Japan’s asset search takes a swing at the golf course
January 31, 2006 on 8:13 am | In Golf News | 1 CommentThe next wave of Japanese real estate investment trusts may be seeded with secondary buildings and regional city properties as the reviving office market makes prime property hard to get hold of.
In an environment of falling commercial vacancies and strengthening demand, Japan’s office real estate investment trusts (REITs) will continue to be in strong demand, analysts say.
Fewer office REITs are expected to list this year as office buildings become expensive and hard to secure in metropolitan Tokyo.
The competition for assets will force sponsors to look at buildings and in regional cities, while others will venture into hotels, industrial/logistics buildings and golf courses.
Japan’s 28 listed J-REITs had a combined market capitalisation of 32 trillion yen ($32.4 billion) in December, having grown more than ten-fold since the first REIT appeared in 2001.
US investment bank Goldman Sachs says office REITs make up 60 per cent of the market, and retail 20 per cent. The balance is diversified and residential REITs.
The value of real estate owned by the trusts is about 3.6 trillion yen ($41.6 billion).
This year, the market expects at least 10 and up to 20 REITs to be launched, says Jason Holt, director of Japanese fund management company, KK Prospect, in Tokyo.
Holt says Japan’s regulatory authorities have issued many new licences, including some to the largest property groups, Mitsui and Sumitomo, which plan to launch their second trusts.
Investors show a clear preference for office trusts, he notes.
Jack Chandler, chief executive Asia Pacific of LaSalle Investment Management Inc, agrees: “As an investor we are more attracted to office than residential.”
Chandler says J-REITs have offered “very good returns”.
Goldman Sachs says investors seeking stable earnings and high-dividend yields (for Japan) are buying into J-REITs, with the trusts returning an average of 3.5-4 per cent a year.
Christopher Fossick, president and chief executive of CB Richard Ellis in Japan, says office rents in five central Tokyo wards have started to rise in the last 18 months.
“In most cases real estate value is higher today than five years ago,” he says. But the growth of J-REITs may be constrained by fierce competition for assets.
At the time of their listing, the near-universal objective of J-REITs was to expand their assets, Goldman Sachs analysts say in a recent research paper.
The bigger the assets, the easier it is to diversify property risk, they say. There were also possibilities to lower management costs through economies of scale.
Acquiring accretive assets depends on the yield exceeding the cost of funds used to buy it, the bank notes.
CB Richard Ellis Fossick says the cost of funds is 1-2 per cent, while yields are 3-5.5 per cent.
But the question is whether properties are available.
A constant inflow of foreign capital has also helped to drive the demand for quality properties. Fossick estimates that foreign investors hold about $US40 billion ($53.3 billion) worth of Japanese real estate.
Funds managers like Australia’s Babcock & Brown and Macquarie Bank have joined US investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers in amassing Japanese properties. The Sydney-based Babcock & Brown owns 29 properties, with a total value of 86 billion yen.
Fossick notes that Japan is the second-largest property market in the world (after the US) with its listed sector just 10 per cent of the size of the US REIT market.
KK Prospect’s Holt says sponsors are investigating regional centres and the secondary office market in Tokyo.
He estimates that some 10 billion yen worth of assets in the secondary market is being held in “pre-REIT” stages.
Although vacancy rates have been falling in the regional areas, as in Tokyo there are still many areas where absolute rates are more than 10 per cent.
And there are probably few properties where rents can be raised over the next year or two. Still, the attraction of other assets remains.
LaSalle’s Chandler says some managers are considering REITs based on golf courses and hotels.
CB Richard Ellis Investors is the co-sponsor of the $US1-billion-plus New City Residence, the second largest residential REIT listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.
The residential market has come off a little, says Holt. Prospects launched the third residential REIT in Tokyo last year. Today, there are seven residential REITs.
Fossick says Japan’s property market is being underpinned by the strengthening economy. The recovery, originally export-led, has deepened as Japanese consumers finally start to spend - which, in turn, has a flow-on effect on property.
However, unlike in Australia, retail rents are not linked to sales turnover.
Most retail facilities owned by J-REITs generate fixed rental income based on long-term contracts with anchor tenants.
Even the Japan Retail Fund, the largest retail J-REIT, derives only about three per cent of its total rental income from rents linked to tenants’ revenues.
Consequently, retail REITs are seen as not offering the upside of office buildings.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Lakelands keen to foster female golf
January 31, 2006 on 8:13 am | In Golf News | No CommentsBased on a genuine desire to promote ladies golf, Lakelands Golf Club will provide some interesting alternatives to encourage greater participation during their Lady Bear competition. The competition, to be held on the first Tuesday of each month, will also become a social day out for established golfers, beginners and those just looking to enjoy the relaxed clubhouse facilities.
“Lakelands wants to encourage increased female participation in the game by establishing the event as a social outing for both golfers and non-golfers alike,” said General Manager Mike Orloff. “In addition to our established lady golfers, Lakelands will offer newcomers a free golf lesson and four hole competition, whilst players at the next level will be encouraged to play nine or eighteen holes. The day will be structured so that all players complete their ’round’ at the same time allowing them to join us for lunch and presentation. As the day expands in popularity we will add more activities to keep everyone entertained.”
Anne Wilson, President of Australian Ladies Professional Golf and a highly regarded teaching professional, will be available for lessons each month. “We are keen to encourage newcomers to the game and provide them with the opportunity to learn the basics.”
The remaining Tuesdays during the month, between the Lady Bear competitions will be for the regular Tuesday Competition with both members and public invited to play. The monthly Lady Bear Competition will begin on February 7th and more information can be obtained by calling Lakelands Golf Club on (07) 55 798700.
Source: www.iseekgolf.com
Monthly Medal Golf Tournament at Royal Palm
January 31, 2006 on 8:12 am | In Golf News | No CommentsWazir shows excellence to emerge winner
LAHORE: In golf where the margins of excellence are limitless, success is a state of mind not a technical theory. The regular winners are defined by their capacity to endure and their strength lies in the fact that they practice hard, and one such golfer is Wazir Ali. Still in his teens, this upcoming golfing star is always a top performer whenever he competes. In the eighteen holes Monthly Medal Golf Tournament held at Royal Palm golf course here on Sunday, he again emerged triumphant.
The Royal Palm golf course is a vast, green, undulating expanse of beautifully manicured unbelievably pampered territory. In fact some areas are sensational. It was a beautiful day and the competitors who turned, inspite of Marathon Race obstacles, enjoyed every moment on the golf course.
As for Wazir Ali, it was one more good and successful outing. He played almost faultless golf, hitting fairways and greens in regulation and making putts as per textbook. On the credit side, he birdied the 1st, 6th, 10th and 13th holes. His overall aggregate net was 66, six under par and that gave him the Monthly Medal. Others who showed sparkling form in the net section were Haider Malhi (11), Mustafa Ali (15), Tahseeb Gulzar (24), and in the gross event the happy ones were Tony Carnecky and Shoaib Bokhari.
Of course there were quite a few less happy faces too who were either let down by their putting or some bad shots. The list includes Sardar Murad, Murad Khan, Tariq Saigol, Waleed Saigol, Shahzad Hussain and Nasir Mehmood. Haider Malhi showed power and imagination and rhythm. His net round of 68 helped him to win the runners up position. Besides the main net and gross, there were other events too, results of which are:
Guest winner: Ali Anwar
Veterans winner: Ilyas Chaudry
Juniors winner: Hashim Rizwan
Ladies winner: Nadia Raja
Closest to pin: Faisal Ali Malik
Longest drive: Mohsin Warraich
At conclusion of the tournament, Ariful Islam, chief operating officer of Meezan Bank, gave away the prizes to the successful ones. Also present on the occasion was Rizwan Atta, regional manager Meezan Bank, Jeremy Frankel, GM operations of Royal Palm, Faisal Qureshi, Head of golf operations and many golfers.
Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk
BOC Seniors golf tourney kicks off today
January 30, 2006 on 8:23 am | In Golf News | No CommentsThe 13th BOC Seniors golf tournament, the only tournament in the country dedicated to senior citizens, got underway today at the Tolly Club here.
Dr Andrew Hall, the British Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India, inaugurated the tournament in presence of Chairman, BOC India Limited J N Sapru and Finance Director S K Menon.
The three-day tournament is an annual fixture on the Golfing Calender in Kolkata and promises to be the largest ever and has witnessed close to 500 entries this year.
Over 140 players teed-off today at the Tolly greens on day one of the BOC seniors Golf Tournament.
BOC India Limited, the pioneers and market leaders in Industrial and medical gases in the country, had been organizing this tournament for the senior citizens for several years now and every year this widely year this widely popular tournament had witnessed participation from both domestic and international players.
BOC India Limited (BOCI) is the leader in gas business in India since 1935. Part of the $ 6 billion BOC Group pic of UK BOC India provides solution to every sphere of gas and gas related business.
Source: news.webindia123.com
Global golf convention opens today in Dubai
January 30, 2006 on 8:23 am | In Golf News | No CommentsHundreds of golfing industry heavyweights will flock to Dubai over the next 48 hours for GolfEx Dubai, the first global golf summit and exhibition aimed at unifying the golfing world, which opens its doors at the Jumeirah Conference Centre today.
Since its launch several months ago, GolfEx Dubai has created a unique buzz in the world of golf attracting key speakers including former PGA European Tour chief Ken Schofield CBE, five-time Open champion Peter Thomson CBE, IMG golf supremo and Tiger Woods manager Mark Steinberg and representatives of some of the biggest commercial names in the industry.
The event will bring together the business of the world of golf in one single venue as well as provide an excellent platform to network, share knowledge and broker deals.
With the full support of the European Tour, the Asian Tour, and companies such as IMG and ISM as well as the golfing community in Dubai, GolfEx Dubai is seen as the perfect appetizer to a week that will see Dubai become the City of Golf . GolfEx Dubai will be a great success, said Chubby Chandler, chief of ISM, the management stable boasting players in its ranks such as Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and David Howell. It s taking place where golf is gaining in popularity at a great rate. To hold it during the Dubai Desert Classic week will make it a very convenient meeting point for everyone attending.
Primarily a conference, it will also host a trade exhibition and a gala dinner sponsored by Nakheel that will bring the curtain down on the show tomorrow night.
Louis Martin, chief executive of the Asian Tour, is another major player in the golfing industry who firmly believes GolfEx Dubai is a welcome addition to the global calendar.
As golf continues its phenomenal growth in Asia, it is vital that those in the industry have a forum where they can share ideas and experiences, said Martin, who will address the conference later today with a speech on golfing boom in Asia.
Also speaking at today s conference will be Schofield who will make the keynote address IMG Director of Golf Course Design Brit Stenson, Bruce Glasco (Senior Vice President of Operations at Troon Golf) and Colin Baxter, the Managing Director of Hydroturf.
Source: www.khaleejtimes.com
Prime Travel Ladies golf on Feb. 25
January 30, 2006 on 8:23 am | In Golf News | No CommentsThe third Prime Travel Ladies Inter Team Golf Day will be held at Arabian Ranches Golf Club on February 25. The format will be an Individual Stableford event with the best 2 scores per hole selected from the team of 4 players, each player receiving 3/4 handicap allowance with a 1.00pm shotgun start. Team players do not have to be members of the same club, as long as they hold an official handicap. The event is a non qualifier for handicap purposes.
Sandy Meyer, Golf Professional, said, We are very grateful to have Prime Travel again on board as title sponsors and we hoping for a full field of 25 teams. The response to date has exceeded all expectations and so far we have received 56 lady golfers in the already confirmed 14 teams. Prime Travel has again offered very generous travel vouchers which are just inside the strict guidelines set by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. We thank Prime Travel, our neighbours at the Arabian Ranches Shopping Mall, for their commitment.
Entries are being accepted at www.arabianranchesgolfdubai.com. The draw for the event will be posted on the web site on February 21.
Source: www.khaleejtimes.com
Bubba Watson’s driver: where golf balls go to fly
January 30, 2006 on 8:22 am | In Golf News | 2 CommentsWatch out, Pebble Beach. All the distance-deflating weapons in the arsenal — chilly February air, soggy fairways, long rounds in which even the biggest power hitters become restless and stiff — might not be enough this time.
Or put another way: Here comes Bubba.
His given name is Gerry (pronounced Gary), but he always has been known as Bubba Watson. That seems like an apt moniker for the newest revelation on the PGA Tour, a player/circus act/stand-up comedian who launches golf balls farther than Tiger Woods, farther than John Daly, farther than just about any pro on the planet.
Watson, 27, burst onto the scene at the Sony Open in Honolulu earlier this month. He averaged 336 yards off the tee in that tournament — one drive traveled a mind-blowing 398 yards — on the way to finishing fourth in his first event since he earned his card.
Then again, the ball carries well in Hawaii. That’s seldom the case at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which begins Feb. 9 amid the notoriously mild climate of the Monterey Peninsula. Watson, who will play in the AT&T, seems distinctly unconcerned about the possible effects on his game.
“If I hit it short up there, that means everybody will hit it short,” he said at Torrey Pines, site of the Buick Invitational.
No less an authority than Woods called Watson “the future of the game,” given his prodigious distance. Watson flashed his goofy smile upon hearing this, saying, “That’s sad, a guy named Bubba could be the future.”
He adeptly mixes bravado and self-deprecation into an entertaining package. But Watson’s signature is clearly the way he uncoils his broad-shouldered, long-armed, 6-foot-3, 180-pound frame, mashing the ball into distant galaxies.
Watson, a left-hander, led the Nationwide Tour last year with an average driving distance of 334 yards. He smacked one drive 422 yards in 2004. Four of his drives exceeded 360 yards during his final-round 65 at the Sony, a buzz-stirring display in which he deliberately shaped many of those shots around trees and doglegs.
Phil Mickelson saw this coming, because he used to play an occasional round with Watson and his University of Georgia teammates. Mickelson’s caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, once lived in Athens, Ga., so Mickelson and Mackay would hook up with the Bulldogs’ golf team before the Masters or Tour Championship.
Even then, Watson outdrove Mickelson — and chided him about it. Mickelson had no problem with Watson’s good-natured gloating because the kid backed it up.
“Oh, I can’t even come close to the unsightly distances Bubba hits it,” Mickelson said. “It seems like he’s able to overpower a lot of courses. I think he’s got to win pretty soon. It’s not just the long game; this guy can really play.”
Watson grew up in Bagdad, Fla., a small town near Pensacola. His dad, who also goes by Bubba, gave him a 9-iron at age 6, with instructions to swing hard and hit the ball as far as possible. Bubba the elder figured his son could learn, in time, to hit it straight.
But the younger Watson enjoyed trying to hook and slice Wiffle balls around trees on the family’s 1 1/2-acre property. He drew a 5-foot wide circle in the dirt driveway, pretended that was the hole and bent those Wiffle balls every which way he could.
Watson eventually learned to make some putts, too, his confidence growing in recent years on the Nationwide Tour. He made 67 of 70 putts from 10 feet or closer at the Sony, a chief reason for his high finish.
So he arrived at the Buick as a budding folk hero, his long drives enhanced by his spot on the leaderboard in Honolulu. Before long, Watson added a stream of memorable quips to his portfolio.
– On the origin of his name: “As soon as I was born, 10 seconds later my dad said, ‘He’s fat and ugly. Let’s call him Bubba.’ ”
– On Daly: “He’s still a fan favorite because he’s different. He’s not just a machine — he’s more of a redneck, like me.”
– On his hobbies: “I’m real lazy. I hate running, I just like to sleep. I think Tiger and his caddie went out running yesterday. I was like, ‘You won’t see me doing that, and my caddie won’t be running, either.’ ”
– On his disdain for formal instruction: “If it ever comes down to where I need a lesson, I’m quitting. I’m never going to have a lesson. … People say, ‘Quiet your hips,’ and I don’t have a clue what they mean. I just hit it.”
Watson runs the risk of coming off as a clown, too eager to bathe in attention and too stubborn to take advice. His wife, Angie, a 6-4 former basketball player at Georgia, insisted Bubba is just being Bubba.
“He’s got a sense of humor. He enjoys making people laugh,” she said. “At the same time, he just wants to play golf. … He doesn’t want to be mistaken for one of those guys who just goes out and pounds it. He expects to score low and win tournaments.”
That didn’t happen at the Buick, where Watson stepped to the No. 1 tee on Thursday and hit a weak hook to the right, clanging off a tree. He raised his hand as if to acknowledge applause — the crowd was silent — and then cracked, “I’ll be here two days and then I’m going home.” Watson actually made the cut, then shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday.
The opening errant shot did not deter Watson because he hauled out his pink-shafted driver again on No. 2 and tried to reach the 326-yard par-4. His drive was nearly pin-high, though it drifted right and settled in thick greenside rough.
It was reminiscent of a moment in Japan in November, when Watson used his hybrid club, the equivalent of a 1-iron, to drive a 323-yard, dogleg left par-4. Woods was two groups behind at the time, and he heard Watson pulled out an iron (not exactly true) and drove the green.
As he told the story, Woods smiled and said, “I don’t have that shot.”
Source: sfgate.com
Village plans for golf course
January 28, 2006 on 9:49 am | In Golf News | No CommentsDevelopers hope to transform Moolap’s private Bellarine Lakes Golf Park into a $75 million resort-style retirement village.
Ballarat businessmen Stewart Gull and Jim Selkirk plan to build 257 independent units and 45 serviced apartments alongside a 120-bed aged care home.
They hope to start building 49-hectare Bellarine Lakes Village early in 2007, offering up to 50 permanent jobs and work for up to 100 tradesmen.
“This will be one of the best integrated retirement villages in Australia,'’ Mr Gull said.
“The development will provide community benefits because there is a need and will provide a significant boost to the Geelong economy.
“We’ve chosen this site because of its location. It can provide open space for residents and is only five minutes from the city of Geelong.
“It is evident that existing retirement facilities are insufficient to meet the increased demand for appropriate housing in Geelong.'’
The developers have lodged a planning application with the City of Greater Geelong and met councillors Rod Macdonald and John Mitchell on site yesterday.
Cr Macdonald later said the quality of the village promised to set it apart.
“Of course we’ve got to look at it now from a planning point of view and see how things line up,'’ Cr Macdonald said.
“But it’s a very substantial project and from a city point of view I’m keen to see these projects brought into the area. We’re going to need them.'’
Mr Gull said his Country Club Villages company had signed an option purchase agreement with golf park owner Con Matharis.
Village plans include weaving units around the existing front nine holes of the golf course and keeping the back nine holes.
Mr Gull said maintaining Reedy Lakes would be a high priority and the village would have amenities including a theatre, chapel, library, indoor and outdoor bowl rinks, lounge, massage and medical room, outdoor pool, workshop, tennis court and community centre.
Prices for units or aged care places had not been finalised.
“But there will be a balance,'’ Mr Gull said.
ntse He hopes the city will throw its weight behind the plans.
“I think that there’s not many $75 million projects that just roll in,'’ Mr Gull said.
“We look forward to assistance from Geelong to make this happen.'’
nteCountry Club Villages has operated for 13 years, establishing Geelong Grove retirement village in Grovedale.
As well as the company’s two villages in Ballarat, others being built are in Bacchus Marsh, Melbourne and Noosa.
Source: www.geelonginfo.com.au
Tennis profits, but golf prevails
January 28, 2006 on 9:49 am | In Golf News | No CommentsAnyone who has a child with the merest inclination to swing a tennis racquet will find it difficult to ignore the numbers floating around at this weekend’s finals of the Australian Open.
On top of the list is the $A1.22 million for the winners of the singles championships. Their beaten opponents will receive a cheque for $610,000, the beaten semi-finalists have already received $305,000 and so on down to $18,300 for first-round losers.
It’s enough to get any parent thinking about giving a budding athlete a nudge in the right direction. But it may be even more rewarding to steer the precocious child towards the golf course.
In 2006, the USPGA Tour, which is by far the most lucrative in the world, is offering more than $A350 million in prizemoney. Its nearest equivalent in tennis, the ATP Tour, will carry a mere $A120 million, including the four grand slams.
At the top of the respective piles, the picture is similarly tilted towards golf. The game’s greatest money winner, Tiger Woods, has earned more than $A73 million from tournament prizemoney alone — with a lot more to come. Pete Sampras, the tennis equivalent, won a little more than $A57 million.
The golfing rewards remain superior all the way down the list.
The 100th-ranked player in the game is 34-year-old American Harrison Frazar, a “who’s he” who has pocketed $A8.3 million. And he hasn’t won a tournament on the regular tour.
No. 100 in tennis is Australia’s own Wayne Arthurs with $A4.3 million, which to many would be a surprise in itself.
There are also fewer players trying to get a cut of the money on the US golf circuit, about 130 compared with 1350 tennis players on the worldwide ATP Tour.
Golf might also have an edge over tennis in other areas. Fitness levels are lower, you can play for longer, pushy parents are less obvious, no dodgy line calls, a seniors tour that pays megabucks and there’s no grunting on impact — although there is “You Da Man”.
In purely Australian terms, golfers are also the bigger winners. Stuart Appleby is Australia’s highest-earning golfer with more than $A22 million, and no major victories. Lleyton Hewitt tops the tennis ladder with a tick over $A21 million, and he’s won two majors.
So, on paper, the choice is clear. Buy a set of golf sticks and put in a putting green.
MONEY FOR SLAM
(Australian Open prizemoney for men’s and women’s losers by round)
1st round $18,300
2nd round $28,465
3rd round $46,760
4th round$76,250
Quarter-final $152,500
Semi-final $305,000
Runner-up $610,000
Winner $1,220,000
Source: www.theage.com.au
Golf firm shooting high with space-age element
January 28, 2006 on 9:48 am | In Golf News | 1 CommentThe PGA Merchandise Show is part pro shop, part carnival and, even though it is here in Central Florida, a lot of Las Vegas.
There are a lot of people spinning the wheel of fortune to bring their product to market, hoping to be the next Callaway, TaylorMade or even Adams Golf.
Element 21 Golf, a company with strong Canadian connections, joined the fray yesterday with a media conference and product launch that was out of this world.
Literally.
Element 21, which has its headquarters in Toronto, has some clubs and ball on the International Space Station. The plan is to have the ball knocked into orbit from the ISS where it will orbit the Earth, making it officially the longest drive in history.
Hey, you got to have a hook, huh?
Element 21 is staking its potential success on scandium, the 21st element on the Periodical Table (titanium, the metal it hopes to replace as the material of choice in golf, is 22nd).
The company’s pitch is scandium, which has been used in the Russian space program and missile technology (hence the tie to the ISS yesterday). It has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any material used for golf clubs. It’s 25% better than titanium, 50% better than graphite and 70% better than steel, says the company.
Its claim to fame in the sports market is it is used to make very successful Easton’s metal baseball bats, said Nataliya Hearn, the president and CEO of Element 21.
She’s on sabbatical from the University of Windsor, where she’s a professor who was involved in technology transfers from the old USSR. That’s how she got involved in the scandium business.
“I don’t even golf,” she said, “I’m an engineer. I live vicariously through the golfers.”
Element 21, around for three years now, started out making golf shafts out of scandium under Dr. Howard Butler, the former vice-president of shaft technology at True Temper.
The company has now branched out into club design. It received USGA approval for its clubhead designs about three weeks ago and yesterday launched a full line of clubs — driver (The Shock Driver), hybrids, irons, wedges and putter.
(In the interests of full disclosure, I bought some of the company’s stock recently. The stock closed at 38 cents US yesterday, down 11.63%.)
“Scandium has been around for a long time. It’s an abundant material that was originally used by the Russians for space products, missile fins, MiG fighters … it’s light weight and high strength,” said Jim Morin, E21’s vice-president of product development.
The shafts have very low torque and shock absorption qualities. The iron shafts are scandium metal and the driver shafts are hybrid graphite. The shafts have been attracting interest on the PGA Tour with John Cook and Davis Love III apparently trying them out. The company’s representative on the tour said in November he expected 30 PGA Tour players would use the company’s products in 2006.
HOLDS PATENT
E21 has two U.S. patents on scandium.
“We’re in a unique position with scandium. Because of the breakup of the Soviet Union, we were able to do a technology transfer and get a patent,” said Hearn. “You usually don’t have a material patent. We’re in a curious position.
“Callaway introduced titanium in the Big Bertha, but they didn’t control the rights to titanium and everybody ended up jumping on the bandwagon. We’re in the same position, but we control the rights to the material. Anybody that wants to build anything in golf out of scandium has to (deal with E21).”
The company showed a glitzy computer-generated video of the ISS and how the launch of the golf ball is expected to unfold, with an astronaut tapping it one-handed with a club off the station. It’s expected to be a trillion-yard drive was the pitch yesterday.
Whether Element 21 golf goes into orbit or joins the legions of companies that have made a big splash here then disappeared like a shooting star remains to be seen.
Source: slam.canoe.ca