My bottom 5 of 2012

Here's a rundown of my 5 lowlights of 2012...

My top 5 of 2012

Eagle One Golf acquires Fore-Par

Breaking news here... Eagle One Golf Products (Anaheim, Calif.) is set to announce today that they have acquired Fore-Par (Buena Park, Calif.) Readers might remember back in June, Eagle One Golf was acquired by Canadian company Golf Supply Warehouse.

With the acquisition, Eagle One Golf now says that they are the "largest distributors of golf course and golf range equipment, supplies and accessories in the world." 


Here is a statement from the company:

Eagle One Golf of Anaheim, Calif., is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Fore-Par of Buena Park, Calif.

Fore-Par has served the U.S. golf industry for more than 48 years. It has a tremendously well developed business in the golf course and golf range equipment, accessories and supplies product segments. Fore-Par also has an established manufacturing capability in golf flags, tee markers, as well as golf course signage, in addition to distributing a broad line of other golf course equipment and supplies from leading manufacturers such as Par-Aide and Standard Golf. Paul Cherrie, President of Eagle One Golf added, “We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to combine the Eagle One Golf and Fore-Par businesses. This will allow us to increase the depth and breadth of our product offerings to better serve our customers.”

The combined Eagle One Golf & Fore-Par businesses will operate out of the Eagle One Golf Head Office in Anaheim. Longer term, the plan is to exit the current Fore-Par distribution facilities in Buena Park, Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix, and merge them into existing Eagle One Golf distribution facilities in Anaheim and North Charleston, S.C.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Eagle One Golf

Founded in 1992, Eagle One Golf, and its parent company, Golf Supply House (founded in 1960) are now the largest distributors of golf course and golf range equipment, supplies and accessories in the world.

Talking 2013 with Rees Jones

Golfdom TV visits with Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS

Sharp Park case dismissed

This comes via email from the Southern California Golf Association's director of governmental affairs, Craig Kessler. He brings good news on the battle to keep Sharp Park open:

Case dismissed!

Those of you who have been reading these reports for the last two years know that the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Sierra Club, after failing to secure the closure of San Francisco’s Sharp Park Municipal Golf Course through the political process, filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court under the Endangered Species Act alleging that operations at the 80-year old Alister MacKenzie designed golf course was killing the rare frogs and snakes that ironically only colonized the property due to the dredging that accompanied the construction of the golf course in the 1920’s.

Judge Illston dismissed all counts of the lawsuit on December 7, citing an October 2 opinion of the United States Wildlife Service that found that golf at Sharp Park is “not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the California red-legged frog or San Francisco garter snake.”  Last summer the same Federal Judge issued some rather terse comments about the illogic of the plaintiff’s substantive claims when ruling against their prayer for injunctive relief pending resolution of the merits of their claims.

Lunch with Rees

Funny story from the Golfdom Summit...

I made a few new friends at "Eleven," the rooftop bar at the Reunion Resort. These guys were on vacation from Pennsylvania, and thought it was pretty cool that we were hosting our event at the Reunion Resort.

They thought it was even cooler that Rees Jones was giving our keynote speech.

So the next day, I get a phone call from one of the guys. "Seth, it's Roy, from Pennsylvania," he says. "Not sure if you remember from last night, but if the offer's still good, we would like to come see Rees give his talk at your event."

Pinehurst's Bob Farren gets pelted with paper during an exercise in negative feedback at Syngenta Business Institute

Back from the 2012 Golfdom Summit

Wow, that was a blur! But we had a great meeting. Lots of great stories were told, lots of new connections were made... it was exactly what we wanted it to be.

The travel doesn't settle down for us. Senior editor Beth Geraci has already boarded another flight and arrives in Winston-Salem, N.C., for the Syngenta Business Institute, any minute now. She'll have a few updates here and there from that event.

Right now I'm behind on email, voice mail, snail mail... so I'll be back with a better update later, that's what I'm trying to say!