General
Not necessarily related to a particular state or location, but valuable information nevertheless.
Zillow talk not so smart
Smart Money, the magazine, is not so smart. It falls into a trap most of the mass media falls into –- it oversimplifies the state of the current housing market, especially those markets that are...
Rivals, neighbors, Americans in Alabama golf community
People tend to carry their rooting interests with them when they move from one state to another. I have seen it time and again, in golf communities like The Landings in Savannah, GA, where the golf...
Not for members only: This is not your father’s “private” club anymore...or yours
The “official” recession may be over, but don’t tell that to private golf clubs. A reduction in membership rolls has them scrambling to make up for the income they once counted on from dues-paying members. ...
For a few days, golf industry feels the love
By the numbers, last week’s National Golf Industry Show in Orlando was a success. Total attendance for the combined products show and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America show passed...
Gordian Not: To survive, golf courses need to cut ties to old ways of doing business
Golf course operators are in a box, trapped by a series of cataclysmic events that came at them so fast that they had little time to react rationally. Most were unprepared to deal with a deep...
Another net loss of U.S. golf courses in 2010
The National Golf Foundation has reported that for the fifth straight year, the U.S. suffered a net loss of golf courses. According to the NGF’s 2011 Golf Facilities in the U.S. report, 107...
Cliffs developer stands by his man
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, All you have to do is call, And I'll be there, yes I will, You've got a friend. -– James Taylor The sky above Tiger Woods turned dark and full of clouds this week....
Despite guarded gate, almost $2 million home trashed in California golf community
The residents of the Huntington Beach, CA, Seacliff golf community’s most upscale neighborhood may be wondering who let the dogs in. A home in the Peninsula section of Seacliff that had been...
When you absolutely, positively must play golf in the dead of winter
For those within driving distance of Lake Wallenpaupack in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania –- a drive by car, not with a one-wood -- you might want to mark January 30 on your calendars. Face it;...
Big-money Texans move into The Cliffs
All the leverage in the current real estate development market, with money as tight as it is, is with the lender, if you can find one. The Cliffs Communities has found one to help them restructure...
Would you be interested in guided visits to top golf communities in the southern U.S.?
Before I visit a golf community -– and I have visited more than 140 over the last five years –- I conduct research in advance to prepare probing and tough questions for golf community developers,...
Best of 2010 (4th in series)
'til Debt Do Us Part Award Winner: Cliffs Communities, upstate SC and NC Runner-Up: Balsam Mtn. Preserve, Waynesville, NC Unlike the mythical Icarus, who flew too high and fell to earth, Jim...