Tiger Woods is designing another golf course. He announced the project he soon be working on through his social media, just weeks after the update of his recent back surgery. While this sounds like really good news for the golfing community in Aledo, it sounds like a business travesty for the 15-time major champion and his partner.
According to Tiger Woods‘s post, his TGR Design is teaming up with the Blue Jack Nation and Mitchell Family to build a golfing community in the city of Aledo, Texas. Notably, his first steps in the US golf course architect world were with them as well. Considering he gave shape to one of the best golf courses in Texas, I am sure partnering with them once again wouldn’t have been a brainer. However, they chose the wrong locality this time.
Over a decade ago, I designed my first U.S. course at Bluejack National. I’m excited to announce that @tgrdesignbytw, @BluejackNation, and the Mitchell family are teaming up again to create @BluejackRanch, an exceptional new golf community in Aledo, Texas.… pic.twitter.com/k2nNCR82nB
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 3, 2024
Let’s face it. While pro golf means all about the sport, recreational golf means fun. The enjoyment you get by playing a round with your buddies over a beer or two is irreplaceable. Even when fans plan to watch a Tour event always look for whether alcohol is banned on the particular golf course or not.
This might not look like a huge deal for an outsider or not that we’re promoting alcohol consumption, but an average golf-loving fan finds happiness in small things like these. What if the locality where you’re building the next dream golf course is a dry county?
Tiger Woods and his partners will face difficulty in getting the alcohol delivered.
Without any delay, I will brief you about what happened with the only other golf course in Aledo, the Split Rail Golf Course. “At the present time, we are selling alcohol in our clubhouse to our patrons,” said George Ripley, one of the owners of the establishment in the city council meeting conducted in March 2024. A local news outlet, The Community News, reported this.
“But the clubhouse is located in a dry county. What this means is that we can’t have the alcohol delivered by our suppliers,” he added. Bringing the alcohol by themselves, according to him, increases the costs. Mr. Ripley wanted to hold a vote to get the delivery of alcohol to their golf course approved.
With the change of management at the beginning of the year, and bringing new additions to the clubhouse… one can only assume the business is going well. However, their recent admission of this huge concern changed the scenario. This could potentially cause trouble in the future for Woods and his partners’ new project, Blue Jack Ranch.
If selling alcohol to their members and visitors is one of their business plans, the team should prepare for constant running to convince the council, requesting sanctions, etc. in order to make the business bloom.
Has Tiger Woods ever failed while choosing golf course design projects?
Success and failure are byproducts of business. Tiger Woods, of all people, will know that. After all, he and golfers like Jack Nicklaus have proved their expertise in the field and earned millions, apart from their pro-golf career earnings.
One of the recent mistakes, Woods has reportedly made was in his own Florida. NBC reported in August that Nicklaus’s attorney Eugene Stearns stated that Woods’s TGR Designs was supposed to design one of the courses in the Florida state park golf project. The project was put on hold earlier after some protested against it. Nicklaus was also put in the spotlight due to his involvement at the time. However, neither Woods nor his design company admitted any involvement in this.
Similar was the case when the Florida native tried to design a golf course for Donald Trump in Dubai. According to the reports from Bloomberg.com, the project that started in 2014 was scheduled to open in 2017. However, Trump’s official website still has it listed with a ‘coming soon’ label.
It is possible that the motion moved by Split Rail Golf Course may have eased the process of getting alcohol delivered for Woods and his partners. They can even opt to not serve alcohol at all in their establishment. Honestly, it depends on the club members, locals, and a lot of other factors. Or they can simply raise the prices charged to its members.
