From: Mike Fernandez

TO: TNECA

From: Mike Fernandez

07/08/08

While Rick Smith was in town last week filming a Fox TV show (20/20 Golf with Rick Smith) which will begin airing on July 21st on FSN, on Wednesday night of last week he decided to attend our Rotary meeting on Thursday. As I am sure you can imagine, Rick quickly became the guest speaker for the luncheon and shared some stories about Rocco Mediate’s run at the US Open, hopeful plans regarding the future of the Par 3 Shootout for next year and beyond and things he has been working on with his current partners regarding the future of Treetops.

In short, Rick has been in negotiations with ESPN and the PGA Tour to continue the Par 3 Shootout at Treetops but sponsorship for such an event is very challenging given the current economic climate. He has had discussions with ESPN about potentially changing the format a little with the next event being a President’s Cup preview of sorts with each captain playing in the event and being able to select one member of their team to participate with them. Conceptually it is a great idea but we (ESPN, PGA Tour & Treetops) remain focused on securing appropriate sponsorship to bring this to life. There is clearly some momentum behind this idea from all involved but we still have a long way to go.

In addition, Rick mentioned that he and his current partners have been working on a significant repositioning of the Resort that could mean an additional investment of +/- forty million dollars or so. He conveyed some details which included significant improvements to the current lodging products (i.e. the Lodge, Inn and Chalets), while also making considerable improvements to the meeting/banquet space, ski area, restaurants as well as adding some golf cottages that would be rented as part of the hotel inventory. In addition, the “Windows” parcel of land will potentially be deemed a “conservation parcel” and outdoor sports such as skeet shooting, bird hunting, fishing and various other outdoor excursions would formally operate out of this location with a nationally recognized outfitter.Given the discussions Rick and his partners have been a part of with various Wall Street lenders in recent months, there are not any immediate plans to further develop the single-family residential pods at the Resort.

I expect to see an article in the Gaylord Herald Times this week as a result of Rick’s presence in and around town in recent weeks as well as his discussion at Rotary (in which there were two representatives from the GHT in attendance). At this stage, nothing is “done” or “set in stone” but this is what we are working on right now. Rick’s decision to attend Rotary was a very “last minute thing” and I really didn’t know what he was going to talk about until it happened. Thus all of the above mentioned information is still “in process” and I am hopeful we can bring it to life for all involved. The prospects are extremely exciting but there are a lot of details that still need to be worked out before there is a formal announcement of what is definitely going to happen.