Golf on Hvar?

[seka]

I found this press info, any more news on that:

"RAM INVESTMENT GROUP PLC

EUROPEAN GOLF RESORTS SECURE PRIME GOLF DEVELOPMENT SITE IN HVAR, CROATIA

European Golf Resorts Limited ("EGR"), the joint venture formed by Ram Investment Group PLC ("RAM") and Parallel Media Group PLC ("PMG") to develop golf properties in emerging sporting and tourist destinations announces today that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire a real estate site on the Croatian Island of Hvar. The proposed development is intended to include a mixed scheme of golf course, hotel and residential. Hvar belongs to the central island group of the Adriatic.

The Company expects to be making further announcements on this project over the coming weeks.

Enquiries:

Beattie Communications

Tim Blythe

+ 44 (0) 207 053 6023

or + 44 (0) 7816 924626


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange"

[mambo]

And I suppose they are going to build a water desalinization plant as well ?

[irac]

Mambo points out one reason why golf is cost ineffective in most parts of the coastal strip, water. The "course" that was heralded in Dubrovnik, which was acually in Bosnia, could very well have worked had certain characters in the property game not dirtied their bibs, but it was a lesson learned.

And I know it was Mambo who pointed the following out, that a club needs a large membership to get going, and especially on an island which is massively seasonal, subject to inclement weather that would affect transport and where the majority of actual golfers in the country will not have access.

In Posedarje the dodgy deal that seems to have gone through will probably put the first actual proper course into the place, but again the word in Zagreb was that water is a problem and also the land is only on a 40 year lease with some sort of difficult renewal clause.

[hajduk]

I have also heard of another golf course project on Brac funded by a Canadian company and it includes a desalination plant.

[Graham - Bosmere]

Have you seen the costings for running a de-sal plant and the enviromental impact, they are frightening and with the cost of energy runniing at record levels they are not the answer to water shortages that they once were.

[mambo]

That is why I wrote it, because if you know that you will also know that running a golfcourse on an island is sheer impossible..............................or you should start working with the grass Arnold Palmer helped develop, it can grow on partially salt water (only don't know if the soil will hold it).

[Charles]

Don't know about volumes etc but both Brac and Hvar are connected to the mainland water system by undersea pipe.

[mambo]

A normal golfcourse will use a minimum of 6000 m3 per day during the summer and that is really the bare minimum.

[Graham - Bosmere]

mambo said:

A normal golfcourse will use a minimum of 6000 m3 per day during the summer and that is really the bare minimum.

Put into perspective that is approx equiv to 300 road tankers full of water if you need to imagine just how much it is and the damage the associated fertilizers, weedkillers can do do a fragile karst ecology.

[mambo]

Fertilizers and weedkillers are not often used on a golfcourse, may sound strange, but it is also understandable.

Problem with fertilizers is that they contain chemicals and this poses a hazard for the players. Chemicals in the sun can cause a lot of problems with skin, breathing etc.

When chemicals are used it is only after normal methods (rooting it out by hand and non-chemicals) have failed.
The course has to be closed and this can last up to a few days. Closing a course is not that good for business, so they tend to keep it to only the affected area, which will mean that only 1 green will be closed or part of the green.
Normally fairways are not treated at all with chemicals, greens however are more delicate and need more care. Also there however the use of chemicals is as minimal as possible.

[mambo]

But indeed, the amount of water, which is needed is tremendous and to water the course with drinking water is a bit rediculous. That would drive the cost up to 18,000 euro per day for water alone.

That is why many golfcourses use treated water from sewage plants or they use groundwater, water from a nearby lake or from a small desalinization plant. During the day the water is filtered and stored in large underground storage tanks and at night the course is watered.

Of course you can also use grass which requires less water, but problem with that is that you will need highly educated personnel, because especially the first year is critical with this grass. The first year this type of grass is extremely labor intensive and it requires a lot more water than normal grass, until you get into the second year (when the grass has matured) at which moment you can reduce the amount of water.

However, also the soil needs to be adjusted and I don't know if this type of soil is present in Hvar.

[firefly]

www.invgolf.com/opportunities/croatia.htm

[mambo]

That fraude scheme has already been discussed here before.