Golf Services - Success Stories

Market and Financial Feasibility Study, Golf Courses

Project
The Chambers Creek property in University Place, Washington sits along the Puget Sound providing spectacular vistas of the water, the islands, and the Olympic Mountains. The site of the golf course itself is dramatic with several hundred feet of elevation change and the ability to accompany the vistas. Several factors drive the desire for golf course development at the site. These factors include:

• Potential for a world class golf course to host tournaments.
• A spectacular land parcel containing cliffs, dunes and frontage of the Puget Sound that offers unique potentials for golf course development.
• The potential to remediate existing gravel mines into a productive land use.
• To assist in the project objective of financially sustainability.
• The potential to provide excellent amenities to the utility districts constituency.
• The potential to become the prototype for environmental sustainability developments.
• The potential to be industry leaders in the treatment and use of wastewater.

The HVS Assignment
The Pierce County Utility district solicited the expertise of HVS Golf Services in evaluating the potentials at varied price points and market niches for an 18-hole regulation golf course, a variety of 9-hole course scenarios, a golf academy, as well as a world class golf facility. The analysis included three phases. The objective of phase one was to determine if, and/or when, the development of the desired golf facilities are feasible in the prevailing market conditions. If feasible, phase two of the analysis would determine how much could be spent on the development of a golf facility while still maintaining a financially viable cash flow. Finally, phase three of the study addressed potential development costs, management and funding options to provide a in depth understanding of the financial requirements of the project.

Results
The outcome of phase one determined the three most viable development opportunities for further study to facilitate decision making, planning, and design for the golf course portion of the development. The outcome of phase two recommended that the type of development that represented the best potential for economic success was a world-class tournament course with a golf academy. This conclusion showed the most promise for success for several reasons. First, there were no new upscale courses in the region, second there were numerous facilities available for beginners and high handicap golfers, and third the proposed facility would greatly enhance the local area’s business atmosphere. Robert Trent Jones II, an internationally renowned architectural firm, has been chosen to design a unique Scottish-links style golf course named Chambers Bay.