Woods Starts Golf Course Design Business

Monday, November 6th 2006, 3:37 pm

By: News On 6

Tiger Woods has been conquering golf courses around the world. Now he's going to start building them. Following other players turned architects, Woods announced Monday he has formed Tiger Woods Design and will start looking for land to design golf courses.

``My goal is to provide a unique collection of amazing courses all over the world that represent what I love about golf,'' said Woods, who will be chairman of the company.

He did not say where his first golf course would be, although an announcement is expected by the end of the year and likely will be outside the United States.

Woods has talked about designing golf courses for the last several years, a vocation of nearly all the top players. Jack Nicklaus Design has more than 300 courses that are open for play around the world, and Arnold Palmer became the first former captain to have a Ryder Cup staged on his course, in Europe, no less, at The K Club in Ireland.

Other contemporaries already involved in golf course design include Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, although Mickelson does not have his own company.

Woods and other players have talked to the PGA Tour design staff about their design philosophies as the TPC of Boston gets ready to undergo a renovation, although that project will be handled by Gil Hanse with Brad Faxon as the player consultant.

What will a course look like designed by a player with 12 majors and 64 worldwide victories who has played in more than 20 countries on every continent?

He said his courses would appeal to every skill level, drawing on his global travels.

``I've had the luxury of playing golf around the world, and I've spent a lot of time evaluating how to play all kinds of courses,'' Woods said. ``I'd like to share my experience and the lessons I've learned and hopefully create some amazing, fun courses.

``There are golfers everywhere that may never get a chance to play a links course in Scotland, a tree-lined course in America or the sand belts of Australia,'' he said. ``Hopefully, I can bring some of those elements into their backyards.''

Nicklaus first began working with Pete Dye in the mid-1960s on projects such as The Golf Club in Ohio and Hilton Head in South Carolina, but he did not design his first golf course alone until Glen Abbey outside Toronto in 1976.

Woods said he has talked with Nicklaus and architect Tom Fazio, who oversaw the revamping of Augusta National.

``I hope I can bring as much to this industry as they have over the years,'' he said.