Tiger's Punta Brava

So, the news is that Tiger Woods wants to create a new luxury golf course in Northern Baja California, out on Punta Banda not far from Ensenada. I am certainly not a big fan of golf courses, especially in very arid places like Baja California. Interestingly, the website is pretty vague about the actual location of the development.

Here is the official website, which is laced with great examples of how media can be put to use to market large projects like this (note the lack of any local people on the site). Take the time to look through the gallery, and pay close attention to who is in the photos, what is depicted, and of course what is not depicted. You would never guess, unless you've been there, that actual living communities exist anywhere nearby. Well, unless you're looking for "folk artists":

Traditional folk arts and crafts thrive alongside emerging contemporary artists and well-known primitive artists (from the website section entitled "Experience").

This is a post by a community group that is fighting against this project. I first heard about it via a recent newspaper article here in San Diego. Now I want to learn more about it, especially since this is going to be a private, very exclusive resort. I imagine the local response has not been as idyllic and positive as the dreamy website might have us believe. I am most interested in finding out about the social, political, and environmental impacts of the Punta Brava project, as it has been named. More about this later.

Update: Check out this promotional video, found on this press release:

Update II: More posts about this project here and here.