In the rush to provide more amenities than the next community, some developers are appealing to horse owners who also like to swing clubs. No, we aren't talking about polo players, but rather golfers who have a taste for the equestrian.
Two communities that provide the best of both sports are featured in the Wall Street Journal today. The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards is the one we are personally familiar with; its Tom Fazio course, which runs along the lake, is one of the best and most scenic we have played in the southeast.
The other is at the Club at Black Rock in Coeur d'Alene, ID, across the lake from the famed course that bears the town's name and features a legendary "floating" green that is motorized and can be moved from place to place on the lake.
Prices are steep for homes and communities of the quality of these two. The featured homes at The Cliffs and Black Rock in the WSJ article are priced at $1.99 million and $3.2 million respectively. Annual taxes are a stratospheric $22,000 and $42,000.
The lake at The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards is in play literally and visually.
exclusive status. Greens fees for non-members have been raised to $110 and up, the club is in its second contract with a marketing firm that specializes in attracting new members, and the golf membership rolls are nearing 400, certainly a good number for an 18-hole course. The club's members, who took over from the developer in 2004, invested aggressively and smartly, spending $1 million in 2006 to restore and upgrade the terrific greens on the Tom Fazio layout, improving tee and fairway grasses as well as the drainage systems that support them, and enhancing the practice facilities (they added another $200,000 for new lighted tennis courts). We played the course before the renovations and after, and the money was well spent in our estimation. 
