The Pete Dye course at Ford Plantation may not be one of the best known, but it is a gem, a pleasure to play and in excellent condition.  

         Ford Plantation, just south of Savannah, is among the most impressive golf communities I have visited.  The course, by Pete Dye, is inventive and links-like, threading its way through lakes and along the Ogeechee River.  Not for nothing did one of the wealthiest men of his era, Henry Ford, choose to make Ford Plantation his second home.  The developers of the community showed great restraint in confining it to just 400 home sites, giving everyone plenty of breathing room and justifying house prices that begin just below $1 million and proceed steeply upward.
    It must have seemed to one local entrepreneur that if he built a few large and beautifully appointed homes on Ford's lush land, people would come.  You know the rest of the story; he finished the homes just in time for the market to go into the dumper.
    On March 5, the three homes, now owned by the builder's bank, will be sold at auction -- maybe.  Two of the three homes were recently listed for the reduced price of $1 million and the other for $1.4 million.  No minimum bid has been set, but there is an unspecified "reserve" price, according to auction house Albert Burney, which is handling the on-site sale.  The reserve is the minimum price the bank will accept; if it is not reached, no sale.  Based on the price of nearby homes, I would not expect a reserve price much below, say, $800,000, but that is a guess.  All three homes feature views of the deepwater harbor from which Mr. Ford used to launch his boat, and they include beautiful fit and finish and more than 3,000 square feet of space.  (For a current listing of properties for sale inside Ford Plantation, click here.)
    Of course, if you have to ask how much it is to join the terrific Ogeechee Golf Club, then you can't afford it.  Okay, it is $125,000 and, according to someone at Albert Burney, dues (including all fees) are $20,000 per year.  That sounded too high to me, even for a high-end community.  A call I placed to Ford Plantation to confirm the number went unreturned, but if I hear back from them, I will post any corrected dues level here.  If anyone would like more information, contact me.

Laurel Links' turf was in a period of dormancy when I visited two years ago, but there was no hiding the charm of the layout, which brought the adjacent marsh into view and into play on a few holes.  The course was designed by Davis Love III, originally for the municipality of Kingsland, but later was purchased by a private group.  A lot along the first fairway is for sale on eBay.

    I have never spent more than $50 on any one item on eBay, the global Internet auction site.  I was nervous about spending that much on a 1950s baseball card, but I needed it to fill a hole in my collection, the photo showed it was in nice condition, and the seller had a solid eBay reputation rating.
    I would never think of buying anything over, say, $100 on eBay, let alone something for, gulp, $1.5 million.  Yet at the moment, two golf course owners have their country clubs on the market at eBay for that figure (one for sale, one at an opening bid).
    I have written about the North Augusta Golf Club here before.  It was up for auction in South Carolina a

few weeks ago, but failed to attract a bid that met the owner's requirement.  Now the club has popped up on eBay with a starting bid of $1.6 million.  As of today, no one has bid; the auction expires at 8 p.m. EST today.    

    The owners of Dan Hall Mountain Resort in southwestern Virginia are offering their nine-hole golf course, 10 room resort lodge and 380 acres of mountain-view land for a set price of $1.5 million.  The short golf course, just 2,700 yards, plays to a par of 35 and an altitude of about 2,900 feet in the Appalachian Mountains.  Owner Doug Kilgore, in response to questions I sent him, responded that the surrounding area could be used to expand the golf course.   Although it would be necessary to change zoning, Mr. Kilgore advised that the county has already said new owners could build single family homes in the resort.  However, he advises that building cabins would yield a better return.  "The closest place to rent a cabin in the mountains," he wrote me, "is about 3 hours from here, and I have calls all of the time."

     Zellwood Station is a gated community for folks 55 and older.  It is about a half hour from Orlando, FL.  Five lots at Zellwood are posted on eBay at starting bids of just $10,000, with $5,000 down and a year to pay the balance at no interest for the winning bidders.  One important note:  You will have to meet with one of the community's builders within a year to choose a home design.  The 18-hole golf course was designed by George Maddox and opened in 1974.  It runs to 6,500 yards from the tips (par 72) and carries a rating of 70.1 and slope of just 118.
     The lowest bid for a golf lot on eBay is currently just $700, for a ½ acre piece of property on Fairfield Bay in Arkansas.   Bidding began at $200 on February 1 and closes on March 3.  The nearby Mountain Lake Ranch Golf Club has a terrific reputation, considered one of the top resort courses in the state (it is open to the public).  Designed by the respected Ed Ault, it plays to about 6,700 yards (par 72), a rating of 72.8 and a robust slope of 140.  A private golf course, Indian Hills, is also nearby.  The eBay ad for the lot stresses that "utilities are nearby," which could be a signal that the lot is, shall we say, in a rustic location.  Proceed with caution.
    Down on the coast, near the charming town of St. Marys, a lot in the community surrounding Laurel Links is posted on eBay with a starting bid of $65,000.  I visited St. Marys a few yeas ago and drove through golf community, although I did not play the golf course.  St. Marys is a wonderful town, quiet but with a few choice restaurants, a ferry to Cumberland Island (wild horses, a charming old inn) and a location just a half hour from Jacksonville, FL.  I wrote at the time that Laurel Links' "Davis Love III design looks sleek, although flat," and commented about "one par four with a dramatic marsh backdrop."  However, the rest of the community did not present itself well.  For example, a big, ugly maintenance shed could not be hidden from the community's main road without erecting a fence that would be equally ugly.  Landscaping in the community was spotty, some neighborhoods nice and others a bit unkempt.  Perhaps things have changed in the two years since I visited; if you are interested, let me know and I will check it out.