Golf International, LifeStyle 96

JULY 2010 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 1

GREG NORMAN / GOLF PROPERTY / LUXURY / FASHION / MOTORING / MEMORABILIA AND MORE...

GOLF INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE JULY 2010

Spotlight on theluxuries of Rockliffe Hall

see page 136

Gi: Where’s the money in golf today?GN: The sponsor market around golf tourna-ments it is a very difficult market right now –and I know this because I own a couple oftournaments myself. The money that is thereis from existing contracts, signed a few yearsago, pre-2008. It’s money that is locked in.There’s been a lot of negotiating around thosecontracts to allow some flexibility to thefinancial terms. If it’s happening to me on arelatively small scale, on a couple of events,imagine what it’s like for the PGA Tour or theEuropean Tour.

Gi: Did golf become too exposed as a sportto banks and car makers?GN: In the US there was a high number oftournaments backed by car makers and thebanks and the public are rightly asking, ‘Whyare we giving them our money when they arestill sponsoring golf tournaments?’

Gi: The last two decades have been a bullmarket for sponsor rights, has that bredcomplacency and a lack of innovation?GN: Absolutely it has. The model, the box thatgolf has been in the last 25 years has

remained the same, it’s been like GroundhogDay. We have to become more sophisticatedand think differently. Chubby [AndrewChandler, founder of ISM] is right when hesays the market for sponsorship and playerendorsements has collapsed.

Gi: What have we learnt from the sorryTiger Woods saga?GN: Tiger Woods is a testament to how quick-ly the money can be turned off when peoplestart pulling out and the multi-million dollarendorsements dry up very quickly. When youset your price expectations so high, yourwhole life is based around keeping those stan-dards very high. Tiger is no different fromeveryone else – we’ve all felt the pinch at thepump. If you go back through the history ofthe PGA Tour, prize-money has doubled everyfive years. If I was CEO of the company I’dhave looked at that and thought, my strikerate has been 100% every five years, how thehell can I sustain that sort of growth? Alarmbells would be going off; logic tells me thatmaybe I won’t be able to go from $250 mil-lion to $500 million in prize-money andmaybe the Tours should have adjusted their

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JULY 20102

GREG NORMAN ON LIFE, GOLF & TOUGH TIMES IN BUSINESS

Two years is a long time in thelife of Greg Norman. When I lastsat down to interview him for GolfInternational – in South Africa, inthe spring of 2008 – he’d juststepped off his private jet, GN1,accompanied by his then fiancéChris Evert. During that interview,Evert showed off her sparklingnew diamond ring and the coupleannounced that they were to bemarried. On the surface at least,all was well in Norman’s world: hewas in good form, both on andoff the course, combining two ofhis favourite activities – playinggolf and signing lucrative deals.Today, the location and the vibe

is very different. We’re in Turkey atthe KPMGGolf Business Forum,where Norman received a LifetimeAchievement Award in recognitionof his contribution to the golfindustry. But on a personal andbusiness level Norman’s worldhas taken a tumble – the relation-ship with Evert is no more (thoughhis new partner Kristen Kutner isnowhere to be seen) and thedeals are drying up. He hasclosed his offices in Australia –inviting much local criticism – andduring our conversation he com-plained of cash-flow problems.The financial crisis has, he says,left scars but, you suspect, that ifGreg Norman is suffering, the restof the market is getting it worse.As ever, he was easy to talk to,

honest, open and not shy of shar-ing some hard-hitting opinions.-- RRiicchhaarrdd GGiilllliiss

The Shark:survival instinct

All work and lots of play: while most of Normanʼstime these days is dedicated to his business interests, he still loves to compete and will take hisplace at St Andrews hoping to produce the formthat made him a contender at Birkdale in ʼ08 (right).Below: Shooting the breeze with Jack Nicholson atFlushing Meadow during the US Open tennis

GREG NORMAN

business model. Risk management? I don’tknow that the PGA Tour has that. They haveto manage players’ expectations, there isgoing to be another recession, but the playersnow expect double prize-money every fiveyears and are asking, ‘Where’s my money?’

Gi: For a sport that exudes self confidence,golf’s authorities seemed to panic in the faceof the Woods issue, worried that the sportwould crumble if he went. Do you agree?GN: 100%. The PGA Tour put all their eggs inone basket. They built the tour around Tiger,sold the television contracts around Tiger, soit made the other players feel insignificant,which is a sad way of doing business becausethey have a responsibility to all of their con-stituents. The PGA Tour is a one-man one-vote operation and nobody is bigger than thegame of golf. The exact same thing happenedin basketball with Michael Jordan and look atthe dead time that basketball went throughwhen Jordan went. They even put PhilMickelson into a lesser category, and he hasan unbelievable database of support and somuch charisma. When you look at it closely,there have been some glaring mistakes made.

Gi: Do you see Woods’ business modelchanging?GN: It will depend on the people around him.When you’re the No. 1 player in the world,you need people around you who you cantrust and rely on because you can’t do it allon your own. You have to focus on the thingsyou love to do – i.e. play golf in order to bethe No. 1 in the world. Tiger has to re-evaluatesome of the people around him. Some of thepeople have a different mindset – they havemade a good living from selling him on themarket – and he may have to readjust to that.Sometimes, someone saying no to you is thebest yes you can get. He needs someone ableto tell him to go in a different direction andthat it will hurt for a little bit. Tiger has anenormous endorsement deal with Nike. ThatSwoosh is way more powerful than Tiger’sbrand. Which poses a problem. He has amajor association with it but he has to pro-mote the Tiger Woods brand, and in the golfindustry he is overshadowed by it, there’s nospace around him for anything else. As stag-nant as the golf industry is right now, It canbe difficult for him to establish any solidroots.

Gi: There are parallels between Tiger andyourself, both long time world no. 1, bothwere IMG players and both became globalbrands. At the peak of your career you leftIMG to go on your own. Why did you dothis?GN: In my day IMG never understood how tobuild equity in a brand because they werethe brand. As an athlete, you are a pass-through entity. They were taking commis-sion on an annual basis and if you had athree-year deal to represent someone theywould take their money and you knew therewould be another Greg Norman down theline. There was, he was Tiger Woods. So theytended to have a short-term mentality toplayers, because it plays to their businessmodel: they need the cash flow. When youbecome a living brand you tend to see thingsdifferently in terms of future earnings andhow you want to position yourself in thefuture. I didn’t leave IMG. My contract endedand I didn’t renew it. They didn’t like it. Ithink since then they’ve watched me andhave learned some lessons and a lot of thethings they implemented with Tiger theymay learnt from me.


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Gi: Tiger is now in the golf course business,and you’ve been in it for a long time. Myview is that the legacy of the boom years isan over-supply of the wrong type of course,which are expensive to join, difficult to playand now suffering from huge debts theycan’t repay. Meanwhile, golf has not shakenoff its exclusive image. What’s your view?GN: I couldn’t agree more. As a player in the’80s I was in the halcyon boom of corporatedollars being thrown at the game of golf. Iwas a huge benefactor of that money. Therewas a three- to five-year time period in the1980s when everyone thought they weredoing the bullet-proof right thing in terms ofbuilding courses. But what was done wasabsolutely the wrong thing. As a strategy itwas riddled with holes. The implementationand execution was very wrong and I agree themoney went into the wrong type of course. Iblame the architects as well. They went outand built monuments to themselves withdevelopers’ unlimited budgets. Instead ofbuilding a golf course for $10 million theyspent $20 million. Instead of building coursesthat needed $1 million worth maintenance ayear they need $3 million. The ongoing main-tenance cost is the burden that is now show-ing its ugly head in America, because themembership is turning around and askingwhy, even an economic downturn, are we pay-ing annual fees of thousands of bucks a year.The wives are telling their husbands that youcan’t go play golf, and it all came from thatmoment in the 1980s.

Gi: You are targeting China. What’s the situation there?GN: Today’s architects have inherited this dis-aster and we have to approach it differently.

Every potential developer now has do thingsdifferently. I gave a speech in China recentlyand I told them, please don’t fall into the trapof what America and Britain did in the ’80s. Ifyou want golf to grow to the level you areexpecting it to – and they are talking 20 mil-lion or 30 million people taking up the game,those are the numbers the Chinese tourismminister is quoting – I told them they aregoing to build a lot of golf courses but don’tbe a copycat. Be smart and the game will besustainable.

Gi: Has the credit crunch hit you?GN: Oh yes [laughs]. The biggest effect I see isin account receivables which are way outthere. People want to finish their projects butare waiting before they put their money backinto the project. It costs more money to shutdown a project than to drip feed it. I’ve got alot of money out there that is not being paid. Ihad a conference call this morning with aninvestment group telling me the money isthere and that it would be there in two orthree weeks. They’ve been saying that for twoyears, and we have to pay our bills, too. Myguys have put pressure on them, asking whythese bills aren’t being paid. But I’m a believerthat the formation of partnerships in badtimes is just as crucial as they are in goodtimes. But there are some situations whereyou know you’re not going to get your moneyback because everyone has disappeared, thereis not an e-mail, there’s no phone number andyou don’t know where these people havegone. You know you just have to tick that boxand write it off.

Gi: When we last spoke – in South Africa twoyears ago – you nearly won the tournament,


Normanʼs golf course design business hasembraced the opportunity in China, this being aview of the 9th hole on his creation at theDonggaun complex in Shenzen. Below: In hisaddress at Mission Hills earlier this year, Normanemphasised the need to learn from mistakes of the1980s and build golf courses that would sustain on-going participation in the game of golf

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GREG NORMAN


Gi: Then a few months later you led theOpen going in to the final day. What areyour memories of that? GN: I remember thinking I was playing terriblegoing in to the Open, but when I got there Ihad some good feelings at the start of theweek. First, I love the golf course at RoyalBirkdale and the way the R&A set it up wasgreat, the best set-up for any Open I’ve everplayed in my life. So these goods feelings per-meated through. Also, the weather was terri-ble so that was good for me because it takesaway the guys that just hit from point A topoint B, and some artistry was needed to getaround the course, which is how I grew upplaying the game. So there was a positive tonegoing into Thursday morning and that keptgoing through the week. But there are defin-ing moments that happen for some stupidreason in life and that was one of them. And Iwouldn’t be surprised to see some of themore experienced players do well at StAndrews, too. A good player of age has achance around the Old Course.

Gi: Do you miss that artistry you speakabout? Is golf poorer for the lack of it?GN: I miss the Ballesteroses and Trevinos.When I was in my heyday, being known asthe longest, straightest driver allowed me tobe aggressive on every golf course I played.And I had a good short game, so those twothings together meant that my iron play did-n’t really matter. I attacked every pinbecause 90% of the time I knew I had enoughthat if I missed the flag on the short side Icould get up and down. Today, the coursesare set up differently and the length of theseguys means they can hit it 350 yards, be inthe rough and come out with a wedge ratherthan a 5-iron, which makes it a bit different.If I was 25 today in today’s era with today’sequipment, I’d still be long and be hittingdriver everywhere, too.

Gi: Who has caught your eye recently?GN: Rory McIlroy has got all the componentsto be a very special player. Again I don’t knowwhat goes on around him, but you look at the

guy when he walks down the fairway. He’s gotcharisma and he gets the connection with thegalleries and on the television. He’s veryaware of where he is and of his space in life.Just from the swing aspect like it. I don’t likewhat I’m hearing about injuries that seem tobe coming at such a young age. If they arestarting now then they are not going to goaway because he is not going to stop hittinggolf balls. He’s one of the three or four guys,young kids who are on the cusp of doingsomething special. Again it’s the peoplearound them that’s important. What’s in theirmind? The parents and friends have to backoff and let him be who he wants to be.

Gi: Does it concern you, as it does PeterAlliss, that he’s talking to sports psycholo-gists at such a young age?GN: No, not at all. If I had to do my career

over again I’d surround myself with all thosepeople. Once I knew that I had it, whateverthat means. If you win early it gives you confi-dence. I would surround myself, get the per-sonal trainer to travel with me, the masseuse.As for the psychologist, it depends on whatyou take out of it.

Gi: Is that support system a product of afflu-ence and money?GN: Yes. And it’s important not to defer theresponsibility for your own emotions tosomeone else. You learn more about yourselfby putting yourself through all these painsand sorrows that we have to face. But youneed to know how to correct the emotionalfeelings you have when you’re on a golfcourse. The character of the individual getsbuilt rather than passing responsibility on tosomebody else. But I would approach a sportspsychologist in a different way. I wouldn’thave been saying to him, as some players do,that I need you on the first tee to give me myZen feelings. I used to prepare much more thenight before. I did very little preparation inthe morning except look at the weather andsee which way the wind is blowing.

Gi The influence of sports science is increas-ing, with focus on gaining small advantagesover opponents. The striving for the ‘extraone percent’ has become the mantra of thesports science industry. Do you buy it?GN: I always used the negative energy fromother players as a positive energy for me,which, incidentally, I think Tiger has donebrilliantly also. The rest are saying that if he’sin the field, I can’t win. When I read stuff likethat it was like an extra club. I’d walk in thelocker room and look around and think, whoam I going to beat today? It’s not arrogance,it’s using what people give you. I agree thatmuch of the support team that has grown uparound golfers is because of the amount ofmoney.

Gi: Are you glad you played when you did?Does it seem as much fun today?GN: A lot of the fun comes from being aroundother players, which has gone now, becausethey all go off in their own planes once thetournament is over. We didn’t have privateaircraft back then. We got together, three orfour or five guys, we’d play backgammon onthe train or in the airport terminal, drinking acouple of beers waiting for the next flight. Oryou’d rent a car and drive somewhere with aguy, and when I was fortunate enough to geta plane I gave guys a lift. That’s what I reallyloved about the behind-the-scenes part of oursport. Now 80% of the guys call up NetJets orhave their own private plane and it’s ‘See younext Tuesday on the practice tee’. One of thegreat attributes Lee Westwood has, and whyhe is being successful, is that he travels withhis great mate, Darren Clarke. They share aplane together. They obviously enjoy that sideof life and I’d suggest that has a lot to do withhow well he’s playing.

“The money that is there [in golf sponsorship] ismoney that is from existingcontracts signed a few yearsago. It’s money that is lockedin. There’s been a lot ofnegotiating around thosecontracts to allow some flexi-bility, and if that’s happeningto me on a relatively smallscale, with just a couple ofevents, imagine what it’s likefor the PGA Tour or theEuropean Tour...”


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Gi: Where and when were you firstintroduced to the game?PJ: I have always been interested in all sportssince a very young age, mainly rugby andespecially tennis – but also golf while I wasstill a teenager. Coupled with the interest insport, I have always been extremely competi-tive, so the first time I picked up a club Iwanted to win. But golf is so frustrating. I canbe good one day and just plain terrible thenext! Admittedly, when I was younger, I wasmore of a ‘hacker’ to begin with rather than ameasured and considered golfer but later inlife, through my work, I developed my gameplaying as part of developing my businesscontacts. I now play regularly when I am onholiday in Portugal and Barbados, but not somuch at other times. I can’t wait for the day Iplay two rounds well, back-to-back!

What's your current handicap and what arethe main strengths of your game?I play off 12 these days but I was playing off 9not so long ago when I was playing more regu-larly. I have a decent drive, but my short gamelets me down, especially my putting. I thinkconfidence is still a golfer’s greatest strengthwhen you address the ball – you have to thinklike a winner, otherwise you can defeat your-self in golf more so than any other sport.

And weaknesses?Over confidence! Seriously, there is a thin linebetween feeling like a winner and having anightmare. I always have a lot running throughmy mind, so if I lose concentration then mygame is affected just like anybody elses.

What is your favourite golf course?I’m lucky to have played lots of amazingcourses as a result of invitations to corporateand charity golf events, and the West Courseat Wentworth springs to mind as a contender.But, for me, it’s not just the course alone thatmakes a memorable round – the course, thelocation and the weather are all vital. For thatreason, I choose The Green Monkey inBarbados – it’s amazing!

What would be your perfect golfing vacation?It’s such a precious opportunity to get some

quality time with my friends that I particularlylove playing golf on holiday – and the doublebonus is that when the round’s over, I get tospend time with my family as well! I knowsome people might say a round or two atAugusta with Tiger as your caddy – and thatwould be very appealing. But I’ll stick to golfingwhile on a family holiday with my best friends.

Where in the world would you most like toplay that you haven’t yet?I’m going to say Augusta. We recently had acharity golf day for my Foundation, raisingmoney for Forgotten Children and theNational Enterprise Academy. It was a perfectday at Hampton Park Golf Course – some-where I’ve never played before, where thedeer know no fear – and we gave away an allexpenses paid trip to Augusta in an auction. Iwas very tempted to bid myself, but it was ahot lot and there were many more eager bid-ders than me!

What piece of golfing technology has mosthelped your game in recent years?The golf buggy!

Who is your favourite player?It’s difficult to single out one player. Ifpressed I would say Jack Nicklaus for hissheer and consistent winning brilliance.There’s a quote of his I made a note of thathe is reported to have said: “I never went intoa tournament or round of golf thinking I hadto beat a certain player. I had to beat the golf

course. If I prepared myself for a major, wentin focused, and then beat the golf course, therest took care of itself.” What a great mindset!

A dream fourball – name the three peopleyou would invite?US President Obama, Tiger Woods and myfather, David. What a great day out!

What's your favourite gadget?I love my Apple iPhone, and I can play golf on it!

If you could change one Rule of Golf, whatwould it be?I’m not sure what I would change but I do likethe rule… “All players shall conduct themselvesin a disciplined manner, demonstrating cour-tesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespec-tive of how competitive they may be. This is thespirit of the game of golf.” I have some golfingbuddies who should remind themselves of this!

What is the single best round of golf youhave ever played?It was at Quinta do Lago in Portugal and I was3 over Gross. I got a 75. I told everyone!

Who do you admire most in your own field?For the purposes of answering this, I’ll limitmy “field” to “UK entrepreneurs”. I had anencounter with Sir Alan Sugar recently at ameeting about enterprise and encouragingentrepreneurship among young people – areal passion of mine. I have met Sir Alan sev-eral times but this was the first time we had


19TH HOLE Q&A WITH DRAGON’S DEN SUPREMO PETER JONES

When he’s not interrogatingwould-be entrepreneurs in theDen, Peter Jones loves nothingmore than a round of golf. Andhe’s pretty useful, too

had a formal business meeting. I have to say,for me, he is definitely not fired! He was veryimpressive, and I was delighted and surprisedthat we had a lot of views in common aboutenterprise education and the need to developthe skills of tomorrow’s business leaders torebuild the UK’s and the global economies.

Who do you admire most outside your field?I admire anyone who has a dream and has thededication and commitment to make it a real-ity. I meet a lot of young people through mywork with the National Enterprise Academy,and I am always blown away by their energy,ambition and ideas. I admire many of the

young people I meet because the vast majori-ty do not conform to the stereotypes we readabout in the media, and they really want tosucceed and make a positive difference totheir own lives and the lives of others.

How many golfing inventions failed to makethe cut on Dragon's Den?Funnily enough, golf has not been a signifi-cant topic in the Den for inventions or busi-ness ideas. We did have a chap who hadadapted a golfer’s glove as way of remindingdriver’s which side of the road to drive onwhen abroad…so you simply put the glove onthe hand that corresponds with the left orright side of the road as a reminder. But ofcourse if you can remember to do that, thenyou don’t really need the glove! Needless tosay, he didn’t get the investment.

Do any of the other Dragons play golf?Theo does, and I believe Duncan does as well.I’m not sure about Deborah or James, though.

What has been your single best investmentto date as a result of the program?Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Sauce has been aphenomenal success, and I know for sure ithasn’t peaked yet. From the original sauce,which I helped Levi to launch in Sainsbury’safter he appeared on the show, my team hasworked with him to develop a whole Caribbeanfood range. There are some amazing new prod-ucts to come – so watch this space. But, theproducts aside, the success is really down toLevi and that fact that he is such a charismaticwalking, talking (and singing) brand.

With so much going on, do you find that it'stough to concentrate for 18 holes or do youfind golf offers a good way of switching off?I can get distracted if something big is happen-ing in my companies but I find that by the timeyou reach the back nine, everything just goeson pause until the final winning putt is made!

How big a part can golf play in helping youmake a brighter future for kids through thePeter Jones Foundation?A big part, and we started in earnest thisyear with the first ever Enterprise GolfChallenge, which was an amazing charityevent to raise funds for my Foundation. Wehad a great day, backed by many businesspeople and companies. It is the start of ayear of ‘Enterprise Challenge’ events whichwill raise money that will be used to make adifference to the lives of many children. Ifanyone is interested in finding out moreabout this event in particular, or they wouldlike to contact my team to get involved infuture events, they should log on to:www.peterjones.tv

PETER JONES


Itʼs who you know: former tennis ace PeterFleming joined the Dragonʼs Den star at hischarity golf day...which they won; talking golfwith Ian Poulter at Wentworth during the PGAChampionship; Tom Fazioʼs lavish design, theGreen Monkey, at Sandy Lane; “Very impres-sive” is Jones ̓verdict on Sir Alan Sugar. (Below): The home page says it all – ReggaeReggae Sauce has been a tasty investment


For a golf course that opened onlylast November, Rockliffe Hall – bask-ing in glorious countryside in thepretty village of Hurworth-on-Tees –is a revelation. Such has been the

craftsmanship in the layout of the 18 holes,set in over 350 prime acres bordering theRiver Tees, Rockliffe Hall looks and plays likea mature championship test. The originalbuildings, which have been sympatheticallydeveloped to house the clubhouse and hotel,date to the early 1800s, adding that rarefiedair of a country estate.

The course itself was designed by MarcWestenborg of the renowned architects MartinHawtree, and playing through mature wood-land and around lakes and wetlands it’s a realhandful. From the tips the course is easily oneof the longest in Europe, with three par fivesweighing in at over 600 yards, and a handfulof fours closer to 500 than 400 yards.

“We are more than happy for visitors togive it a rip off the tips if they feel they havethe game,” says Director of Golf Ian Knight,“but most of them give up after five holes andmove up to the Blacks or the Whites.”

When you study the numbers you coulddraw the conclusion that Rockliffe Halls hasfuture-proofed championship golf. Play thecourse at its fiercesome limits and you’ll belooking at a walk of 7,879 yards! “Rockliffecould one day host the Ryder Cup, I’ve nodoubts about that,” adds European Tour play-er Graeme Storm, who is attached to the club.“It’s one of the finest courses in the UK.”

There’s certainly no doubting the pedigree.Marc Westenborg can be immensely proud ofa course that is a pleasure to play not only forthe setting but for the conditioning, which issecond to none. The greens are among thebest I have witnessed on these shores and theflexibility of five teeing areas makes thecourse accessible to all levels of golfer.

But Rockliffe offers much more than a verystrong golf course. The hotel boasts surely

Britain’s most spacious and luxuriouslyappointed bedrooms while the spa – all50,000 square feet of it – is surely the stuff ofdreams for any self-respecting WAG. Lazearound the 20-metre pool and the spa butlerwill keep you refreshed with champagne andfreshly squeezed juices.

Depending on season and availability, youcan secure a deal for as little as £135 for a dou-ble room plus breakfast. If there’s anywhere inthe country where you can enjoy better food,better facilities and better service, I’ve yet tohear about it. Middlesborough FC is 14 milesand another world away. Rockliffe Hall sitscomfortably at the head of the premiership.

In the shape of Rockliffe Hall,Middlesbrough FC chairman SteveGibson has created a haven ofgolfing excellence and a 5-starhotel and spa to boot. For qualitystyle and service, this is the stuff ofthe Premier League, writes Jeremy Chapman

ROCKLIFFE HALL, HURWORTH-ON-TEES, COUNTY DURHAM

It’s luxury up North

CONTACTRockliffe Hall, Hurworth-on-Tees, County DurhamTel: 01325 729999 • www.rockliffehall.com

GOLFVisitors welcome Monday-Friday, green fees from£60. Hotel residents and members enjoy exclusivityat weekends. Contact Ian Knight, Golf & EventsDirector on 01325 729980

GETTING THERERockliffe Hall is located between the villages ofHurworth and Croft on Tees. Five minutes fromDarlington railway station, 50 minutes fromNewcastle International Airport. Nearby places ofinterest include the North Yorkshire Moors, Whitbyand the north east coast, High Force (Englandʼshighest uninterrupted drop of water) and the iconiclandmark of Roseberry Topping

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News that Audi looked to yachtdesign for inspiration when shap-ing the Mercruiser throttle-stylegear lever of the new A8 rekindlesdistant, decade-old memories of a

riveting afternoon spent interviewing asuperyacht designer called Tim Heywood.

We’re not talking Sunseeker here. As Timput it, ‘If you’ve just won the National Lottery,forget it. It couldn’t possibly be you’.

Budgeting an eye-watering £1,000,000 permetre even then, Tim rarely produced any-thing less than 65 metres in length, with 150metres – that’s about one and half footballpitches in real money – more the norm.Taking pride of place in Antibes’ SuperyachtAlley, that’s the sort of vessel that requiresthe writing of a cheque for £2,000 just tostart the engines.

So your £8 million jackpot is inevitablygoing to leave you with something of a short-fall in the stateroom, swimming pool and heli-pad stakes. Let’s face it, you’re going to feelsomething of a Charlie sploshing into MonteCarlo harbour of a Grand Prix weekend inyour best blazer and scrambled-egg cap,behind the helm of an eight metre, gold-leafgunwaled rowing skiff.

And if that gunwale detailing sounds a tadfar-fetched, think again – your million-a-metre superyacht budget encompasses even

toothbrush choice, and I can still rememberTim listing some of the more extreme foiblesof the fantastically rich; a giant desk mount-ed on a naval gun-turret turntable, in caseour mogul gets bored with the view; a yachtequipped with touch screen technology andfive F16 fighter joysticks to steer the thing;and, of course, a yacht’s name hewn in vast,gold leaf-on-wood letters to replace the gold-plated brass originals when the owner’s not

in residence…Now, I mention this because I can only

assume that Audi had the same highly selectbunch of gadget-obsessed, hilariously richsuperyacht owners in mind when they createdthe new A8. After all, who else would behappy to fork out some £13,000 per metre ona car and then spend very nearly half as muchagain on supernumerary goodies from theoptions list? Precisely the outcome in the case

Boasting one of the world’s finest power-plants, the Audi A8 cruiseseffortlessly into poll position for anyone considering a luxury saloon, albeitone overloaded with often tedious gadgets. Gi’s motoring correspondentAnthony Ffrench-Constant climbed aboard for a spin

AUDI A8 4.2 TDI QUATTRO SE EXEC

The Audi A8:excess all areas

of the 4.2 TDI Quattro SE Exec I drove, theinterior of which had been so ruthlessly peb-ble-dashed with additional flummery that thebasic, £65,390 price rose to a whisker over£95,000.

And what baffles me about this is that thecar’s basic specification already includes everyconceivable item of standard equipment,from a digital radio and hard drive-based 3Dsatellite navigation to full leather, electriceverything and so many airbags that, if theyall went off together, comparisons could read-ily be drawn with a toddler trapped facedown in a playschool ball pit.

Scanning the options list kindly providedby Audi in the vain hope of accounting for theextra £29,660 is a bit like frantically reviewing

your monthly bank statement in the vainhope that they’ve made a mistake; nothingglaring stands out, but it all adds up.Ironically, moreover, much of the very latesttech’ to be lavished on the A8 falls into therealms of standard equipment anyway.

Even disregarding goodies we’ve comeacross before from other manufacturers, sucha solar-panel sunroofs, infra-red night visionfor pedestrian spotting, self-dimming head-lamps, massaging seats and a safety systemthat slams on the brakes when you’re toobone idle to do it yourself, Audi has still man-aged to conjure one or two notable, every-thing-but-the-kitchen-sink-status toys.

A description of the ‘Multi Media Interface’alone must, surely, consign the owner’s man-ual to phone directory stature. For starters,the satellite navigation’s GPS input is nowdeemed sufficiently accurate to feed perform-ance altering information not only to theadaptive cruise control and headlamp corner-ing light systems, but also to the 8-speedgearbox, automatically holding the car in alower gear if a sequence of bends lies ahead.

A GPS module fed with web-sourced newsand weather information from Google is onthe way later this year, as are Google Earthimages for the navigation screen and fullinternet connectivity, effectively making theA8 a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. The system even


“A GPS module fed withweb-sourced news fromGoogle is on the way, as areGoogle Earth images for thenavigation screen and fullinternet connectivety, effectively making the A8 amobile Wi-Fi hotspot”

features a new touch pad on which you candraw the letters or numbers of destinationsor phone numbers.

Sadly, this pad relegates right-hand driveowners to the use of the left hand index fin-ger, meaning that the letters of, say,‘Birmingham’ can be painstakingly kinder-gartened into shape in the twinkling of anentire evening. Sorry, Audi, but it remains farquicker to use the turn and push alphabetdial of yore (which is still there, mercifully).And isn’t it just a tad arrogant to conjure adevice which so effectively dismisses a Britishmarket that’s been so good for the brand oflate, or is this merely the first car specificallycreated for southpaws?

But all this constitutes merely the tip of thetechnological iceberg. Indeed, On first contactwith the new A8, such a tsunami of new toys

assault the senses that it takes a few hours offiddling, button stabbing and general mon-keying around to summon the resolve to putit all on the back burner and have a closerlook at the basics on offer.

Externally, the Big Grille, which first gentlyturned me off what was always my favouriteTeuton, remains. Sadly, the rest of the car hasalso been styled in the manner of a giant A4,Audi clearly considering brand recognitionmore important these days than true modeldifferentiation.

On board, quality still oozes from everypore, and build quality is predictably exem-plary. But I do feel the company has taken afirm stride in the wrong direction with theintroduction of a BMW-aping ‘big spar’ dash-board design, which spans the cabin fullwidth to the detriment of what was always anAudi ace-in-the-hole – the centre console. As aresult, the sat’ nav’ screen has migrated northto a pop-up location atop the dash, whilst allother ex-centre console switches now liealmost flat at the front of the transmissiontunnel, making then harder to use and – withbright sunlight streaming through the wind-screen – read.

The classic, four dial driver’s instrumentbinnacle has also been tinkered with; narrowfuel and temperature gauges now boastingvertical, LED illuminated scales, allowing thespeedo and rev counter to be prised far

enough apart to accommodate a larger infor-mation screen on which you may watch pass-ing pedestrians glow after dark. There’s awhiff of new car gratuity to all theseswitchgear migratory mitherings… Different?Yes. Better? I think not.

Mercifully, however, (and when you finallyget round to it) the driving experience itself isbetter by far. The 4.2 litre V8 turbodiesel is asublime powerplant, boasting 346bhp and amassive 590lb ft of torque from just1750rpm. Its potency barely blunted byattachment to permanent four-wheel drive,it’ll bung the big Audi to 62mph in only 5.5seconds and surge relentlessly on to a gov-erned 155mph.

Given enough torque on tap to spin LondonEye spectators clean out of their viewing bub-bles, I would, though, question the need for

an 8-speed transmission here. Under almostanything other than motorway conditions, thecar hunts through endless gear changes withthe relentless fervour of the man who’s lostthe winning lottery ticket somewhere in thehouse, and it’s a good job that they’re almostentirely smooth. I can only assume the com-pany’s superb and utterly oleaginous double-clutch DSG gearbox is in absentia because itcannot yet handle so much torque. A pity.

More significantly, the new A8 rides andhandles in a far superior manner to its oftenbone-jarring predecessor. Audi’s ‘Drive Select’adaptive chassis kit is fitted as standard,offering a choice of ‘comfort’, ‘dynamic’ and‘auto’ modes. The latter so adroitly shufflesbetween straight-line ride comfort and taughtcornering characteristics that there’s rarelythe need to bother the buttons.

The steering now offers all the feedbackyou could wish for in such a large machine,imbuing the A8 with a previously unavailablesense of true agility and far more poise. Somuch so, in fact, that only when standing onsuperbly powerful brakes are you remindedof just how much mass you’ve been chuckingaround.

Overall, this is a very fine car indeed, boast-ing one of the world’s finest powerplants andto marked improvements in both ride com-fort and dynamics. However, one glimpse atthe current crop of ludicrously over-styled,French curve-crazy Sunseeker yachts isenough to confirm my view that I’d still ratherconcentrate on the getting the basics rightthan blow the budget on a joystick-controlledrevolving desk.


“Given enough torque on tap to spin London Eye spectators clean out of theirviewing bubble, I would,though, question the needfor an 8-speed transmission”




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VARDON BRONZEMy grandfather, John Dunne, MC, MSM wonthis bronze of Harry Vardon in 1925. Wehave been told that it is only one of three inthis size (15 inches high on its plinth) withone having being given to the King. Mygrandfather, who was the Chairman andManaging Director of Benz Motors (England),did know Harry Vardon. Could we pleasehave a current valuation? Roy Brocklebank by email

Collecting bronzes of famous amateur andprofessional golfers from the late 19th andearly 20th Centuries such as John Ball and –as is the case here – Harry Vardon remainsvery popular.

The term ‘bronze’ is a generic term for adark brown metal piece of sculpture or cast-ing. The material used can only be bronze.Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin withsome additional trace elements such as anti-mony. It has been the favoured medium forsmall scale sculpture for many centuries.Over the years a genuine bronze will developan appealing sheen or finish, referred to as‘patina’.

There are several factors to be consideredwhen estimating this bronze’s value, notleast the identity of the sculptor. And I’mhappy to say that in this case all the boxesare ticked as Henry Alfred Pegram (1862-1937) was a very highly regarded Britishsculptor. He became a member of the ArtWorkers’ Guild in 1890, an Associate of theRoyal Academy in 1904 and a RoyalAcademician in 1922.

What of the subject matter? Well, HarryVardon (1870-1937) won the Open on sixoccasions and of course made popular the‘Vardon’ grip. Next, what of the companythat actually cast the bronze statuette andhow good was the casting? In this case itwas cast by the Elkington Company ofBirmingham; the detailing is superb and thequality is obvious. Is it an impressive lookingpiece? Yes, because it measures some 15inches high on its plinth. [With statuettes,size does matter. For example Hal Ludlow’s(a contemporary of Pegram) Vardon bronzecirca 1904 was cast in three sizes, 5, 10 and24 inches and there are three distinct pricepoints: the large size £10,000, the mediumsize £4,000 and the small size £2,000.]

And, finally, what is the bronze’s back-ground, heritage, history or provenance?Well, all has been revealed in the owner’s let-

ter above – this particularly piece was won in1925 by a good golfer who actually knewHarry Vardon and the bronze has been inthe family for generations.VALUE: There should be a lot of interest inthis rare bronze and I would expect it to sellat auction for between £2,000 and £3,000.

RYDER CUP SIGNED PHOTOI recently came across this signed photographof the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama. May Ihave a value?B. Discombe, Honiton Devon

The first thing that strikes you in this photo-graph is just how young some of the playerswere in 1997. Look at this year’s captain ColinMontgomerie standing beside the currentworld number 3, Lee Westwood!

The autographs have all been writtenclearly with a black Sharpie pen. It wouldappear that your photograph is genuine andthat it was signed under the careful eye ofone of the Ryder Cup officials. Several dozenphotographs may have been signed by theteam in the days leading up to the match;each team member would have been givenone and the others used for publicity at thetime and for charity events afterwards. Anda warning to any readers with a signed itemof golfing memorabilia, please beware that


Junk or jackpot?Gi’s auction-room expert Kevin McGimpsey answers more of your lettersand e-mails, this issue contemplating the provenance and value of amixed bag of collectibles, including a rather handsome bronze of six-timesOpen champion Harry Vardon


ink will fade if exposed to direct sunlight. The 32nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at

the Valderrama Golf Club in southern Spain;it was the first time that the event had beencontested in continental Europe. It was alsofitting that Seve Ballesteros should be theEuropean Captain in Spain. The Europeanteam that included two Spaniards won thecompetition by a margin of 14½ to 13½ andretained the Cup.VALUE: This item has all the attributes tomake it very collectible and will be ofinterest to Ryder Cup aficionados, auto-graph collectors, fans of Seve and mayeven be of interest to Valderrama GolfClub, which has a very good Ryder Cupdisplay. At auction £200 to £300.

ASSORTMENT OF EARLY TEESI recently bought these golf tees with somefishing equipment at a local sale. They haven’t

cost me anything. Is there any value in themto golf enthusiasts? Peter Spicer Tarporley, CheshireThis is a fine selection of golf tees, some ofwhich were developed towards the end of the19th Century. In the early days, to ‘tee’ theball up, golfers would form a hand-mademound out of dampened sand. It usually fellto the caddie to carry a supply of sand andto make a small but crude tee mound. Buthelp was on the way in the 1880s with teedevelopment.

First off was a range of surface tee makingdevices types that formed a sand based coni-cally-shaped mound. Some of these deviceswere quite unsophisticated but they weresmall, light to carry and served their purpose

to a tee! Many were made from brass, somefrom aluminium; further design develop-ments included a spring load mechanism thatforced the sand out as a formed shape ratherthan having to tap-tap the sand out.

I haven’t seen many wooden tee mouldsand until now never one as our reader’s rarewooden plunger type.

In the mid 1890s golfers could buy packsof pre-formed tees made from heavy paper/card – a flat piece of semi-circular card wasformed as a cone, upon which to place thegolf ball. Our reader’s St. Mungo ‘ColonelBlue Ring’ card tee was made in 1906 andwould have come in a small round box,packed with 25 to a box. The white celluloiddome shaped tee, circa 1910, works in asimilar manner and please note the earlyadvertising opportunity!

Other examples of early tees here include agutta-percha cone shaped tee attached to redtassel circa 1900; an early metal tee peg withattached lead weight and string and a red rub-ber Avon ‘Combination Tee’ with two formedheights for different tee shots, as made in1910.VALUE: Tees remain popular collectibles asthey are easy to display and are generallynot expensive, but prices are climbing: £100for the wooden plunger tee; £50 for the BlueRing card tee; £25 for the celluloid tee; thetees with tassels £20 each and £25 for theAvon tee.

COMMEMORATIVE PACKIn 2004, I received this CallawayCommemorative Arnold Palmer pack. Is this ofany value today?G. Russell, Dorchester on Thames, Oxon

I understand that Callaway sent this boxed setto mark Arnold Palmer’s 50th appearance atthe Masters as a promotional gift to the first50 companies that registered at the newCallaway media website in April 2004 and ourlucky reader was one of them.

A smart black and white windowed boxcontains a tin showing two images ofArnold Palmer and the famous Palmerumbrella logo, four Callaway golf balls (hecertainly wasn’t playing with Callaway golfballs then) each one printed with ‘MastersChampion’ and with the date of each of hisMasters’ wins, 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.There is also a bronze medallion featuringArnold Palmer, a facsimile signature andthe date of the 2004 Masters, April 8-11.VALUE: This promotional is certainly a col-lectible for the future especially if it wasstrictly limited to 50. Even today it would beof interest to anyone in Arnie’s Army, anenthusiastic group of Arnold Palmer collec-tors. It would also be of interest to Master’smemorabilia collectors. At auction between£50 and £80.

MEMORABILIA

Please send your letters and best photographs to Kevin McGimpsey at this address: PO BOX 120, Deeside, Flintshire, N. Wales or email with jpegs: [email protected]

(Left): When it comes to bronze statuettes,size does matter. At 15” tall, this figure ofHarry Vardon by the British sculptor HenryAlfred Pegram is in fine condition and wouldbe expected to fetch up to £3,000 at auction;(above) this random assortment of parapher-nalia actually represents an important chapterin the history of the humble tee, with a coupleof the items dating to the end of the 19thcentury; (right) anything to do with the leg-endary Arnold Palmer is worth holding on to– this commemorative golf ball set created byCallaway, who sponsored Palmer in the latterdays of his playing career on the Senior Tour;(below) how many faces can you identify inthis 1997 European Ryder Cup team photofor the match at Valderamma? Signed by allof the players, this would featch up to £300.

With all those water hazards,you might think playing golfin Venice would be a riskyproposition. In fact, thecourse on the Lido, the 7-

mile long sandy island just across the lagoonfrom San Marco, has everything except canals.

The story goes that Henry Ford, an epicgolf nut, arrived in Venice in 1928 wanting agame. Finding nowhere to play, he persuadedCount Volpi to buy some land and build acourse. The club’s early claim to fame was thefirst meeting in 1934 between Hitler andMussolini at the Circolo del Golf di Venezia,as it became known. Rather more recently, ithosted the Italian Seniors Open in 2004.

The course is tight, quite heavily wooded,in immaculate condition and probably the dri-est patch of land in the city. Sean Conneryplays here when he’s attending the VeniceFilm Festival, also on the Lido. Unfortunatelythere are no houses for sale, but if you likethe area, known as the Veneto, there’s plenty

of property, very reasonably priced, at twoclubs 30 minutes away.

The charming medieval town of Asolo sitson a hilltop surrounded by prosecco vine-yards and olive groves. Forty-five minutesfrom skiing in Cortina, “the city of a hundredhorizons” has Palladian villas, Renaissancefrescoes and divine restaurants.

In the 1990s, the Benetton family of threebillionaire brothers and a sister created aclothing empire, a very successful FormulaOne team, and a golf club with 27 very scenicholes at Asolo. The three 9-hole circuits arehilly, quite long and feature plenty of water.Practice facilities are excellent.

Around the course, 187 properties havebeen built over the past 10 years. Prices startat just €135,000 (£120,000) for a studio; two-bedroom apartments go for €220,000(£195,000), and larger townhouses for€400,000 (£352,000).

The look owes something to the ski lodge –plenty of wood and stone, stylish shutters

and underground parking. Owners get sub-stantial golf discounts, and pay about £1,500annual service charge. And as this is a maturescheme, there are always resale propertiesavailable, often sold at a sizeable discount tonew build.

This being Italy, the heart of the whole set-up is the stylish clubhouse. The fresh pasta inthe bar – I recommend the pumpkin ravioli –is the perfect end to any round. For dinner,the formal restaurant is spectacular. Golf wid-ows can use the wellness centre, heated out-door swimming pool and tennis courts, andthere are always apartments for rent as wellas a small guesthouse, ideal for short breaks.

Most buyers are Italian, with Brits in thispart of the Veneto region relatively thin onthe ground – either good or bad, dependingon your perspective. One who has made themove, to a second golf development nearby atCastelfranco, is 39-year-old Archie Cochraneoriginally from North Berwick in Scotland.

“I first came here 14 years ago to work as agolf pro. It’s just a brilliant area – skiing atAsiago, the Adriatic beach at Jesolo, plus golf,all within an hour’s drive. The locals arefriendly, very family orientated and quite met-ropolitan. They work hard and play hard –plenty of long dinners.”


If you like Venice, prosecco and golf, Peter Swain has found just theplace for you. For in addition to the original Lido course, there is greatgolf and property at Veneto, just 30 minutes from the main action

Golf with a stylish accent

PROPERTY/VENICE


The 18-hole parkland course atCastelfranco has just finished a major over-haul. The site is flat with large bunkers andseveral lakes the major challenges. The bigplus of the set-up is the nearby cultural, culi-nary and winter sporting attractions.

“All my friends want to see Venice whenthey come over – it’s only half an hour away,”says Archie. Access is easy with Ryanair flyinginto Treviso, a 20-minute drive away fromboth Asolo and Castelfranco.

Archie, his Italian wife, Tiziana, and theirtwo young children, are moving into a newthree-bedroom apartment overlooking thecourse built around the graceful Cà Amata.The region specialises in these Palladian man-sions, built by rich Venetians as summerhouses.

Just 20 apartments and ten houses arebeing built in the first phase of the ResidenceCà Amata development. The styling is mod-ern with oak floors throughout and a homeautomation system controlling the air condi-tioning, heating and electric blinds, plusbroadband, satellite TV and a video intercom.

The two-and three-bedroom apartmentsrange in price from €300,000 (£265,000) to€400,000 (£352,000); the houses start at€690,000 (£610,000). These are the ‘shell’prices so do not include the cost of fittedkitchens.

Although there are 13 courses in the Veniceregion, golf here is still in its infancy. Havingsaid that, standards are rising all the time butthey’re not yet on a par with the Algarve.Further west, in the foothills of the Alps, the

Italian Lakes have even better courses. LakeComo is so stylish, George Clooney, Sting andRichard Branson have palazzos on its shores.With golf courses at Menaggio and VillaD’Este close by, it’s also the site of a new bou-tique development, Residenza del Lago Azure.

With magnificent views over the lake, thegated resort has 28 villas and apartmentswith a choice of one, two and three bed-rooms. “Occasionally we come across a devel-opment that ticks every box,” says RobertGreen of Cluttons Resorts. “This will appeal tothe British second-home market both as aninvestment and as a lifestyle purchase.”

The chic interiors of the properties, built inlocal stone, feature large picture windows tomaximize the views. The development has aprivate leisure club with a sauna, gym andjacuzzi plus onsite concierge and privateunderground parking. A glass walled lift takesresidents up the hillside to their homes. Pricesstart at €398,500 (£351,000).

The par-70 course at Menaggio has a tradi-tional British feel, while the club at VillaD’Este is as famous for its restaurant as itscourse. Both are over 80 years old.

By far the best way to see this lot is to takea golfing holiday in Italy. Momentum – GolfItalia organize bespoke trips to the bestcourses throughout the country from Pugliain the south to the Lakes and the Veneto inthe north.

Peter Swain flew to Venice on BA, Momentum Travel: golfitalia.co.uk

Golf courses: Asolo: asologolf.itCastelfranco: golfcastelfranco.itVenice: circulogolfvenezia.itCondulmer: golfvillacondulmer.comMenaggio: menaggio.itVilla D’Este: golfvilladeste.com.

Tourist boards: visitvenice.co.uk

Property:www.asologolf.it

www.caamata.it

www.cluttonsresorts.com

www.golfitalia.co.uk

(Top): The history of golf in Venice can be traced tothe creation – at Henry Ford’s behest – of the Lidocourse in 1928. The tight, tree-lined layout hasplayed host to the Italian Open and welcomes visi-tors year-round; Originally from North Berwick, golfpro Archie Cochrane (above) made the move to thenew development of Castelfranco (above right) 14years ago; (below, l-r) computer gernated images ofproperty at Asolo and Castelfranco

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Golf International, LifeStyle 96