Woods Gives Liberty National 'Break,' Fireman Says
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods’s arrival on the shoresof New York Harbor this week is exactly what the owners ofLiberty National Golf Club were hoping for.
They just didn’t expect to have to spend $250 millionbefore he showed up.
“When you add it all together, it’s more than we everthought it would be,” said Dan Fireman, who poured 70,000truckloads of dirt onto a former toxic waste dump in JerseyCity, New Jersey, to build the course with his father, Paul, thefounder of Reebok International Ltd. The original budget was$130 million.
When Woods announced last week that he planned to play inthe Barclays tournament, the first of the U.S. PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoff events, the sigh of relief ran from the FiremanCapital Partners headquarters in Boston to its Fort Lauderdaleoffices.
“It was a lucky break,” Dan Fireman said. “We neededit.”
Like many private golf clubs in the U.S., Liberty Nationalis struggling to attract members during the worst economic slumpsince the Great Depression. So far, about 100 members havesigned up to play a course that features views of the Statue ofLiberty from 14 of 18 holes. The Firemans, who are charging$500,000 per membership, have a target of about 200. The arrivalof Woods, No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking, might be the bestsales pitch they could wish for.
Worldwide Exposure
“Anytime you can get exposure of your golf course in theU.S. and worldwide TV, it’s certainly going to help membershipand notoriety,” Fireman said in an interview yesterday on acrowded tournament driving range. “And having the world’s bestplayers here is certainly going to validate what we built.”
Three-time major winner Phil Mickelson, Home Depot Inc.founder Ken Langone, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning andSimon Property Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Simonare club members. The true stamp of approval would come fromWoods.
As the winner of 70 U.S. PGA Tour events, including 14major titles, Woods is finicky about where he competes andrarely plays golf courses he doesn’t like.
“What I really hope is that the golf course turns himon,” said Bob Cupp, who co-designed the 7,419-yard layout withTom Kite, the winner of 19 U.S. PGA tour events. “That would bethe ultimate compliment.”
Cupp Connection
Woods, 33, won his third consecutive U.S. Amateurchampionship shortly before turning professional in 1996 atOregon’s Pumpkin Ridge, a course Cupp also designed.
“If the reputation of this course is solidified by thisevent, it would be a big deal,” Cupp said. “Everybody cansense it.”
The tournament will move to New Jersey’s Ridgewood CountryClub in 2010 and Plainfield Country Club in 2011 as part of aplanned rotation around other venues in the metropolitan New Yorkarea. While Tim Finchem, commissioner of the PGA Tour, saidLiberty National is a “good, solid golf course” the venue waschosen mostly because of its location and vistas.
“From a television standpoint, it’s probably unique in theworld,” Finchem said in a press conference. “It’s going to bean absolute stunning presentation.”
Most of the tournament competitors aren’t concerned withthe club’s finances. They care about the course’s difficulty.Yet, during early week practice rounds, many couldn’t help beingdistracted by the 300-foot-tall statue of Lady Liberty justoffshore.
‘Pretty Cool’
“It’s pretty cool,” said Steve Stricker, who enters theevent second behind Woods in the FedEx Cup points standings.“We don’t get a backdrop like that ever on Tour. It’s a greatsight.”
When the course opened in 2006, the Firemans had visions offerries crossing the New York Harbor from Wall Street. Theydidn’t anticipate a 22.7 percent drop in the S&P 500 Index overthe next three years. In addition, since the collapse of thecredit industry, triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis,almost 330,000 jobs have been lost worldwide in the financialservices industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
No Homes
Liberty National, which features a $60 million glass andsteel clubhouse with 32-foot high floor-to-ceiling windows, hasremained operational mostly because it hasn’t had to rely on thesale of home sites along its fairways, Fireman said. Theslumping housing market has led other high-priced courseprojects to be put on hold, including Woods’s Al Ruwaya GolfCourse in Dubai.
“We put ourselves in a financial position where we’re ableto weather out the storm,” Fireman said. “We didn’t leveragethe course or put ourselves in a position where we couldn’toperate.”
The club recently raised its initiation fees from $450,000,after the opening of the clubhouse and the tournament had beensecured.
“It’s kind of tough not to justify that that’s when youshould have a modest increase,” Fireman said. Since opening,the club has lost only two members, he said.
Televisions, Tickets
Without Woods, the tournament and the club wouldn’t be inthe position they’re in this week. Regardless of the 124 othersin the field, Woods is the player who affects the bottom linethe most. Television viewership increases by as much as 50percent when he plays and ticket sales have risen as much as 40percent since he announced his plans to play this week. About100,000 spectators are expected to attend the four competitionrounds starting Aug. 27.
“Without him, you wouldn’t truly be having achampionship,” Fireman said. “With him, you now truly have theworld’s best competing. He definitely completes the wholestory.”
To contact the reporter on this story:Michael Buteau in Jersey City, New Jersey at mbuteau@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 26, 2009 12:04 EDTSource: Bloomberg
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