Tee time

Well, well.

The attorney representing the golf course promoters and their government enablers claims that not "one grain" of sand will be moved to build their playground. Never one to believe everything I read, I climbed the dune - not easy - and Natty Bumppo-like, scoured the terrain for signs of corruption.

The ground underneath the Marram grass is, um, sand. Essentially they will take all the dunes, leaving the beach proper, except for four acres of unsightly asphalt covering the new parking lots and entrance road. Once they have permits in hand, they'll do pretty much as they please. With few resources for oversight of these so-called public private partnerships and little political will - though the popular will rejects this free-for-them - the developer is holding most of the cards.

They have established a youth golfing club called The First Tee. The golf industry knows that the game is losing in popularity, so in some respects it's a way to nurture future players. However, most of these First Tee Clubs are in less affluent areas where there might be some nice land a developer could chew up. It is mostly an artless con.