Tavistock Group, Tiger Woods and Friends Host Unique 'Member-Guest' Golf Event

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(ORLANDO, FL) -- In 2005, when CNBC provided news coverage of the second-ever Tavistock Cup, an annual golf tournament pitting touring professional golf members of Lake Nona and Isleworth Golf & Country Clubs, the cable business news channel billed the private Orlando event as the "Toughest Ticket in Sports." Others have described the annual affair hosted by the Orlando-based Tavistock Group as the "World Golf and Country Club Championship."

To this veteran real estate reporter on the scene for the fifth consecutive year, the Tavistock Cup is simply the most unique and compelling sporting and lifestyle event on the planet.  How else can one explain an invitation-only tournament whose rosters read like a who's who of golf, always led by none other than Team Isleworth superstar Tiger Woods himself.

Consider the likes of fellow participants Stuart Appleby, J.B. Holmes, John Cook and captain Mark O'Meara on the Isleworth side, as well as Lake Nona captain Ernie Els and teammates Retief Goosen, Ian Poulter, Chris DiMarco and defending Masters champ Trevor Immelman - to name a few -- and the '09 Tavistock Cup field featured an astonishing 53 major championships and more than 710 worldwide victories by the 20 member-residents of the two exclusive private communities owned by the Tavistock Group.

Throw in a tournament purse of $3.5 million, $1 million of which is donated to charities, live worldwide broadcast coverage by the Golf Channel and all the trappings of a PGA Tour event including 10 electronic leader boards and party suites/tents flowing with the finest of foods and spirits, and it is obvious the Tavistock Cup isn't your normal member-guest tournament.

In fact, all the talent, organization, and luxurious amenities and accoutrements associated with the event has the flavor and feel of a major championship, yet it's open to just 4,000-plus Lake Nona/Isleworth members, residents, guests, sponsors and volunteers who are able to follow their favorite golf stars in an extremely rare up-close no-ropes environment. What this special intimacy also provides is an opportunity to enjoy the players and world-class amenities of Tavistock's Isleworth and Lake Nona communities in a distinctly more lighthearted and relaxed fashion.
 
For instance, what other event that features this type of talent and prize money on the line actually holds a major themed private gala on the eve of the final round where all the players, sponsors and special guests mingle and party together as part of another fundraiser that gave away a brand new Audi 5 Series car and $20,000-plus Omega watch to list a couple of the silent auction items.

Back on the course, the mood and competition is just as spirited as spectators show up by the thousands in either Isleworth Red or Lake Nona Blue to show their official support for Team Isleworth or Team Lake Nona.

"There is truly no other golf tournament in the world like it," says Tavistock Cup tournament director Andy Odenbach. "Fifty percent of our member professionals playing on the PGA Tour are in the top 30 in the world, and our guests get to walk right down the middle of the fairways with them as they compete ... it is unreal."

What is equally as unreal are the two communities owned by the Tavistock Group, a private investment company founded and controlled by British billionaire Joe Lewis. Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, the setting for this year's event, is a gorgeous 600-acre private community located in southeast Orlando, and the centerpiece to the growing 7,000-acre mixed-used development known as Lake Nona.


Among the world-class amenities enjoyed at Lake Nona, where famed golfers Annika Sorenstam and Sergio Garcia also call home, are an elegant 40,000-square Neo-Georgian-styled clubhouse, an 18-room Lodge, world-class Bath & Racquet Club with state-of-the-art fitness center, and the acclaimed Tom Fazio-designed championship golf course set amidst a secluded wooded canopy on the front nine and a large picturesque lake on the back nine.

Among the pristine setting of Lake Nona lies an array of Mediterranean- and French-inspired residences, ranging from coach homes to custom estate homes priced at $1 million to more than $7 million.

On the other side of Orlando where Tiger calls home in Isleworth, the setting is even more luxurious and exclusive. Situated on 600 acres, the private gated enclave of less than 400 residential units is home to numerous sports stars and celebrities led by Shaquille O'Neal and Ken Griffey Jr., and business leaders such as Darden Restaurants chief executive Clarence Otis and IMG vice chairman Alastair Johnston to name a few.




Featuring one of the most exquisite clubhouses in the world, an 89,000-square-foot Mediterranean-styled structure, numerous multi-million sculptures scattered about the grounds and an 18-hole course recently renovated and called "Florida's Augusta" by member-resident Robert Allenby, and Isleworth Golf and Country Club is simply in a league of its own. Home prices at Isleworth start at $3 million and go up to $20 million-plus.

As Poulter put it after he and his champagne-soaked teammates won this year's four-ball medal match-play/four-ball singles medal match play by a score of 17-13, everything about the Tavistock Cup and Tavistock Group, "Just gets bigger and better each year. Just look out there and see all the red and blue people having a great time.  For Joe Lewis to put on such a great show like this says a lot about the quality of his company and the communities. There's nothing else like it in sports". There's also nothing else like it in the world of luxury real estate.

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