![]() ![]() They are grossing in the order of $US7-8 million. These golf courses are bringing $US100-150 a round of golf. GMGD has a 40% holding in Wild Marsh and 60% in Old Silo.ĭaily-fee golf courses in the US are, in some cases, showing net profit of more than 80% on capital invested, says Marsh. Marsh will not reveal the total investment, but he says the typical cost of a daily-fee golf course in the US is about $US5 million. Marsh's two joint-venture projects - Wild Marsh in Minnesota and Old Silo near Lexington in Kentucky - will operate as daily-fee courses. "There has been a real shift in the market," he says. Marsh says that for every country club being built there are probably 10 daily-fee courses under construction. Construction of daily-fee golf courses, on which anyone can pay to play a round (as opposed to club membership courses), is booming in the US. There is also lucrative income in US course ownership. Marsh says: "I'm very confident we will receive many more inquiries and get business as a result of these two golf courses." That is one of the reasons Marsh entered a joint venture with a US construction company, Landscapes Unlimited, to redesign and redevelop two courses in the US, which GMGD will part own. American developers want to see a designer's achievements, and they rapidly lose interest if, as in Marsh's case, an inspection involves travelling outside the US. Marsh discovered that his profile as a top-10 golfer on the US senior tour means little when trying to crack the fiercely competitive market in golf-course design. It is investigating projects in Russia and the Czech Republic. The company also entered the European market last year, and its first project (in Germany) is due for completion next year. GMGD recently moved into the lucrative US market, and into golf-course ownership. It has remodelled or upgraded another nine courses and has 13 projects under construction or in planning. Formed 12 years ago, GMGD has completed 22 golf-course development projects in Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand and South-East Asia. GMGD is a modest operation compared with those of American golfing greats Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. He won more than $US1 million in prizemoney this year and retains an endorsement deal with Dunlop Japan that dates back to 1969. Marsh has good reason to continue playing the senior US golf circuit. ![]() It is a very convenient arrangement being in the US." "Once I get back to the room in the evening, if I've got design plans to look at I can do that and keep in touch with the office because staff are in working hours and I'm in evening hours. "I've been able to keep in contact even more with the business because of the 12 or 15-hour time change between the Gold Coast and American cities," Marsh says. That year, Marsh joined the Senior PGA Tour and now plays 30 weeks a year in the US.īecause Marsh spends 65% of his year playing professional golf, the US circuit offers advantages over circuits closer to Australia. Even as GMGD expands its operations from the Asia-Pacific region into the United States and Europe, Marsh finds it more convenient to manage his business from the US instead of Japan, where he played most of his golf until 1994. Graham Marsh Golf Design (GMGD) is wholly owned by Marsh. Marsh maintains his home in Perth, plays golf in the United States and runs a business on the Gold Coast that draws most of its revenue from overseas. He conducts business with a mobile phone, notebook computer and the Internet, using hotel phones and faxes between travel on scheduled airline services. Marsh is running a global business without the corporate jets, outsourcing strategies and high-tech gadgetry. The 55-year-old professional golfer is well ahead of the hype about "flexexecutives" and "dot com entrepreneurs". Few managing directors combine business and lifestyle as successfully as Graham Marsh.
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