Tag: Troon Golf

Jimmy Dunne, who helped broker original PGA Tour-PIF deal, named to board of one of golf’s major players

The Wall Street shaker has been named to the board of directors of one of golf’s most influential companies.

Jimmy Dunne, the Wall Street deal maker who helped architect the PGA Tour’s controversial deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and then resigned from the Tour’s Policy Board, has been named as a member of the board of directors of one of golf’s most influential companies.

The West Palm Beach, Florida, resident was named Thursday to the Troon Golf board, which manages nearly 1,000 golf clubs worldwide. He is also the vice chairman and senior managing principal of Piper Sandler, an investment bank and financial services company.

Dunne is a member of Augusta National Golf Club and the president of the exclusive Seminole Golf Club. He’s played rounds with everyone from Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth to retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady. In a headline last year, after he was appointed to the PGA Tour’s policy board, one magazine dubbed him the sport’s “ultimate power broker.”

In a call with Golfweek back in May, Dunne explained his decision to leave the PGA Tour’s Policy Board.

“There’s a group that decides things and I’m not in it and I’m not consulted,” he said, referring to the board of the new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises. “I’m superfluous. It’s time to move on.”

A Long Island native and Notre Dame graduate, Dunne got his foothold on Wall Street by working at Bear Stearns before leaving to co-found the investment banking firm Sandler O’Neill & Partners in 1988. The firm later took up residence on the 104th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center, where 83 of its employees reported to work on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

Dunne would have been among them, but he had traveled to Bedford, New York, that day in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Sixty-six of his coworkers, including his longtime friend Christopher Quackenbush, died in the attack on the South Tower. Golf, quite literally, may have saved his life.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Dunne and his firm were repeatedly profiled by media outlets who spotlighted their resolve as they began to rebuild. “(Osama) Bin Laden set out to kill me and my colleagues,” he told Newsday in 2002. “What would he like us to do: Build a new business, or to quit and run?”

2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Jimmy Dunne tees off during a practice round prior to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Here’s more on his background, per a release from Troon:

Dunne began his career on Wall Street working at L.F. Rothschild and later Bear Stearns. He was a co-founder of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, which was acquired by Piper Sandler in 2020. Under his leadership, Sandler O’Neill grew to become the largest independent full-service investment banking firm focused on the financial services sector.

Over the past three decades, he has advised on some of the financial industry’s largest M&A transactions. In addition to serving on Troon’s Board of Directors, Dunne currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame, and is a board member of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and Chime Financial, Inc.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jimmy Dunne to Troon’s board,” said Troon President and CEO Tim Schantz in a release. “His leadership, experience, business acumen and passion for golf will help the company continue to touch new areas in and around golf and golf-related hospitality. Jimmy’s commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with Troon’s vision, and we’re confident he’ll have a strong impact on the company.”

Dunne joined the Policy Board in January 2023 at the request of Commissioner Jay Monahan. Six months later, on June 6, the Tour announced a shocking Framework Agreement with the Saudis, who fund the LIV Golf circuit. The deal was forged in a series of top-secret meetings involving Dunne, Monahan and board chairman Ed Herlihy. The deal has yet to be finalized.

“I’m excited to join the Board of Troon and work closely with Tim and the rest of his terrific team. I have always enjoyed playing the Troon golf courses and the more I’ve learned about the entire company, the more impressed I have become by all its offerings. I’m looking forward to helping Troon any way I possibly can,” Dunne added.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Troon has completed 14 acquisitions over the last decade and has also ramped up its offerings to clubs.

Golfweek columnist Eamon Lynch and Tom Schad of USA Today Sports contributed to this reporting.

Tucson golf course where part of the movie ‘Tin Cup’ was filmed will host PGA Tour Champions in 2024

La Paloma Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, opened in 1984 in Tucson.

TUCSON, Ariz. — “Tin Cup” is probably the second-best golf movie ever made and if you were to Google it, you’d find a slew of interesting facts about the film, including the locations used to film it.

The “tiny Arizona town of Tubac” comes up in that search, as does Kingwood, Texas. But another filming location was La Paloma Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course that opened in 1984.

In February, when the PGA Tour Champions returns to Tucson, the 50-and-over circuit will compete at La Paloma, the first of a three-year deal for the Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences. Tin Cup fans who look closely will probably recognize parts of the course.

“Kevin Costner was here,” said David Stout, the regional director of agronomy for Troon, who then recounted a funny story. “The mechanic of the golf course was actually mowing this area and there was a problem with the mower and they scalped the grass a few days before the filming of the scene.”

Alas, no harm, no foul, as filming commenced on time.

La Paloma, which means “the dove” in Spanish, opened with nine holes on the Ridge course and nine on the Canyon. In 1985, a third nine dubbed the Hill was opened.

The Cologuard Classic will take advantage of the best parts of the three nines, with the routing for the tournament to include “all of the Ridge Course, Canyon Nos. 1, 4, 8 and 9 and Hill 3, 4 and 9,” according to Stout.

The PGA Tour Champions played at Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course since 2015 and Cologuard came in as the title sponsor in 2018. But the run at Tucson National is over, with a new era starting at La Paloma.

Located about 10 miles to the southeast, there won’t be much change in elevation, with both courses at about 2300 feet, but the venues are indeed quite different.

“There’s a lot of movement on these golf courses,” Stout said. “It has one of the higher slope ratings out there. Tucson National is a great golf course but relatively flat particularly on that Catalina course. Here there’s just constant movement, so I think the tee shots will be challenging but the second shots in will be challenging. These Nicklaus greens are a little smaller, they’re tight and they’re really well protected on all sides.”

Check out some of the best photos of La Paloma Country Club.

Florida development team buys hotel site at Bayonet-Black Horse in plan to create Monterey Peninsula Golf Resort

The Monterey Peninsula is set to see another golf resort development as a result of a $25.2 million sale of a hotel site.

The Monterey Peninsula, home of the famous Pebble Beach Golf Links and its resort properties, is set to see another golf resort development as a result of a $25.2 million sale of a hotel site at Bayonet and Black Horse, a 36-hole golf facility in Seaside, California, to SKDG Capital.

The transaction closed this month as Kiran C. Patel, a Tampa, Florida, physician, founder of medical schools and philanthropist, took possession of an 81-acre site long envisioned for a 330-room hotel and townhouses. Troon Golf of Scottsdale, Arizona, will manage the golf facilities as well as food and beverage, golf course agronomy, and sales and marketing for the two championship courses, the company confirmed in a press release.

“We’re very excited,” said Pat Jones, director of golf at Bayonet and Black Horse, adding that renovation of Black Horse into an easier, tourist friendly layout is on the drawing board. Major champion and architect Tom Watson has walked the courses in recent weeks to survey potential changes, but Jones said Watson has not been contracted. Bayonet is also expected to see some changes in turf.

Watson designed, along with the late Sandy Tatum and Robert Trent Jones Jr., the Links at Spanish Bay in the 1980s for the Pebble Beach Co., operator of the famed eponymous course, Spyglass Hill, and the recently opened Tiger Woods-designed par-3 course called The Hay in memory of longtime Pebble Beach pro, the late Peter Hay.

The two courses were built by the Army at Fort Ord – Bayonet in 1954, named for the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, and Black Horse in 1964, named for the 11th Cavalry Regiment. Both have been considered tough layouts, with Bayonet playing host to the PGA Tour Qualifying School over the years, and as the site of the PGA Professional National Championship in 2012 and 2018 and the Senior PGA Professional National Championship in 2015.

Known for its narrow playing corridors lined with oak and cypress trees, steep, penal bunkering and concrete greens, Bayonet has long been considered the most difficult test of golf on the Monterey Peninsula, and led many aspiring pros to reconsider their careers. Fresh cement at the 18th tee once was etched with what could be considered last words: “Here lies the body of a PGA Tour qualifier.”

The par-72, 7,104-yard course has retained its famous bite even after a 2008 renovation by architect Gene Bates, who improved the course’s playability and strategic options.

With captivating views of the Monterey Bay, Black Horse’s 7,024 yard, par 72 layout has rolling, fescue-framed fairways, bunkers with distinctive, serrated edges and contoured greens.

When the 7th Division of the Army was moved to Fort Lewis, Washington, as part of base closures in the early 1990s, the golf courses were sold for $11 million to the City of Seaside, which leased the operations to BSL Golf of Houston, Texas. BSL made major renovations and irrigation improvements, but relinquished its operations and abandoned development plans to the city in 2005 to settle a legal dispute. The city then sold the hotel site and entered into an agreement for operations to Seaside Resort Development Group of Tucson, Arizona, for about $20 million.

Headed by Donald R. Diamond and Richard Fitzgerald, the new ownership made new plans for a hotel, but the area formerly a driving range above the course parking lot and clubhouse languished as a sand pit. The property has stunning views of Monterey Bay on clear days. Diamond, who developed large residential subdivisions around Tucson and was the benefactor of a medical center there, died in March 2019 at the age of 91.

In the same vein as Diamond, Dr. Patel is a major philanthropist and community leader. A cardiologist, he has founded medical schools and clinics that bear his name in Tampa and India. He is also a major contributor to the University of South Florida.

Patel began buying health care companies in the ’90s, acquiring a struggling Medicaid provider called WellCare, which he sold in 2002 for more than $100 million.

“From earning $3,000 a month in my first practice to $100 million, I can say I have achieved a true American dream,” he said in a speech at the University of South Florida. He noted that his success was buying properties and enterprises laden with debt and turning them around.

“Bayonet and Black Horse, and the former military base they were built on, have an incredible history in the Bay Area,” Patel said in a release. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Troon…to enhance and improve the golf experience at these two iconic golf courses, while concurrently developing a new hotel on the property.”

The city of Seaside continues to own the golf course acreage and receives about $200,000 a year in lease revenues. In addition, luxury residential lots are being developed and sold on the golf course by Shea Homes, with prices about $1.9 million.

With special reporting by Alex Hulanicki in Monterey.

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Troon acquires Indigo Golf Partners in club management mega-deal

The largest golf-course management firm in the U.S. has just gotten larger by acquiring one of its chief competitors, Indigo Golf Partners.

In a deal that makes the largest golf-club management firm even larger, Troon announced it has acquired Indigo Golf Partners, the company formerly known as Billy Casper Golf. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This transaction supports our continued growth and reach in the industry, while bringing additional support, expertise and resources to associates as well as current and prospective clients,” said Troon president and CEO Tim Schantz.

Troon’s purchase of Indigo Golf Partners, which specializes in full-service property management as well as assistance in specific segments of the golf business, continues an aggressive buying spree over the last few years, including the acquisition of Cliff Drysdale Management, the nation’s largest tennis management company, in July 2018; RealFood Hospitality, Strategy and Design in February 2019; OB Sports Golf Management in April 2019; and Green Golf Partners in May 2019.

Troon substantially increases its portfolio of facilities with the acquisition of Indigo Golf Partners – the company now provides managed services at 585-plus locations around the globe, including managing 630-plus 18-hole equivalent golf courses. In particular, the deal diversifies Troon’s portfolio of client properties that had been heavily weighted to the high-end daily-fee category. Indigo Golf Partners, which focused primarily on providing services to the municipal golf space and facilities with lower price points, brings more accessible golf under the Troon umbrella.

Indigo Golf Partners is one of the largest golf-course management companies in the United States, owning and operating more than 160 golf courses, country clubs and resorts in 29 states. Members and guests of Indigo-managed facilities will continue to experience the same level of service, course conditions and food and beverage options, the company said in a release.

”Leaving the industry better than we found it has been a guiding principle of Indigo Golf Partners, and Bob Morris and I hope to have achieved that in our over 30 year history in the industry,” said Peter Hill, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Indigo Golf Partners. “Troon aligns with our commitment to quality service and has a complementary course portfolio making it the right company for us to join. We are confident in growth ahead for Indigo and appreciate the dedication and commitment of all team members and partners who have made our great company what it is today.”

In November, Billy Casper Golf, which was founded in 1989, rebranded as Indigo Partners. In January 2019, the company spun off the division Buffalo Groupe, which focuses on the business-to-business sector of the industry, perhaps setting up for such a sale of the course-management business down the road. Indigo Golf Partners is expected to maintain its headquarters in Reston, Virginia and to continue and support managed-clubs throughout Troon’s full family of brands, including Troon Golf, Troon Privé, Honours Golf, OB Sports and more.

“Peter Hill and I have been good friends for many years,” said Troon founder and executive chairman Dana Garmany. “While we have been friendly competitors over time, we’ve always shared a mutual admiration for each other’s company. We share common values and a similar approach to putting our client’s interests first and foremost, and working to impact the golf industry in a positive fashion.”

While Troon extends its lead as the largest player in the course-management sector, there is still more than 80 percent of the 14,500 golf courses in the U.S. that aren’t run by a professional management company, meaning there remains plenty of room for growth.

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