Brian Christopher Tucker (born 27 December 1975 in Pasadena, California) is an American businessman, real-estate and golf course developer. An executive at the Charles Schwab Corporation for over a decade where he handed over $1 billion in assets, he is the founder and CEO of Punta Brava Golf Club, a $100 million private golf club and resort currently under development located at the tip of the Punta Banda Peninsula near Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, a project he formed in collaboration with billionaire Red McCombs and Tiger Wood's design company, Tiger Woods Design.[1][2]
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Tucker was born in Pasadena, California on 27 December 1975. Tucker earned degrees in Business and Economics from Wheaton College.[3] Tucker also earned a Masters in Dispute Resolution from The Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution in the Pepperdine University School of Law,[3][4] the top school in this field of law in the United States.[5] After graduation in 1998, Tucker spent nearly a decade as an executive at Charles Schwab Corporation, a brokerage and banking corporation where he managed over $1 billion in assets.[4] As Vice President, he gained experience working with other development companies on land acquisition and pro-formas.[4]
In June 2006, Tucker discovered a plot of land on the Punta Banda peninsula to the west of a steep 1,200 ft mountain and saw a business opportunity to capitalize upon the unique topography and coastline of the land, framed by the Pacific Ocean and the Bay of Todos Santos on three sides, and establish a world-class golf course and resort. He founded the Tucker Development Group (TDG) and approached billonnaire Red McCombs to assist with financing his group in the $100 million development and contracted Tiger Woods early in 2008 to design the course with his Tiger Woods Design company.[6][7][8]
Tucker met with Woods at Punta Brava on June 23, 2008, during which he accompanied Woods in surveying the site on foot, finalizing the latest course routing.[9] The 6,835-yard par-70 course will be unique in that the ocean can be seen from any part of the golf course.[10] Tucker is overlooking the development of the resort which will also feature 80 villa residences, 39 estate lots, a private clubhouse and hotel with 20 villas, a health spa, and an Ocean Club.[8][11] The New York Times reported that Tucker and the Punta Brava developers had "grand plans of 8,000-square-foot mansions and a gigantic clubhouse."[1]
Tucker formally announced the development at a press conference at the Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles on October 2008 with McCombs and Woods. When describing the vision of the course design in an interview with Forbes, Tucker remarked "When you have a site surrounded on three sides by ocean and a golf architect (Tiger Woods) that completely integrates it by designing 17 tees or greens on/adjacent to the ocean… you have the opportunity to create something special–a true golf club."[2] Golf writer John Paul Newport, writing for Wall Street Journal opined after the conference, "Woods's name guarantees cachet and, judging by the layout shown at PuntaBrava.com, it's possible that the course will break into the world's top 20 rankings on the day it opens. It looks to be a new and improved version of Cypress Point on California's Monterey Peninsula."[12]
In April 2011, it was reported that the development had been delayed and that Woods has not visited Punta Brava for some time, and that his other two development projects in Dubai and Asheville, North Carolina were also troubled following the media coverage of Wood's infidelities.[1] However, Tucker has seen the delay as positive and has reportedly said that "We said, ‘Let’s talk about prices.’ Before, we were looking at the $3 million-$12 million ranges; now based on all of this we’re looking at $800,000 to $3.9 million. We took advantage of a difficult, stressful, frustrating situation that allowed us to refine the land plan for Punta Brava and give not what the market wants but what our people want."[1] In an interview with CNN, Tucker was quoted as saying, "This is not just a real estate development with golf. When you have a piece of land that is surrounded on three sides by the Pacific you have a once in a lifetime opportunity. No matter what, Tiger Woods is the world's greatest golfer and there is no vision or design that we would rather have for Punta Brava than his. Our goal is to shape golf history by creating the most spectacular golf course on earth."[13] The course is scheduled for completion in 2013.[14]
Brian Tucker is a co-founder of Iaomai Medical Ministries, a San Diego based Christian humanitarian organization focused on improving healthcare for children and communities in Central America and the Caribbean.[4] Tucker served on medical missions to Jamaica in 2008 and Guatemala from 2009-2011. He is also an honorary member of the The Century Club of San Diego, which hosts the Farmers Insurance Open, an annual PGA tour event at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego solely for charitable purposes.[15] A fluent speaker of Spanish, he has also been invited the lecture on development and investment issues in Baja California and has been involved with other issues in the Ensenada area.[4]