Have Agency, Need Architect

I guess you really aren't a sports agency without an in-house architect to serve your clients need$.

And now we have agencies stealing other agency architects! Isn't this fun.

Terry Baller Joins Gaylord Sports as In-house Course Architect

Spent last nine years in the field worldwide with IMG

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. (March 26, 2007) -- Terry Baller, who for the past nine years worked as a staff golf course architect at IMG, has joined Gaylord Sports Management as the Director of Golf Course Design. Gaylord Sports currently represents Hale Irwin, Phil Mickelson, Dave Pelz, Rick Smith and David Toms in the area of course design and real estate development.

“As we continue to broaden Gaylord Sports’ services, Terry gives us the opportunity to extend our reach in the golf course design segment and provide outstanding service for our clients,” said Gaylord President David Yates. “His worldwide experience with a company the stature of IMG will be a huge help in growing our clients’ course design and real estate business.”

Baller, 34, has a wide range of experience. He led the team that developed the IMG Golf Academy practice facility at Bradenton, Fla. He worked with Mark O’Meara on the Talisker Club’s Tuhaye Course in Deer Valley, Utah, currently on Golf Digest’s list of the top 10 new private courses in the country. Baller collaborated with designer Bernhard Langer on Le Toussrok, a spectacular course on an island off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean that debuted at No. 10 on Golfworld International’s list of the world’s best courses. And with designer Colin Montgomerie, Baller executed Zhuhai Golden Golf Club in China, ranked as that country’s best new course of 2003.

“I’m really looking forward to bringing my experience to Gaylord Sports and helping take our business into a new dimension,” said Baller, who has earned a degree in civil engineering at Cleveland State University and certification in turfgrass management at Penn State University. “We have ambitious plans in this area and I’m absolutely delighted to be a part of the team.”

Part of Baller’s responsibility will be to coordinate projects for the clients and the development partners. He will report to Tim Ummel, Gaylord Sports’ Vice President of Business Development.

“We now have an internationally accomplished in-house architect who can provide a range of services to our clients, developers and real estate partners,” said Ummel. “That opens a world of possibilities for us and we think it separates us from other groups in our industry.”

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