Feature: The Golf Name Game
July 2, 2004
Ty and Lois Stevenson knew exactly what they were looking for when they hopped on
a plane to Florida in March to join more than 1,000 potential buyers bidding on
350 homesites at the Reunion Resort & Club, just south of Orlando. Yes, they
dreamed about living the golf course life, but there was more to it than
that.
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Jack Nicklaus’ dramatic Great Waters course at Reynolds
Plantation. (Click image to enlarge)“The golf courses they are building here are big-name—Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer,” says Ty Stevenson, a businessman from Richmond, Va. “If you are buying a home on a golf course, you want that course to have that big name.”
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Great Waters course. (Click image to enlarge)The game itself, however, is not the only reason behind the lure of the links. Of the 3,283 golf course communities across the United States, 547 have opened in the past five years, according to the Golf Research Group—accounting for approximately $123 billion in real estate sales. Since 1999, about 639,000 new fairway lots have been created, and home values on those lots have increased from an average of $366,000 to $593,000. And while the average price of a residential home grew by 42 percent, the average price of a golf course community home has increased by 62 percent over the same period. Add a legendary golf course designer to the mix, and the increases just keep increasing.
“The value of signature designers is undeniable,” says Larry Hirsch of Golf Property Analysts, an appraisal firm specializing in golf course communities. “Homes on a course designed by a big-name golf designer appreciate at a rate much higher than those on courses designed by lesser names,” he says. “In fact, they appreciate at a rate that is sometimes as much as 100 percent higher than the no-name courses.”
That would explain why the leading marquee names in the world of golf course design are popping up all over. Jack Nicklaus leads the pack. Since 1998, his design company has built 43 courses. Next in line are Tom Fazio with 36, Arthur Hills with 32 and Arnold Palmer with 26.
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