an 18-hole championship standard course on the grounds of a hotel he owns in England.

Mr. Sommer, who owns the prestigious Fourways Inn, in Paget, is sparing no expense on The Springs Hotel, in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, which is managed by his Bermuda-based Sommer Hotel Company.

Set in 150 acres on the banks of the River Thames, the land alone cost over $2 million to buy from two farmers at a rate of $14,000 per acre.

On top of this there is the $3.4 million for the construction of the course and a further $4 million for a luxury clubhouse which will include a swimming pool, saunas, American-style pro shop, equipment room, 60-seat bar and a 120-seat dining room.

So much money is being spent on the project that he could not obtain the necessary finance in the UK, where golf courses are considered by some to be risky ventures, and had to go instead to German and Swiss investment houses.

"If I do something it has to be first class or I don't do it at all,'' said Mr. Sommer.

The par 72, 6,035-metre course, which will contain six lakes for golfers to plop their balls in, is being designed by former British professional golfer Mr. Dave Thomas, who devised one of Europe's top golf venues, The Belfry, in England.

As a pro, Mr. Thomas won ten professional events around the world, appeared three times in the British and Ireland Ryder Cup team and twice finished runner-up in the British Open, to Peter Thompson in 1958 and to Jack Nicklaus in 1966.

Work on the new course is finally scheduled to begin this September following a six-year fight by Mr. Sommer to have it built.

It took him three years of delicate negotiations before the farmers agreed to sell their land, for different prices, and about the same time again to win planning approval from Oxfordshire County Council.

"It has been a tough, tough struggle but it will all be worth it when it's finished,'' said Mr. Sommer.

But an even tougher struggle is likely to be the fight he faces to get his handicap down from its current 19 to below ten, which he has vowed to do before he hits the first ball on the course at a planned grand opening in August/September, 1994.

Mr. Sommer is even going to the extent of enrolling on a two-week golf programme run by one of the game's best-known coaches Mr. David Leadbeter, who reshaped former world number one Nick Faldo's swing.

"I'm determined to do it,'' he said. "I want to hit a nice, long drive to christen the course, not a wild slice or hook.'' A former workaholic, Mr. Sommer only took up the game two years ago as a way of helping him to relax and escape from the pressures of life.

Now he plays virtually every day, often teeing off at the crack of dawn, and is a member of Marriott's Castle Harbour and Riddell's Bay, which is his local course.

Mr. Sommer has the controlling interest in The Springs Hotel, which was a small, 11-room guest house when he bought it in 1981. Now it has 38 rooms, with planning approval for a further 20.

The hotel also has a Fourways restaurant which, like its Bermuda counterpart, serves gourmet cuisine.

Advertisements for Bermuda resident members of The Spring Golf and Country Club will be appearing soon in the local Press.

But local individuals and companies wishing to join had better hurry up since only 250 non-UK resident memberships are being given out. Applications are also being invited from mainland Europe.

There is a one-off overseas membership fee of 200 ($378) and an annual subscription of 300 ($567). Golf club members staying in the hotel will also be entitled to a ten percent discount on their bill.

Mr. Sommer said the addition of a golf course was vital to the success of the hotel. "If you've got a golf course, the hotel business will go through the roof,'' he said.

The Sommer Hotel Company, an exempted company, also manages the Hotel Coll de Lilla, in Tarragona, Spain; The White Hart Hotel, in Dorchester, England; and Fourways Inn, in Bermuda.

Mr. Walter Sommer.