida and including the second course in Scotland?
Each are very completely different. Fort Stuart had its greatest yr ever final yr. It has a terrific clubhouse and is a part of a rotation of golf within the Highlands. They’d deliberate, over time, to construct lodging and construct extra golf, and we had been very conscious of that. What we’ll find yourself with there’ll really look loads like what we’ve in Cape Breton at the moment, with two golf programs by nice architects, a par-3 course and lodging. We’re big followers of it and simply proud to be the stewards of it.
Citrus was completely different. What drew me to it was the pure fantastic thing about the location and the [Florida] Nature Coast [an area in northeast Florida of nearly a million acres of forests, prairies and blackwater rivers], and the terrific elevation change on the property. There we’re engaged in additional of a renovation, attempting to deliver a product to market. The location has a observe report of being acknowledged as one of many nice websites for golf. There’s 600 acres that has by no means been developed, and the potential to construct extra golf.
Out of the blue it looks as if you’re simply very busy, with two tasks coming on-line this yr, with a mushy opening in Florida and a scheduled opening in St. Lucia. Development on a second course in Scotland begins in April and your Cabot Revelstoke undertaking outdoors of Vancouver remains to be being constructed. How do you handle all of that and increasing your group? What do you search for in new websites, given what you’ve already obtained in your portfolio?
The alternatives in Florida and Scotland had been too good to be true to not do. In an excellent world, you would possibly house these issues by a yr, however when you could have nice alternatives, you need to benefit from them. Actually, the reply to your query lies in surrounding your self with nice folks and attending to do what you like with folks you like, doing it with on daily basis.
If we will work with Tom Doak in Scotland or Invoice Coore and Ben Crenshaw in St. Lucia or Rod Whitman in Revelstoke, [British Columbia], [all golf course designers] — if we get to work with nice folks — we kind of deal with that, and that’s been an important a part of the method to success for us.
