by The Editors on October 7, 2010
Last week (September 29, 2010) Carlsbadistan’s Don O’Connor, a 47-year-old grocery store manager, won the 2010 Golf Channel Amateur Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Yes, what many believe to be the toughest course on tour.
Although the 47-year-old Carlsbad, Calif., resident came up short in his par quest, his closing 73 at soggy Sawgrass was enough to lift O’Connor to the Championship Flight [handicap 0-3.9] crown. He finished at 7-over 295, one stroke clear of overnight leader Chad Bailey who closed with a 76. Terry Rice finished alone in third place, four strokes back after a closing 77. . . “I try to play to my strengths,” said O’Connor, who didn’t finish outside the top 10 in the nine Golf Channel Am Tour events he played in 2010. “I would be considered a grinder, for sure.”
Maybe that Crossing at Carlsbad course is good for something afterall. Congrats, Don. Thanks for bringing home the title.
[Link: The Golf Channel via Sign on San Diego]
by The Editors on June 30, 2010
At the City Council meeting last night (June 29, 2010) the City announced that to cover the $4.2 million in loans it has made to “keep the golf course in the black” it is now planning to “transfer” and possibly sell two pieces of City-owned property, according to a story in the North County Times.
Initially, the two lots were to be leased to golf-related businesses, but they have stood vacant since they were created. . . One parcel is about 5 acres and the other is about 7 acres. They sit on each side of College Boulevard on the eastern edge of The Crossings at Carlsbad course. . . Joe Garuba, who is handing the issue for the city, said after Tuesday’s meeting that there has been “some interest” recently in the properties, but declined to provide specifics about the negotiations. . . . “I’m not going to talk about who or what,” he said.
We have one question: How much of Carlsbadistan is this golf course going to eat up before someone puts a stop to it? The Lossings has already cost the City of Carlsbad nearly $70 million and now the City want’s to begin slicing off pieces of itself to pay for more?
If the City is going to sell anything to cover its golf course loans it should simply cut it losses and sell the golf course to Legoland. They can throw up a few block sculptures, create some Lego golf carts, call it the “World First Lego Golf Course” and charge $350 green fees.
We’re not usually in favor of privatization, but The Lossings has been a revenue suck for over a decade and the sooner the City gets out of it the better. Then the City can spend a tiny fraction of that money on things everyone will use like parks, swimming pools, and skateboard parks. . .
[Link: North County Times via VoteJonWantz]
by The Editors on March 10, 2010
Apparently Adidas isn’t the only shoe giant sticking their feet into Carlsbadistan’s golf industry. Today Puma AG announced that they have purchased Carlsbadistan based Cobra Golf, according to a post on Businessweek.com.
Herzogenaurach-based Puma said Wednesday it will acquire 100 percent of Cobra Golf, but did not provide any financial details. The deal which faces regulatory approval is expected to close in the second quarter.
Wonder what Cobra Golf’s former owner Acushnet is going to do with Titleist and Footjoy?
[Link: Businessweek]
by The Editors on January 26, 2010
Carlsbadistan’s leading golf company Callaway Golf Co. “announced that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share on its common stock” and named a new boardmember, according to a story on San Diego Daily Transcript.
Adebayo O. Ogunlesi has been appointed to the company’s board of directors. He will begin serving immediately and will stand for election for a full one-year term at the company’s 2010 annual meeting of shareholders in May. . . Ogunlesi, 56, is chairman and managing partner of Global Infrastructure Management LLC, a private equity firm with over $5 billion in assets and that invests worldwide in infrastructure assets in the energy, transport, and water and waste industry sectors.
We did the math. If you own 100,000 shares of the company, you’ll get $1000 dividend. Sweet.
[Link: SDDT]
by The Editors on December 16, 2009
Carlsbadistan’s trading card giant Upper Deck Co. announced yesterday (December 15, 2009) that they, unlike Elin Nordegren, would be “continuing their relationship” with Tiger Woods.
“Upper Deck will maintain its exclusive agreement with Tiger in both our sports cards and memorabilia categories, and we look forward to his eventual return to the PGA Tour,” Upper Deck CEO Richard McWilliam said in a statement. “Tiger and his family have our full support.”
That sounds great. We’re looking forward to a limited-edition Upper Deck Tiger’s Girlfriends set. Wonder if that’s in the works.
[Link: Upper Deck]
by The Editors on November 26, 2009
As if The Crossings Lossings At Carlsbad golf course hasn’t already cost the people of Carlsbadistan enough, KemperSports Management, the private company the city pays to run the golf course says they aren’t “hitting budget projections this year and will need and extra $150,000 to cover,” according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
That’s in addition to the original subsidy of $1.79 million that the city contributed at the start of the year, the financial report states. . . Next year’s operations at The Crossings at Carlsbad course also will require a substantial city subsidy. In the golf course’s 2010 budget, which the City Council will be asked to approve Tuesday, operators are asking for a $1.76 million city subsidy. . . Mayor Bud Lewis said Wednesday he hadn’t seen the financial figures yet, but was “sorry to hear” that the course needed more money this year. He said he would probably vote to grant the budget requests.
Of course he would. No pool. No skateboard park. But sure, keep spending millions of dollars every year on a golf course that continues to lose money. Epic! This whole issue is getting so absurd that it’s almost impossible to speak politely about it.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on November 6, 2009
If a story in Sports Business Daily is to be believed, Carlsbadistan may be getting a stop on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in 2010, but Golf Digest’s John Strege isn’t sure that’s such a great idea.
Is the LPGA sure it wants to be doing this? Apathy was always an issue when the men played at La Costa, even with Tiger Woods in the field — hence the the Mercedes Championship wound up on Maui and the Match Play Championship moved to Arizona. Why would anyone believe the LPGA would deliver a different result there?
After losing the Acura Tennis Classic we all need some major sporting event in Carlsbad, don’t we?
[Link: Golf Digest]
by The Editors on October 30, 2009
Times must be hard in the golf business. With expense accounts getting clipped and companies shedding extra employees we would guess that there are far fewer business deals going down on the golf course these days and Callaway is feeling it.
For the third quarter of 2009, net sales were $190.86 million, a decrease of 11%, compared to $213.45 million for the same quarter of 2008. . . For the first nine months of 2009, net sales were $764.95 million, a decrease of 19%, compared to $945.93 million for the same period of 2008.
But CEO George Fellows has found a silver lining:
“While market conditions have been challenging this year, we have managed our business in such a way that we have gained market share in all club categories, managed our expenses responsibly and invested in a few important growth initiatives that should position Callaway Golf to grow when the economy begins to rebound.”
We’re not sure that a bigger piece of a smaller pie is anything to be excited about.
[Link: Trading Markets]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
Carlsbadistan’s Callaway Golf Company thought they were doing pretty well in their patent dispute with Acushnet (the owners of Titleist). A court ruled that Acushnet had infringed on Callaway’s patent. But now all that’s changed, according to a story on Forbes.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a ruling involving a patent dispute favoring Callaway and returned the case to the U.S. District Court in Delaware for further proceedings. Callaway, which is based in Carlsbad, Calif., and Acushnet Co. have been immersed in a patent dispute over Titleist Pro V1 golf balls for several years. The court’s earlier ruling held that Acushnet ‘s product infringed on patents held by Callaway.
But the analysts aren’t worried. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Thomas D. Shaw said, “It simply means an ultimate payment to Callaway is less likely, if at all, and pushed further out.”
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on July 28, 2009
Owners of Callaway Golf Company stock can celebrate this week as the Carlsbadistan-based company’s board of directors just declared a one cent per share dividend on its Common Stock, according to a report on Fox Business.
The dividend is payable on September 15, 2009 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 25, 2009.
Hey, that means there’s still time for all of us to cash in on it, right?
[Link: Fox Business]
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