March-April 2005

News & Notes

Industry News | New Products

Netting Repairs Still Under Way as Hurricane Season Draws Near
Four hurricanes that hit Florida late last summer left many golf facilities with downed netting and poles. There was a lot of damage, says Jim McClure, president of the Olde Rangemaster LLC in Orlando. His company has been busy since early fall, either making repairs at client facilities or installing new barrier netting at ranges across the state.
“Many of the jobs we have done post-hurricanes involve replacing the netting on the existing poles,” McClure says. “Most of the poles withstood the hurricanes and we are just hanging new cable and netting.”
Orlando’s Sweetwater Country Club is one of the exceptions. McClure says the netting system at the club’s range withstood the first two hurricanes, but Ivan’s winds snapped several poles, bringing down the fabric. Other on-course ranges in Florida where the Olde Rangemaster is repairing or replacing netting include East Bay Country Club in Largo, Wilderness Country Club in Naples, which lost netting at the end of its range, and Jonathan’s Landing, a Jupiter golf community, which required new 50-foot-tall netting.
June 1, the start of the 2005 hurricane season, has many Floridians eyeing the radar. In his annual forecast, William M. Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, predicts an above-average hurricane season this year, but does not “expect anything close to the U.S. landfalling hurricane activity of 2004.”

Tsunami Relief Fund Raises $1 Million-Plus
The U.S Golf Tsunami Relief Fund to aid rebuilding and recovery efforts in the 11 Pacific-rim nations ravaged by last year’s tsunami has raised more than $1 million. Among the contributors are the PGA Tour, the Masters Tournament, the United States Golf Association, the PGA of America, the LPGA, the PGA Tour Wives Association and individual players. The fund, established in January, is working with the office of former President George Bush on the disbursement of donations.
Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the U.S. Golf Tsunami Relief Fund, P.O. Box 2904, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32004-2904.

Pareto Acquires SGD, Hollrock Assets
Seoul Nassau (U.K.) Ltd., which operates in the U.S. as Pareto Golf Inc., has purchased SGD Golf Co. in Medina, Ohio, and assets from Hollrock Engineering in Hadley, Mass.
In November, after the purchase of SGD, Craig Treharne, Pareto’s group managing director, spoke with Golf Range News, a U.K. magazine for European range owners. “The purchase of SGD was an important first step to our long-term goals in the U.S. market,” he said. “Our revenues as a group are growing fast—in the U.K. they now exceed £10 million ($18 million) per year, and we expect revenues to be in excess of $7 million for the coming season in the States. A funding exercise has been completed between myself, Bank of Scotland and Bank One in the U.S. to provide further acquisition funds and working capital.”
Pareto-Hollrock will offer a gamut of range equipment and related accessories. A separate division, SGD Miniature Golf & Entertainment, will provide supplies and services to miniature golf course operators.
“The aim of the acquisitions is to provide customers with better service, more product choice and in the long term, better value,” Treharne recently told Golf Range Times.
Seoul Nassau owns the Pareto, Epic, Heritage, Pattissons, DFL and Sheerwater brands and is the U.K. distributor for Par Aide and Standard Golf products. Pareto Golf entered the U.S. market in late 2003.

CoverShots Signs Licensing Agreement With PGA Golf Properties
CoverShots Mobile Canopy Systems in Mount Pleasant, S.C., will serve as the exclusive mobile canopy system supplier to PGA Golf Properties through 2010. The company’s mobile canopy system can be used on artificial turf or natural grass tee lines to provide practicing golfers shelter from harmful UV rays and rain. The canopy units will be used at the PGA Golf Club, PGA Country Club and PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.