Lorena Ochoa, the phenomenal women's golf pro, has taken great pains to heap praise on Annika Sorenstam during the Swedish star's victory lap prior to retirement at the end of the LPGA season. It is a little surprising, therefore, to find Ms. Ochoa bailing out of this weekend's tournament in Mt. Pleasant that is hosted by her idol (Ms. Ochoa indicated an uncle is ailing in Mexico and she wants to spend time with him).
The Sorenstam-sponsored tournament is the Ginn Tribute, co-hosted by Bobby Ginn, the developer cum race car owner cum egotist (by reputation, never met the man) whose high-end, lushly amenitized communities spread from the mountains of South Carolina to the shores of the Bahamas. But over the last year, a great hue and cry has been growing from residents and investors alike regarding Mr. Ginn's properties and, specifically, promises made but not kept. We first heard from a real estate friend a few months ago that there could be trouble in paradise. In the coming days, we will try to ferret out a little more detail and try to determine if Ginn residents at places like Cobblestone near Columbia, SC, and in the Bahamas have something to worry about.
By the way, we reviewed Ginn's Rivertowne Golf Club, site of the Ginn Tribute this weekend. You can read it by clicking here.
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USA TODAY's edition has a little graphic on page 1 about which cities have the least courteous drivers. Leading by a wide margin is Miami, where the spread between those who say Miami drives are less courteous and those who say they are more courteous than in other cities is a whopping 46 points. Boston is second at 30 points. We would love to see a study that correlates the housing market with courteous driving. Here's betting that drivers in Charlotte, the only market again to show a median house price increase last month, are more courteous than others (although we have driven in Charlotte, and the street layouts and signage are mesmerizingly confusing).