Golf Course Development Stuck in Sand Trap

The uber-wealthy are still buying homes on luxury golf course developments, but the rest of the market is hurting as courses close and projects stall around the world.

1 minute read

October 13, 2008, 11:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

"The last few months have seen the demise of at least two high-profile projects. One was a projected $70 million corporate golf club called The Presidential in Dulles, Va. Partially open since April, the club was reasonably on schedule in its quest for 150 corporate memberships at $60,000 a year, according to a former consultant to the club. But financing problems, at least partially related to the home-mortgage crisis, forced The Presidential to close in September."

"New residential golf developments in the U.S. are few and far between, leading to a net standstill in golf-course openings generally. More courses closed than opened in both 2006 and 2007, according to the National Golf Foundation, a sharp contrast to the course-building boom that started in the 1990s."

FULL STORY: Golf's New Landscape

Friday, October 10, 2008 in The Wall St. Journal

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