Employees dining in the company cafeteria at Gillette Ridge in Bloomfield, CT, have a nice view of the action on the Arnold Palmer golf course.
Hot properties, cold market: Last week we reported that Balsam Mountain Preserve near Waynesville, NC, had racked up record first quarter sales results while other high-end golf communities nearby sold no more than one or two home sites (and others barely hung on for dear life). Is Balsam an isolated case or can other communities boast similar results?
Going once, going twice...: Some residents of high-end golf communities are forced to sell their lots or homes because of financial considerations or personal issues (divorce, relocation, homesickness). Many are finding a real estate auction sale the last best resort to unload those properties. But for buyers, are the potential bargains at an auction worth the risk? Or are we doing a fool's bidding?
Golf with an edifice complex: The site of Gillette Ridge Golf Club in Bloomfield, CT, is most unusual. It weaves its way amid trees, some monolithic looking sculptures, gently rolling hills and corporate offices. Where insurance execs are cutting costs, eager golfers are trying to cut strokes on the difficult Arnold Palmer track. Also, a nice community of townhouses adjacent to the course means some folks can walk to work and to the first tee.
The editor's sight: This week your editor has a thorough eye exam in preparation for cataract surgery next month. It may be true that, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, but I don't feel much like a king on the golf course these days, what with 20/200 vision in my left eye (especially tough to line up putts). My current eyesight is good for only one thing -- raising my handicap, leaving me in great position for tournaments later in the summer. (I hate the label "sandbagger," but what's a fella to do?) If any of you have had cataract surgery, I'd love to hear what it did or didn't do for your golf game, and your reputation.
As I write this, it is approaching 80 degrees in Connecticut, heading toward 90. Finally, for golfers in the northern U.S., the long winter of our discontent may be over.