Number of Courses Declining

There’s a sad story in USA Today about the declining number of golf courses. Apparently, there were fewer courses open in 2005 than 2004. Courses are often worth more as virgin land for real estate than they are as golf courses.

That was the fate of a nine hole course in my area this last year. The owners decided to sell to a developer, but then the neighbors—people who had paid an exorbitant premium to live on a golf course—sued to prevent the owner from selling.

The ironic thing is that the owner of the course had nothing to do with the developer. The developer had just taken advantage of the fact that a course was present to charge big bucks for the McMansions. In other words, he’d sold golfside homes on the sly.

I never heard the outcome of the suit, but the gates to the course remain locked—but there no development in progress. I’d guess it’s still tied up in court.