When Annika Sorenstam launched her golf academy in 2006, Reunion
Resort was a place of grand ambitions. Those were boom times. One of the LPGA's richest tournaments
gave the locale south of Walt Disney World instant recognition. Vacation homes
sold quickly. Owner Bobby Ginn was flush with cash.
All that dried up, of course, when the economy took a nose dive
a few years later. Since then, Sorenstam has waited for someone to breathe some
life into the property.
Promise arrived last month, when Reunion and its sister property
in Palm Coast were united with venerable Innisbrook Resort near Tampa in a
three-resort, nine-course alliance stretching from one Florida coast to the
other.
"I think it's refreshing," Sorenstam said after
Salamander Hotels & Resorts formally took over management. "This place
has so much potential."
An LPGA return may not be far off, either. Salamander CEO Sheila
Johnson also disclosed plans to meet next week with tour officials about
hosting a tournament again.
"I think it's hugely important," said Johnson, who
made her fortune as co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and now owns
the WNBA's Washington Mystics. "It puts us on the map, just like the [PGA
Tour] did at Innisbrook."
Innisbrook is part of the Florida Swing as host of the
Transitions Championship. Together with Reunion Resort and Hammock Beach Resort,
the trio now is being marketed to travelers as the "Grand Golf Resorts of
Florida."
Among the promotional points: A "Legends of Golf"
trail that packages the resorts' 162 holes of golf over nine courses, including
designs by Hall of Famers Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.
"This resort concept has never before been accomplished,
and because of the unique characteristics of each property, it cannot be
replicated," Johnson said.
"I love the synergy. All three facilities are superb, they really
are. In fact, Reunion and Hammock Beach really had a leg up on Innisbrook. I
really almost had to do a gut job to bring it up to the level it is now. … What
you all have here is remarkable."
Innisbrook is a wholly owned Salamander property, acquired in
2007 and soon given a $26 million renovation. Salamander is taking over both
Reunion and Hammock Beach as part of a partnership with real-estate equity firm
Lubert-Adler LP, which owns the resorts.
Both locales, in fact, spent time as tour stops during the last
decade, when Ginn had an open checkbook. The LPGA's best came to Reunion for
the Ginn Open from 2006-08; Hammock Beach brought the Champions Tour to its
fairways.
Financial woes from the slumping real-estate market forced Ginn
to withdraw sponsorship from both events in 2008. A year later, Ginn
relinquished management of both properties.
"This area has been a little flat, as we all know,"
said Sorenstam, who still hosts one of the nation's top junior tournaments at
Reunion. "We've been looking for somebody that'll come in and give it the
little spark that it needs."
Johnson's involvement — she's also a newcomer to the Annika
Foundation board — also may provide the final push to fulfill Sorenstam's dream
of creating an LPGA event in her adopted hometown.
"It's certainly not going to hurt it," the LPGA Hall
of Famer said. "We're just going to be patient and keep our fingers
crossed. We need a partner, and here's a partner."
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