SPECIAL REPORT: LAND DEVELOPMENT
Bear Creek Golf Club Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
actually was a few years ago in the UK when a pilot in Newcastle was forced to land his two-seater Cessna 152 in a hurry. In many cases, public golf courses have been developed by airports as
a means of converting excess, unused land into a profitable business. The key to success invariably lies in attracting a reputable golf club operator on to the site by offering a long-term lease. A couple of years ago, for example, the 36-hole Hamilton golf course
in Vanderburgh County, Indiana became the property of the local Evansville Airport Authority, which is now asking for bids from operators interested in running it on a minimum 20-year lease. The airport authority wants to keep most of the property as a golf
Hong Kong International Airport.
course, because it lies under the glide path of approaching aircraft, and is an FAA-designated noise zone. The potential economic benefits are substantial. A golf course is a big
marketing plus for hotels and conference centres, giving them a strong incentive to lease land and build at or near an airport. Having an on-site course can often persuade business travellers
attending conventions or other events to lengthen their stays to take in a couple of rounds of golf. It’s a major benefit too, for companies operating in and
around an airport to have a golf course on their doorstep. It provides an aesthetically pleasing landscape, and gives their employees easy access to a ready-made recreational and social environment. And for the golf club operators, airport sites present a number of
advantages. Firstly, they’re not faced with having to make a large initial investment to buy land. Secondly, lease payments normally start only after the course is open and already generating revenue. Thirdly, airport staff and corporate tenants represent an important source of revenue – as do stopover passengers and pilots. Fourthly, busy airports are more likely to be profitable locations because they have a large local base of potential golfers. Bill Amick, a professional golf course designer based at Daytona
Beach, has no doubt that airport golf courses are here for the long-haul. He believes that there are plenty of travelling golfers out there who would jump at the prospect of being able to grab their clubs off the baggage carousel and stand on the first tee within the hour. Amick, who has been designing golf courses for more than 40 years, enthuses: “This is becoming a reality for more and more golfers
46 AIRPORT WORLD/FEBRUARY-MARCH 2011
because a growing number of airports are now including golf course projects on their property.” Bear Creek Golf Club, for instance, boasts a 36-hole course located
inside Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – and that’s just one of 35 airport courses listed by Amick in the US alone. And they’re not necessarily, short, flat, tightly designed courses
restricted in the facilities they can offer by airport development. Melbourne Airport Golf Club, for instance, which lies adjacent
to the north-south runway, is a par-70, 6,000m, 18-hole course with water features, 37 bunkers and elevated greens. It has a fully equipped pro shop, clubhouse and practice nets, fairway and putting green. Players who momentarily forget that they are testing their skills on
an airport course are rudely reminded of the fact when they reach the 16th green at Melbourne, when they stand less than 60 metres below busy flight paths, including daily B747s flying the Kangaroo Route. The growth of airport courses is spawning a wide range of other
activities and industries. Scientists are currently designing strains of grass that could, one day, keep birds, insects and livestock away from golf courses and airports naturally. They’re searching for the right combination of grass and fungus that
will keep insects away and, therefore, the birds that feed on them. In the case of airport golf courses, the argument runs, the result will
be a reduction in the incidence of bird strikes, and may also deter Canada geese, whose droppings, it transpires, can spoil the greens. Richard Curtis, business development manager at Ag Research New
Zealand, says: “It won’t solve all the problems with birds around airports, but it’ll be a part of the overall bird management armoury. There is a lot of interest from airport companies around the world.” But as Newton’s third law of motion states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and teeing off within sight of the terminal building or runway is simply not to everyone’s liking. One disgruntled player, on tackling Oshawa Airport course in
Ontario recently, was decidedly unimpressed. “The greens are yellow,” he moaned. “The course is in terrible shape, and the sound of the airplanes going off is bad when you are shooting. For $35 this is terrible – it should be $5 to play.” As another wise man once said, you can’t please everybody
all of the time. AW
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