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Nicklaus Design teams with leading technology company Perfect Parallel to enhance the depth and breadth of design services available to clients

Nicklaus Design, the world leader in golf course design and the global firm founded by golf icon Jack Nicklaus, has announced a new strategic initiative with U.S.-based video game developer and golf visualization company Perfect Parallel. The goal of the new relationship is to adapt three-dimensional (3-D) modeling techniques developed in the gaming and entertainment world to the world of professional golf course design.

Nicklaus Design will adopt the professional software suite developed by Perfect Parallel as its official 3-D course design engine. In turn, Nicklaus Design will be the only golf course design firm licensed to utilize certain software tools created by Perfect Parallel. Nicklaus Design will integrate these tools with its existing proprietary T2 Green CAD system to create virtual working models of current and future Nicklaus Design golf courses. This will give Nicklaus Design clients the ability to play a simulated version of their golf course, including new and future clients who will have the opportunity to play a virtual version of their course even before construction begins.

Although Nicklaus Design has been an industry leader since the late 1980s in the use of CAD systems to design golf courses, adding the Perfect Parallel modeling engine and software suite will dramatically shorten and enhance the process to prototype a course design in a very realistic 3-D environment. Another benefit to clients is the reduction of time and expense required for site visits by designers, giving Nicklaus Design and the client the ability to exchange realistic and detailed visual information to aid contractors during the construction process.

The Perfect Parallel team comes with a global reputation in 3-D modeling and simulation for entertainment uses, including Broadcast TV, sports visualization and simulation, and electronic gaming. Perfect Parallel will drive the joint initiative with Nicklaus Design by licensing the use of the following tools to develop and visualize its golf course designs:

• Terrain Forge^TM – A complete set of software tools that can import available sources of terrain data, mapping and survey data, and photographic imagery to create a fully geo-referenced 3-D digital model of a proposed golf course site or existing golf course that can be used in the Course Forge™ design software.
• Course Forge^TM – A professional suite of 3-D golf course design tools and outdoor terrain and vegetation modeling software that significantly reduces the time it has historically taken to develop a realistic model of a full 18-hole golf course in 3-D.
• Broadcast Suite – A fully networked broadcast television level application that allows a user to select and record still and animated views of a 3-D golf course model created in the Course Forge™ and distribute that content in a variety of platforms, allowing clients and design personnel to visualize the design features and strategy of a prototype golf course design from any location.
• Perfect Golf – A-soon-to-be-released PC golf game and simulator software, which will allows designers to test the strategy of design features by actually playing them and solicit input from clients regarding prototype designs in advance of completion.

"As an organization, we are excited about our new partnership with Perfect Parallel,” said John Reese, CEO for the Nicklaus Companies. “We all have a good knowledge of their ability and even Jack, while doing television commentary during major championships, has had the opportunity to witness the realism and accuracy of the cutting-edge golf course models they have been able to produce for broadcast TV.

“Forming this relationship was an important strategic decision for our design company, as we wanted to align with a software company that could impact our business on numerous levels. As we extend our golf course design business to geographical areas farther from home where the traditional design and construction process is not as well understood, and where technology plays a very important role in local cultures and economies, it was critical that Nicklaus Design be able to support its reputation for quality with the latest professional-grade visualization software. In Perfect Parallel, we have found a company that had a reach into other media and understood the direction golf and technology was heading, and we are confident that the ability to work with realistic 3-D models will improve our technical efficiency in the varying stages of the design and development process.”

Nicklaus Design has created more than 380 courses open for play in 38 countries and 39 U.S states. No fewer than 110 Nicklaus Design courses have hosted a combined total of over 770 professional tournaments or significant national amateur championships. Close to 100 Nicklaus Design courses have appeared in various national and international Top-100 lists.

“Our design philosophy is to design the best golf courses that we can, to create courses that are interesting, challenging, beautiful and fit with the land we’re given,” said Nicklaus Design President Jack Nicklaus II. “Most important, the golf course must meet and service the needs of the person who has asked us to design it. Because we are a global design firm—in fact we have projects under development right now in 18 different countries—we are always looking for new tools that allow us to better bridge the geographic gap between our design studio and the project. Visual communications are universal regardless of language or cultural differences, and our partnership with Perfect Parallel will improve our ability to communicate throughout every stage of design, and most important, will improve our client’s experience and ability to contribute to the design process.”

Perfect Parallel President and COO Andrew Jones is excited by the mutual benefits and potential of the new agreement reached with Nicklaus Design.

"Prior to the opportunity to work with Nicklaus Design, Perfect Parallel had never looked for a strategic corporate relationship or endorsement deal for our software. Our focus was on licensing our core software suite to end users in the golf entertainment and media industries, however it became clear early on in our discussions that a broader strategic relationship with Nicklaus Design will help expand our offerings and client base.,” Jones said. “Our team has substantial background and experience in the development of golf course modeling and design tools for a variety of gaming and entertainment uses, and the selection of our software as a tool to design actual golf courses by the world’s leading design firm confirms our position that these are the best products on the market. There is no doubt in my mind that Nicklaus Design will derive significant value for all of their clients by integrating our tools into their design process, and in turn, Perfect Parallel and all of its products will benefit from our association with Nicklaus Design, as we collaborate on developing technology and software for golf.
br>“Our discussions with Nicklaus Design have already confirmed my belief in the commercial value of 3-D models and visualization software in the modern golf course design industry, and we believe that the experience gained from our collaboration with Nicklaus Design will open up opportunities for Perfect Parallel in a variety other sports and businesses where 3-D modeling could provide a valuable bridge to convey technical information between professional and client in a visual format.”

About Perfect Parallel Inc.

Perfect Parallel is a software company specializing in virtual sports gaming, broadcast television, marketing and simulation.  All of Perfect Parallel's software products incorporate fully geo-referenced spatial data that enables the integration of real world data into their virtual environments.  As the consumer and commercial markets surrounding broadcasting, gaming and mobile continue to battle for user time, Perfect Parallel is leading the push to integrate these three platforms into a single experience that will bring the user closer to the action and more integrated into it.  The future of sports simulation is not just in making the experience more realistic, it is in making the user an integrated part of it and allowing users to compete against the professionals that are on television at their gaming console, PC or mobile device.  

For more information on Perfect Parallel's visualization services visit http://www.perfectparallel.com/visualization or contact them via email at info@perfectparallel.com

About the Nicklaus Companies

The Nicklaus Companies is dedicated to promoting excellence in the game of golf, preserving its great traditions and growing the game.  For nearly 50 years, the mission of the Nicklaus Companies has been to enhance the golf experience, and to bring to the national and international consumer, golf-related businesses and services that mirror the high standards established in the career and life of Jack Nicklaus.  In 2007, Jack Nicklaus partnered with Howard Milstein to help further the growth of the company and to realize the full potential of the brands and branded businesses.  Howard Milstein is Chairman of New York Private Bank & Trust and is actively involved in the Nicklaus Companies serving as Co-Chairman along with Jack.

Products and services include golf-course design, development of golf and real estate communities, and the marketing and licensing of golf products and services. Nicklaus-branded products have been marketed worldwide since 1962.  The Jack Nicklaus and Golden Bear-branded lifestyle collection of products include:  restaurants; beverages; wine; home appliances; flooring; cabinets; apparel; footwear; and golf equipment.

For more information on the Nicklaus Companies, please visit www.nicklaus.com