If you are a well-to-do golfer confident in a turnaround of the economy and the golf course business, there may never be a better time to pick up an interesting golf course at a bargain price.  Just last week, the famed Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, MA, former home to both PGA and LPGA tour stops, sold at auction for $5 million to a family that runs another private course in the area.

        That $5 million is several multiples more than the listings of other clubs for sale around the country.  Musket Ridge,

Expect country clubs to sell for prices close to their annual revenue figures.

for example, a Maryland daily fee course within easy driving range of the Washington metro area, is listed at $3 million and has reportedly received a few low-ball offers since being put up for sale in October.  The club, which was built in 2001 for more than $12 million, generates a reported $2.26 million in annual revenues.  Daily fee golf competition in the D.C. market is fierce, and the guess here is that the bank selling Musket Ridge will wind up giving it away for about the equivalent of annual revenues.

        A couple of hours west of Musket Ridge, Virginia National Golf Club is wedged into the historic territory between the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Mountains.  As a frequent visitor to the area, I can attest to how beautiful those mountains are, although I have not played the Davis Love Management run course in Bluemont.  The Civil War Battle of Cool Spring was fought on the site, an apt metaphor for a club that has struggled for most of its 10 years.  The challenging course (rating 73.3 and slope 137 from just 6,316 yards) was designed by Jerry Matthews.  No sales price is listed.

        Another 10-year-old club, the 18-hole semi-private Falls Village Golf Club in Durham, NC, has been on the market since last summer, after its owners entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Revenues for 2008 were just $1.38 million.  The Falls Village course was designed by Bill Daniels of the Lee Trevino Design Group. (This could mean the layout is friendly to those who fade the ball.) According to Google Maps’ satellite view, the course is surrounded by woods but, for now at least, no homes.

        In Hot Springs, AR, the Belvedere Golf Resort is listed at $1.295 million with an option to purchase an adjacent 460 acres for just $499,000.  The golf course, which was designed by Herman Hackbarth, opened in 1949 and is located in Hot Springs National Park.  Based on comments of those who have played the course recently, the next owner will have to invest a significant amount in renovating and reseeding a layout that has suffered in the last few years.

         If you would like me to investigate these or any other clubs for sale across the nation, contact me and I will get on it.  As always, there is never a fee for my services.
        In a tough economy with so much uncertainty about the next couple of years, few of us are thinking about adding a vacation home to our roster of possessions.  But there is a price at which even the most parsimonious of golfers start to take a closer look.

        The following are a few new listings whose price tags caught my eye.  I know the surrounding golf communities well and can recommend them as excellent places to live part-time or all the time.  If any of these examples of the many bargain priced golf community homes interest you, please contact me for more information.

 

Pawleys16thapproach

Approach to #16 at Pawleys Plantation.

 

Pawleys Plantation, Pawleys Island, SC

18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course (semi-private)

Gated, 900-acre community of condos & single-family homes

3 BR, 2 BA, 2,100 square foot “patio” home on treed lot

“Green” technology: Utilities controlled from computer

Asking $319,900

 

Ocean Ridge Plantation, Ocean Isle Beach, NC

Five golf courses inside the gates (semi-private)

3,000-acre community with 900 designated as “open”

3 BR, 2 BA, 2,100 square foot “English cottage” style

Terracotta floors, golf views, walk-up attic

Asking $360,000

 

Cobblestone Park, Blythewood, SC

27 holes by P. B. Dye (semi-private)

Former Ginn property 20 minutes from Columbia

3 BR, 4 BA, 3,125 square foot home to be built

Golf views; club initiation waved

Asking $398,000

 

Reems Creek, Weaverville, NC

18 holes by Hawtrey & Sons (semi-private)

British golf architect provides links feel to course

4 BR, 4 BA, 2,672 square foot condo 20 minutes to Asheville

Asking $389,000

 

Kilmarlic Club, Powell’s Point, NC

18 holes by Tom Steele (semi-private)

A few miles from Outer Banks beaches

3 BR, 3 BA, 2,300 square foot (approx.)

Build to suit; choose colors and finishes

Listed at $362,200

 

Bay Creek Resort and Marina, Cape Charles, VA

36 holes by Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer (semi-private)

Located on Delmarva Peninsula 25 minutes to Norfolk

3 BR, 3 BA, 1,880 square foot condo, 2-car garage

Views of golf course, lake and fountain

Asking $349,000.

 

Cedar Creek, Aiken, SC

18 holes by Arthur Hills (semi-private)

3 BR, 3 BA, 2,474 square foot brick home

Nearly 2/3-acre lot, enclosed screen porch

Listed at $355,000.

 

BayCreekNicklaus1fromtee

Bay Creek Nicklaus course from 1st tee.