KemperSports Properties Recognized By Golfweek's Best New List

Highly-anticipated Old Macdonald takes home No. 1 spot NORTHBROOK, Ill., Nov. 18, 2010 - KemperSports announced today that three of its properties have been honored by Golfweek in its list of the best new golf courses to be opened in 2009-2010. The list, which was published in the Oct. 29 issue of the magazine, utilized Golfweek's panel of raters to determine the top-40 new golf courses that includes public, private and resort golf courses.

Old Macdonald, the much-anticipated fourth course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, took home the no. 1 spot, while Cape Fear National in Wilmington, NC. and The Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich., came in at Nos. 22 (No. 8 in 2010) and 32 (No. 14 in 2010), respectively.

"We are fortunate to be involved with some great clients, architects and partners," said KemperSports CEO Steve Skinner. "Each of these projects is very special and deserving of being on the Golfweek list."

Old Macdonald, designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, opened to golfers on June 10, 2010, marking the 100-year anniversary of the founding of The National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y. The course includes design attributes of the course's namesake and the grandfather of golf course architecture in America, Charles Blair Macdonald.

Cape Fear National is an 18-hole, Tim Cate-designed course that opened in April 2010. The course layout features a rippling landscape mixed with cypress, pine, maple, oak and magnolia trees. Multiple holes are intertwined throughout with preserved wetlands and scenic lakes to make for a natural and enjoyable walk through the course.

Opened in August 2010, The Golf Club at Harbor Shores held its grand opening celebration by hosting the Champions for Change golf challenge featuring a charity skins match between course designer Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller. The master-planned community is in close proximity to Lake Michigan and sits along the beautiful St. Joseph and Paw Paw Rivers. The Golf Club at Harbor Shores will host the 2012 and 2014 Senior PGA Championships.

For more information on KemperSports or for a complete list of managed properties, visit www.kempersports.com.

About KemperSports
Northbrook, Ill.-based KemperSports operates golf facilities as well as athletic clubs, lodging venues and major sporting events, including nationally ranked courses and tournament venues such as Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Dorado Beach Resort & Club, The Glen Club, Desert Willow Golf Resort and Chambers Bay, host of the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the 2015 U.S. Open. Affiliate KemperSports Marketing & Communications, a sports marketing, events and public relations agency, has produced and managed major national and international events, including the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational college basketball tournament. For more information, visit www.kempersports.com.

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Manitou Passage Among Golfweek's Best New Courses

Glen Arbor, MI - Golfweek Magazine has chosen Manitou Passage Golf Club, located near the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in the Leelanau Peninsula, as one of its "Best New Courses" in 2010. The recognition of the 40 top new courses in the country appears in the October issue of the magazine.

Golfweek's course evaluators grade courses all over the country on a 10-point scale to identify the country's finest golf courses. Raters take into account factors such as routing of the course, feature shaping, greens, variety and memorable holes, conditioning, maintenance, and landscape management.

This accolade makes Manitou Passage Golf Club one of the top destination courses in northern Michigan. The course joins Harbor Shores Golf Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus, as one of the two Michigan courses to make the Golfweek's best new list.

Manitou Passage Golf Club is a signature Arnold Palmer design that has gone through a major renovation and restoration project to complete and update the design that was originally envisioned by Palmer.

When a group of golf devotees purchased the course over a year ago, they did so with the goal of creating a new destination course featuring exceptional playing conditions and unmatched service. That group, lead by Bob Kuras, president of The Homestead, brought the Arnold Palmer Design Company, Peridian International, and the Wadsworth Golf Construction Company in to assist with the renovation efforts.

The Palmer and Peridian work included scores of minor and major changes. Under the direction of Kuras and his son James, Wadsworth completed the majority of the changes recommended by Palmer. Renovations included the repositioning, adding and squaring off of tee-boxes, widening of fairways in key landing areas, renovating bunkers, lengthening some holes, restoring areas with native grasses and clearing of trees and brush to open vistas to the area's natural beauty.

"We're honored to have been chosen by Golfweek Magazine and pleased to be in the company of other great courses," said Kuras.

One of the most dramatic (and, most talked about) changes was on hole No. 8, now one of the region's prettiest and most challenging par 5's. The tee boxes were re-positioned and trees removed, which opened up one of the signature views in all of northern Michigan, including Lake Michigan, the Manitou Passage, sand dunes and lighthouse.

With its crystal clear inland waters, sparkling Lake Michigan beaches, and miles of rolling sand dunes in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Leelanau was the perfect setting for Manitou Passage Golf Club as it was for The Homestead, America's Freshwater Resort. Guests can now enjoy this world-class Arnold Palmer signature design and golf packages at a resort of comparable quality.

For more information about Manitou Passage Golf Club and to experience the areas premier destination course, visit www.manitoupassagegolfclub.com or for packaging information visit www.thehomesteadresort.com.

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Golfweek’s Top College Golf Courses

September 20, 2010

Golfweek has its list of top college golf courses. Two of them are the University of Michigan Golf Course (number 12) and the University of Michigan’s Radrick Farms golf course (number 16). I’m surprised that Michigan State’s Forest Akers didn’t make the cut—it’s every bit as nice as Radrick Farms, although much more heavily played. Radrick is a semi-private course for University staff and alumni only, while Forest Akers is open just about everyone (as near as I can tell ... I just walked on one day with no tee time or credentials). Forest Akers is a bit more beaten up at any time than Radrick.

I’ve played four Big Ten courses—the two Michigan Courses, Forest Akers and Indiana University’s home course. The Ohio State University’s Scarlet is next on my list. What I’d really like to do is to play it on October 10 of this year on my way back from a football game in Morgantown, WV. I wonder if anyone out there can hook me up ...

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