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'Great White At Big White'
(Kelowna Daily Courier)

February 22, 2007

KELOWNA, British Columbia - Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna is going year-round with the announcement of a Greg Norman signature golf course and a 17-story hotel, casino and convention center.

"The golf course and hotel are the anchors for us to go into the spring, summer and fall business," Big White senior vice-president Michael Ballingall said Wednesday.

"The hotel will have a convention center and, if we have people up here in the spring, summer and fall, they will need somewhere to play."

The Australian PGA star's nickname is The Shark, and a "Great White at Big White" golf course has been in the plans since 2000, when Big White started to develop its Happy Valley Adventure Area.

Happy Valley is already home to a gondola, day lodge, skating rink, tube park and beginner's hill.

Construction on the golf course could start in the summer of 2008 for completion in the summer of 2010.

Construction of the $200-million, 400-plus-room hotel, casino and convention center is expected to start as soon as this ski season ends, for fall 2009 opening.

Franco, Toledo Headline Mexico's First PGA TOUR Event

February 20, 2007

Four-time PGA Tour winner Carlos Franco of Paraguay and Mexican veteran Esteban Toledo will spearhead the Latin American challenge at this week's inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Franco and Toledo have accepted sponsor's exemptions to play in the PGA Tour's first official money event to be staged on Mexican soil.

The Mayakoba Golf Classic, starting on Thursday, takes place on the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course at the resort of Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya.

Franco, who has twice represented the Internationals in the Presidents Cup, became the first South American to win on the PGA Tour in 31 years with his breakthrough at the 1999 New Orleans Classic.

He followed up with further victories at the 1999 Greater Milwaukee Open and the 2000 New Orleans Classic, becoming the first player in Tour history to win more than $1 million in his first two seasons.

"Carlos has an outstanding career record and is considered one of the best Latin American players to ever play the game," tournament director Larson Segerdahl said in a statement.

"He also has a wonderful personality and brings an upbeat attitude to any event he plays."

The 44-year-old Toledo, who made his PGA Tour debut in 1994, has represented his country five times at the World Cup.

He has twice finished second on the Tour, most recently at the 2002 Buick Open where he finished four strokes behind Tiger Woods.

Eight former major winners are in the Mayakoba Classic field, among them twice US Open champion Lee Janzen and Australia's Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA champion at Riviera.

Also playing at El Camaleon are Britain's Greg Owen, who tied for fourth at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am two weeks ago in his last start, and five-times PGA Tour winner Jesper Parnevik of Sweden.

With the game's leading 64 players competing in this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain's Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, Parnevik and company have a freer hand.

American Dean Wilson, the world number 67, is the highest-ranked player in the field.

Jupiter Country Club Models Open To The Public

February 17, 2007

The homes are elegant, the views are spectacular and the setting along the Greg Norman designed golf course appears second to none.

On Thursday, hundreds of invited guests braved chilly and rainy weather to see the seven single-family residential models at the Jupiter Country Club before the grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The homes are situated in one of Palm Beach County's newest golf course communities, just west of Florida's Turnpike off Indiantown Road.

Sixteen of the 18 golf holes are located south of Indiantown Road, while a golf cart tunnel will take members underneath Indiantown Road to play the final two holes and enjoy the clubhouse. A second facility, the Health and Fitness Center will also be available to members of Jupiter Country Club.

Three different collections will provide 362 single family homes, as well as about 166 two-and three-story townhomes, all of which will have a view of one of the lakes, a nature preserve or the golf course.

Toll Brothers, a Fortune 500 company, is the developer of Jupiter Country Club.

Jupiter Country Club's entrance is past the Florida Turnpike entrance along Indiantown Road. The model center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For information, call (561) 743-7900 or log onto jupitercountryclub.com.

Lietzke To Aid In Design Of TPC Of San Antonio

February 15, 2007

Dallas' Bruce Lietzke will join Sergio Garcia as a design consultant for the Tournament Players Club of San Antonio. Pete Dye and Greg Norman are the architects. The resort, scheduled to open in 2009, will be north of downtown San Antonio. Marriott will develop the resort and will retain PGA Tour Golf Course Properties to operate the golf facilities.

Happy Birthday Greg

February 10, 2007

Join Shark.com in wishing Greg Norman a happy 52nd birthday.

Norman Eyes India On Emerging Golf Scene
(NNN-PTI)

February 6, 2007

Greg Norman, one of the most charismatic players to have walked the golfing greens, said India was a land of opportunities and he was interested to take up golf course designing projects in the subcontinent.

Norman, now considered a legend in golf course designing, said he was negotiating to take up a few projects in India.

"We have been approached for numerous projects (and asked) if we're interested in going to India, and the answer is yes. We have looked at them, and we are in the negotiation stage right now," said Norman, who is playing at the Desert Classic here.

Norman, who was one of the first designers to come to India and lend his name to a course -- now called Jaypee Greens near Delhi, is one of the sharpest business minds in sport.

"Like any designer you want to be at the tip of the sphere and the growth of the game of golf is at its peak at present," he said.

"Normally, golf course design is a very good barometer to what's happening to the economy no matter what continent you're on, because when people go and build a golf course, they are either doing a residential golf course community or a resort development," he added.