Arnold Palmer has been a highly marketed athlete for decades. Mark McCormack, a Cleveland lawyer, signed a handshake agreement with Palmer to be his agent in 1960. This partnership was the start of the multibillion dollar sports marketing and management industries.

Steven Freund, Landings Club executive director, says that “Arnie’s Tavern,” or 19th hole, and the signature “Palmer’s Steakhouse” in the main dining room, represent a unique partnership with the Palmer family. This is especially fitting since Palmer designed the original Marshwood course back in the mid-1970s. Steven Freund, Landings Club’s executive director, says that “Arnie’s Tavern,” the 19th hole or “Palmer’s Steakhouse,” in the main dining area, represents a unique partnership between the Palmer family. This is especially fitting since Palmer designed the original Marshwood golf course in the early 1970s. When I first arrived, there was no mention of Mr. Palmer, except for the road that enters the campus. It was just that. Nothing was done to draw attention or acknowledge his contribution. We ignored that part of the club’s past.

“When we considered the renovation of the Clubhouse, we thought this was a great chance to honor his name and his influence. Marshwood was the birthplace of Landings Club culture. We had a clubhouse which was similar to a developer’s clubhouse. It was good enough for memberships and homes to be sold, but it wasn’t anything special. Our members understood and knew it didn’t make any statement. “

In other words, the 4,400 member-owned Savannah area club is getting a new clubhouse that’s fit for a king. Or, at least, the King of Golf. The new Palmer Restaurant isn’t America’s first. The new Palmer restaurant isn’t the first one in America. That honor belongs to “Arnold Palmer’s”, which opened in La Quinta, Calif. back in 2004. Kuo Diedrich Chi, the architectural firm that redesigned approximately $26 million of club amenities at the Landings for the Landings from 2017 to 2018, was the architect who brought the Palmer family on board the Marshwood Clubhouse project. After various meetings with principals overseeing the late Palmer’s business interests and visiting Palmer’s longtime Florida home, Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, the Landings got the Palmer group’s brand blessing and support to use an assortment of Palmer-inspired likenesses/photos.

For instance, one of the things Kuo designed for Arnie’s Tavern are bar lights designed in the shape of miniature umbrellas, the iconic symbol of the Palmer brand. Kuo wanted to create a venue that had a “throwback” theme. For example, he blew up black and white images of the “strapping young Palmer”, when he was flying jets and smoking cigarettes.