Tiger Woods. Photo by Paddy Briggs
The man who revolutionized the sport of professional golf has experienced a lot of firsts this year. Tiger Woods. Photo by Paddy Briggs
The man who revolutionized the sport of professional golf has experienced a lot of firsts this year. New father and number one seeded golfer Eldrick "Tiger" Woods will be designing his first golf course on American soil. Woods launched his own design company a year ago and already has plans underway for a project in Dubai to be completed in 2009. Yet enthusiasts are excited that Woods will create a course at a site set amidst the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina near Asheville. The Cliffs at High Carolina will feature what Woods terms a walking golf course at an elevation of up to 4000 feet.
The history of golf goes back hundreds of years to the craggy terrain of Scotland. Legend has it that bored shepherds hit rocks into rabbit and gopher holes with the wooden crooks iconic of shepherds the world over. The landscape of the rolling North Carolina Mountains reflects a traditional aesthetic over what will assumingly be a customary 18-hole course.
Wood's eponymous design company Tiger Woods Design was launched in November 2006 and almost immediately announced its plans to work on a project in the oil rich nation of Dubai, the largest of the seven United Arab Emirates countries. The U.A.E. is a haven for elite international jet-setters with unlimited budgets.
As the world of golf continues to adapt and evolve at the hands of multiethnic individuals like Woods, who is of African American, Chinese, Thai, Native American and Dutch descent, who knows the heights of popularity the game will see and how far its fan base will reach?
