Golf

PGA Tour winner Bobby Cole, sponsored by SellMyTimeshareNOW, finished near the top at the Otesaga Hotel Seniors Open.

The Otesaga Hotel (Cooperstown, New York) in conjunction with the Pathfinder Village Foundation, hosted the 24th annual Otesaga Hotel Seniors Open. One hundred twenty-six professional golfers competed in a 54-hole format on the hotel’s beautiful Leatherstockings Golf Course.

The tournament benefits the Pathfinder Village, a residential community dedicated to children and adults with Down syndrome, along with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual fund, which also helps underwrite many of the special events at Pathfinder Village. Over the years, this professional tournament has donated more than a million dollars to the school’s scholarship fund.

Bobby Cole finished the tournament tied for 14th. White Plains, New York resident, Bobby Heins took home the tournament trophy after shooting, 12 under par, a remarkable 5 shots better than the field.

Congratulations gentlemen on some great golf.

How Did It Become So Grand?

I promise not to write too many more pieces about the fractionals at the St. Andrews Grand. But I truly appreciate the restoration of historic architecture and I am glad to see a landmark building restored to a place of grandeur and dignity.

The six-story, red brick structure, which sits across the street from the clubhouse at St. Andrews golf course, was originally constructed with Dumfries red sandstone quarried in southern Scotland. In 1895, it opened for business as the Grand Hotel. Those who have played the Old Course at St. Andrews–truly the home of golf–will tell you that the building’s cupola looms above the eighteenth green. Walk across the Swilcan Bridge, and the eighteenth hole is framed by the Valley of Sin to the front, and the red brick fortress of the old Grand Hotel behind.

Rudyard Kipling and King Edward VIII are listed among the notable guests at the Grand Hotel. And, of course, many of golf’s early greats stayed there, including the legendary amateur Bobby Jones, who was a hotel guest when he claimed his 1927 victory at The Open, one of three times he won the event, and one of thirteen Major Championship victories he achieved during his career.

In 1949, St. Andrews University purchased the Grand Hotel and converted it to dormitory space. Then, in 2004, Wasserman Real Estate of Providence, Rhode Island, bought Hamilton Hall from the university and commenced their plans for renovation and restoration as a showpiece fractional property. The architectural firms of Hurd Rolland Partnership (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Van Tilburg, Banvard, and Soderbergh (Santa Monica, California, USA), and designer Randall Ridless, are working together to protect and preserve the integrity of the building’s design, decor, and harmony within the historic environment.

What he’ll get for the money

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Phil Mickelson’s $3.4 million timeshare/fractional purchase, and I thought you might enjoy learning a little more about what you get for that kind of money. For starters, this is pre-development pricing. Sure the golf course at the property is already constructed, after all, it’s the Old Course at St. Andrews, where they’ve been playing golf since at least as early as the fifteenth century. But the St. Andrews Grand, a renovation of a building that has most recently served as a dormitory at the University of St. Andrews, isn’t scheduled to open for business until 2008. Not that “open for business” means that anyone can just walk in and plunk down his or her $1.5 to 3.4 million—you have to be invited to purchase property there.

When completed, the five-star St. Andrews Grand will have 23 residences, including six penthouses, like the 1,922 square foot penthouse purchased by Phil and Amy Mickelson. All will be three or four bedroom apartments with luxury kitchens. Property ownership includes the privilege to fish for salmon and trout in the River Tay, as well as hunting rights at a nearby estate, golf at numerous courses, his and hers spas, a billiards and game room, limo transportation, a library, and a gourmet dining room.

According to Golf Digest Magazine, the Mickelson’s nine weeks of yearly timeshare/fractional usage at the St. Andrews Grand will come with annual dues reported to be nearly $35,000. For less than Phil Mickelson’s annual dues, you can buy a timeshare of your own in Scotland.

Golf’s 36th Ryder Cup will be contested at The K Club, Kildare, Ireland

The Ryder Cup is one of the world’s truly great sporting events. For one thing, nobody plays for prize money. Instead, Team USA and Team Europe battle each other for bragging rights as the best professional golfers in the world – at least for two years until the matches are contested all over again.

This year’s US captain is Tom Lehman, while Ian Woosnam heads the European team. For each of the teams, a dozen players will earn the honor of representing their flag. Some names like Woods and Mickelson for the US are a sure thing, as are Howell and Montgomerie for Team Europe. Other names remain to be confirmed on the list.

But confirmation is in that the 5-star K Club Hotel will provide opulent accommodations for anyone who booked rooms there between September 22 and 24 – the dates of this year’s Ryder Cup. And if you don’t happen to have reservations at the K Club, there are fabulous timeshare resorts in Dublin and Galway, as well as throughout England and Scotland. So if you love the game of golf, or are married to someone who does, put it on your schedule to play the fabulous courses of Ireland.

Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky will be the site of the 37th Ryder Cup matches, which alternate between a US and a European location.