Signature Golf Course in Songdo International Business District Announced
NEW SONGDO CITY, South Korea and NEW YORK, April 24, 2007 — The official preview and naming ceremony for the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea was held today at the site of the future course. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus provided a preview of the highly anticipated course to be located in New Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. Attendees included Incheon City Mayor Sang-soo Ahn, Chairman of Gale International Stanley C. Gale, and CEO of Gale International John B. Hynes, III. Gale International is developing the 1,500- acre, $25 billion New Songdo City in a joint venture partnership with POSCO E&C. The naming ceremony concluded with tee shots by Mr. Nicklaus and Mayor Ahn.
Jack Nicklaus is designing the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. The golf club, the first and only in Korea to carry the name of the “Golden Bear” himself, is being co-developed by Gale International and Kitson & Partners, LLC a leading golf community and club development company.
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea will feature world-class architecture in the clubhouse and villa designs and set a new benchmark for environmental stewardship, providing a green oasis for the city and enhancing both its natural aesthetic appeal and overall quality of life. The PGA-standard 18-hole golf course will be at the heart of a western-style fairway community that will include 151 villas, ensuring that it will be a major draw for international businesspeople throughout Asia and beyond.
From the tournament tees, the course will play to more than 7,300 yards, presenting a challenge to the most talented of golfers yet playable and enjoyable for golfers of all abilities, by providing multiple tees and strategy options.
The villas will provide unobstructed views of the fairways, greens and tees. In addition, the Club will feature fine and casual dining, a bar and lounge, private meeting rooms, complete fitness and swim facilities, spa amenities, and a professionally-staffed golf shop. Members will be provided with personalized service and a variety of activities and events for their sporting, recreational, leisure, and culinary interests.
No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus, and no single person has changed the face of the sport more than Jack Nicklaus – the player, the designer, and the good-will ambassador. Jack’s competitive career has spanned five decades, and his legend has been built with 105 professional tournament victories worldwide and a record 18 professional major-championship titles. He is the only player in history to have won each of the game’s majors at least three times, and is the only player to have completed the career “Grand Slam” on both the regular and senior tours. The legacy Jack has left as a player can be rivaled only by the legacy he is leaving as a golf-course designer.
Jack Nicklaus said, “We are confident that we will support and enhance the vision for New Songdo City, one of the most exciting development projects in the world today. This new course will be planned and constructed to the highest possible standards of quality.”
Stanley C. Gale, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gale International said, “Jack Nicklaus represents the best in class, indeed the best golfer and golf course designer in the world. We are proud that Songdo International Business District and Incheon will be home to this great course, club and community. With Incheon City designated as the official site for the 17th Asian Games in 2014, we can expect increased interest in Songdo from investors and companies. I deeply appreciate the efforts of Mayor Ahn in making this happen.”
John B. Hynes, III, CEO and Managing Partner of Gale International said, “The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea is an important element in Songdo’s Quality of Life initiative and telegraphs the world that Songdo will be the place to live, work and recreate. New Songdo and Incheon will become a sought after destination for businesspersons, sports aficionados and by anyone seeking a full compliment of urban experiences.”
Incheon Metropolitan City Mayor Ahn concluded by saying, “The establishment of the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea guarantees that New Songdo City will emerge as a key business hub of Northeast Asia. I am confident that it will serve as a major component in attracting more multinational companies and related jobs to Incheon.”
The Golf Club is scheduled to be completed in time for the Incheon Expo in fall, 2009.
New Songdo City, being built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along the Yellow Sea, is positioned to become the hub of Northeast Asia. New Songdo City is the largest private real estate development in history and is a 70/30 joint venture partnership between Gale International, one of the world’s largest real estate developers, and POSCO E&C, a subsidiary of Korean steel giant POSCO. Gale International is headquartered in New York with offices in Boston; Irvine, California; Seoul and New Songdo, South Korea.
When completed, New Songdo will include fifty million square feet of office space, thirty million square feet of residential space, ten million square feet of retail, five million square feet of hotel space and ten million square feet of public space. Every conceivable cultural and recreational amenity will be available including a world class hospital, an international preparatory school, a Central Park and an art museum.
Kitson & Partners, LLC, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, specializes in planning, building and managing master-planned golf course communities, working with such leading golf course architects as Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus Design is the global firm founded by golf legend Jack Nicklaus and owned by the Nicklaus family. Nicklaus Design is widely regarded as the world’s leading design firm with 306 courses open for play in 29 countries and 38 states. Of those, Jack Nicklaus has been involved in 250 courses. At least 48 Nicklaus Design courses have been ranked in various national or international Top-100 lists, and by the end of 2006, at least 79 Nicklaus courses will have hosted a combined total of more than 500 professional tournaments worldwide or significant national amateur championships. Nicklaus Design currently has more than 50 courses under construction, and courses under development in 35 different countries.
Source: Gale International
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