Ginn Exits Golf Tournament Sponsorship – PGA Sues
Real estate developer Bobby Ginn’s company abruptly announces it will drop out of all PGA and LPGA Golf tournaments, prompting the PGA to sue for breach of multi-year contract.
Palm Coast, Florida – January 31, 2009 – On Wednesday, real estate developer Bobby Ginn’s company pulled its sponsorship of the upcoming Ginn Championship, a PGA Champions Tour event in Palm Coast, and the Ginn Open, an LPGA Tour event in Orlando. The announcement follows earlier pullbacks from an LPGA tournament in Charleston, SC and a PGA Fall Tour tournament most recently held in Palm Coast. The sudden announcement prompted the PGA Tour to file a lawsuit against Ginn for breach of the multi-year contract. The "Toby" in GoToby.com was in the hospital for an unexpected visit this week and was unable to report the story until today.
The news was not unexpected. The Ginn Company had proceeded with some of the March PGA Champions Tour event planning activities, including marketing material mailed to prospective sponsors and advertisers. However, tour volunteers told me that they had not been contacted about plans to volunteer for this year’s tournament, raising doubts in my mind. As recently as Tuesday, I asked a Ginn executive if I should read anything into the lack of communications with volunteers. He said no, that the delay was due to a computer glitch. The decision to quit the tournaments became known the following day.
According to a CBS Sports story, Ginn had previously bought his way out of the Ginn ser Mer PGA Fall Tour event, hosted this year at Ginn’s Conservatory Golf Course in Palm Coast. That same tournament was hosted in 2008 at Tesoro, another Ginn community in Port St. Lucie. Tesoro is one of four Ginn-LA (Ginn plus financial backer Lubert-Adler) developments affected by a $675 million credit default. Tesoro is now part of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy proceeding. The sudden announcement surprised and angered PGA officials. PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said, "We had no forewarning that Ginn was planning to cancel the 2009 Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach, and only learned of the decision when the company issued a release late Wednesday. In fact, we had been in discussions with them on possible modifications to the agreement." The tour responded with a lawsuit charging breach of contract. The Ginn Championship contract had three years remaining. There was one year remaining on the contract between Ginn and the LPGA Tour for the Ginn Open.
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they dont know how to tell the truth
toby ..i have seen some people defending ginn/adler/hardiman/gidel and wonder what are they smoking and this is living proof…these guys are screwing members in all of their "clubs" as they like to call them, or as you have commented they hold the members hostage. now they are playing with the big boys and are lying again to three tours…why dont they just ride off in the sunset and let some real hospitality company take the wo remaining properties over…the one thing that ginn did positive was develope some beutiful properties,but then had no clue how to run them..he bought blimps,race cars,started up this golf company with no knowledge whatsoever in operations and now its time to take all the good old boys and saddle up and ride into the sunset…we the owners have had more than enough
Ginn Golf
Toby, I hope all is well regarding your hospital event…when all is said and done, our health and the health of our family is what counts most. I first heard about the Ginn news at GoToby.com(Where else?). Then I read about it in a national golf news story. This is sad news for everyone involved in the golf,corporate, and entertainment world, not to mention the resort and real estate industries. The primary blame, obviously, is the economy…but I wonder if the news couldn’t have come earlier so as to allow another sponsor the opportunity to step in (maybe there is still Time?). It’s also a big blow to Palm Coast, but thanks to the 3 PGA events we did have, we are now on the national radar screen. The Ocean course and the Conservatory are indeed Major League golf courses and there will be future PGA events. These horrific times will pass…Keep up the great work Toby…CPD
PQA & Ginn
Sorry the economy has caused this as it’s bad for Palm Coast. However I feel no pain for the PGA, over the years they have tried to create an elite bunch of cry babies demanding purses that are beyond comprehension. I think we’ll see many of the overly expensive and wasteful sporting events fall victim of the economy. The daytona 500 will be the first real gauge of the future of sporting events. I think we’ll see a major ciuback in sponsorships, advertising and attendence.
If anyone needs to wakeup to the real world it’s (not necessarily in this order) politicans, entertainment figures, CEO’s, sport stars, TV personailities and government employees.
Ginn Exits Stage Trapdoor
For those of us at Grand Haven in Palm Coast this is not good news. Our Club is hanging in there and we will survive but the pall that Ginn and company are putting on the area is bad news. Leaving the PGA events without facing up to it and giving some warning is a cowardly act no matter what the reasons. The Bobby Ginn record now completes the full cycle of of what an overblown ego can get you. His wasteland extends from Hilton Head to the Bahamas and I hope no one is stupid enough to trust him again.
ginn
john boy…you obviously know nothing about ginn..in your lifetime you will never see as much money as he and his crew took in from the properties he owns, pissed it away on stupid things like blimps,race cars golf tournements etc ,etc..and didnt come through with promises like horses,clubhouses at reunion,world class gyms and spas,water park expansions,etc etc etc…do not confuse economic conditions with ginn/adler/gidel. THEY SHOULD AND HOPEFULLY WILL WIND UP IN JAIL
Get a grip
Sammy,
I just want to take a second to bring you back to reality. If you are a member you should be happy about the cancellation, why you ask?? With the economic downturn really hurting Ginn why would you want him to spend millions of dollars on a Tour event that doesn’t help the Members at all…makes no sense. You should be happy, think about it maybe you will understand……or maybe you won’t….
Ginn Sur Mer
Toby, this is your friend in West End, Grand Bahama wishing you a speedy return to the work you love most…reporting on real estate. I toured the Ginn Sur Mer project last week with other members of the community. It was there way of saying "see we are still here" but in my heart I beleive they are going to pack up and leave one day. West End will inherit a dinosaur and the people will continue to suffer.
ginn
toby,hope you are ok health wise, you have been a encylopedia of info to all,especialy when it comes to inn. i will not do what you asked as far as bash ginn,or answer one of your readers nd make this a chat site…dont these people read your site before they make comments like the last. this economy is not the reason this empire is going away,they have made more money than anyone here will ever see,the problem is their broken promises have put them in this position.as a owner i am not happy that someone like this could allow woman to come to reunion three weeks on their own dime and try to qualify for an event that was never going to happen…they lose 5 to 6 million a year on that event because they never went after any real sponser. in the golf world without sponsership money you will lost a fortune trying to pull it off..what i ws trying to say,as you have toby is all of the lyes are just catching up to him just like years back in the carolinas…when you promise owners horses,world class gym and spa,clubhouse for the members and have cloocted all the money to build these promises and never come through like at reunion it all comes back to haunt you…toby keep up the great work
JJ you get a grip
As a so called member at Reunion. I am in ageement with SammyJ. With only 2 monthes untill April it is cowardly of Ginn to pull out of the Open. I am sure families, buisnesses and players have already booked their air fair, accomidations and car rentals. To pull out now and blame it on the economy is rediculous. Ginn has all of our money. We have all paid a high price for our properties with the promise of Ginn fufilling his obligation. Ginn sold most of his properties within hours of there release. Members have been paying for years on full membership two to three times more that were advertised at the launches and a squeeze play to attach it to your house for life. Ginn promised members at Reunion a world class spa, which there is not. A world class gym, which there is not. Horses and horseback riding, which there is not. A clubhouse, which there is not. A downtown, which there is not. Ginn took all of our money and ran with it but now has the nerve to say that he is broke. Maybe he should not have spent it on blimps and car racing. I can’t wait untill all upper managment is fired and Adler is out of there and a responsible company takes over reunion and does the right thing.
Ginn
I find it almost funny to read some of the back and forth here. The bottom line is that real estate developers are hurting every where, not just Ginn. I’m sure promises were made with best intentions but when sales dry up its pretty tough to sink tens of millions of dollars into new projects, no matter the promises. I’m trying to be objective and not pile on, Ginn made mistakes but he isn’t the only real estate developer hurting.
Ginn
With Ginn’s foreclosure dealings, office closings, employee firing. it makes you wonder who all is getting or has gotten bonuses in the upper eschelon. Just like BOA spending $ 10 million on advertising in the super bowl and what $ 40 + million in bail-out money.
JJ DOES’T GET IT
THE MILLIONS ON WHAT YOU THINK ARE NEW PROJECTS ARE REALLY OLD PROJECTS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETED YEARS AGO.IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT YOU ARE A RECENT OWNER/INVESTOR. BUT FOR THE FOLKS THAT BEEN HERE FROM THE BIGGING WE HEARD EVERY LIE/EXCUSE THERE IS.THE BARN FOR THE HORSES HAS BEEN COMPLETED 3 YEARS AGO. NO HORSES YET. LETS GO THRU THE EXCUSES/LIES .PEMMITING ISSUES, ONE EYED LIZARD [ENDANGERED], TO CLOSE TO ROAD, TURN OUT NOT BIG ENOUGH, THE LIST GOES ON. THE CLUB HOUSE, TWO YEARS AGO THEY HAD A BILLBOURD W/ THE NEW CLUBHOUSE, AT THAT TIME A ASKED THE GM.HARDERMAN WHEN IS IT GOING TO START. HE SAID IT IS ONLY A PICTURE AND THERE ARE NO PLANS TO BUILD IT. THESES ARE ONLY SOME OF THE LIES. STICK AROUND LONG ENOUGH YOU WILL GET A TASTE OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN THRU