Best "real-estate model" courses?

[Chris Hughes]

While perusing Ben's consensus/classic/modern thread I noticed comments from Mr. Fine and Ally that touched on "houses" and the "real-estate model"...


If a "best-of" ranking was compiled predicated on courses specifically built to sell the lots around it -- which names would appear on your list?


Bay Hill comes to mind for me, but I'm biased...   

[James Reader]

Does St George’s Hill qualify?

[Eric Smith]

Teeth of the Dog (Casa de Campo)

[Tom_Doak]

A lot of great courses have a little bit of real estate incorporated:  Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst #2, even Pine Valley.


GOLFWEEK used to do a ranking of top residential courses.  A lot of them were Tom Fazio designs - I think Wade Hampton was the highest rated - but Rock Creek Cattle Company was also near the top.

[Ally Mcintosh]

The point I was making in the other thread was that there were a lot of average courses built in the 80’s & 90’s purely as an addition to adding value to as many real estate lots as possible.


Rock Creek Cattle Company appears diametrically opposed to what I was getting at. But it does beg a question of you, Tom: Were any of your routing choices constrained by housing locations that had been imposed on you?

[Jeff Schley]

You could have a good start by looking up Nicklaus courses. Not saying best, but numerous certainly. I like Sherwood.
Most courses in Palm Springs as well.
Riv, Bel Air, LACC have homes around them, however if we are to limit it to 1980's onward they don't fit.

[Simon Barrington]

Does St George’s Hill qualify?

Absolutely, possibly one of, if not the, very first
Tarrant's intent and vision was clear, fortunately Colt made sure the (core) golf was largely unhindered.

I would add Tom Simpson's Lys Chantilly (aka International Club du Lys) an outline routing diagram of which is included in "The Architectural Side of Golf"/"Design for Golf"

[Kyle Harris]

Mountain Lake
Frost Creek

[Mark Pearce]

Does St George’s Hill qualify?

Yes, very definitely.  And I doubt there's a better one to this day.

[Tommy Williamsen]

It has been twenty years since I visited the club, but Windsor in Vero Beach had a novel idea. Instead of having homes lining the fairways, the owner built a cluster of homes reminiscent of southern villages.

[Kalen Braley]

Depending how you define real-estate you could add AGNC to this list.  While they do a good job hiding it on TV, there is on-site housing littered around the course.

P.S.  Agree in general that it seems difficult to define this category.

[Bruce Katona]

Harbour Town, Bay Hill & Muirfield Village are good examples of successful integration of residential/housing and a solid golf product; where both have succeeded.


Country Club of the Poconos @ Big Ridge is the poster child for failing spectacularly at this.


Just my $0.02.

[Tim Martin]

Depending how you define real-estate you could add AGNC to this list.  While they do a good job hiding it on TV, there is on-site housing littered around the course.

P.S.  Agree in general that it seems difficult to define this category.

Kalen-I think it’s a stretch to say ANGC is a real estate course. Most of the “housing” is around the clubhouse and down the 10th hole on the left side for guests of members and tournament invitees. The club does not sell real estate on the course nor has it ever to the best of my knowledge. That said they are a prolific buyer of parcels that border or are in the vicinity of the club with the purpose of enhancing the tournament and at some point building another golf course.

[Ira Fishman]

We are members at Hope Valley in Durham, NC. It celebrates its 100th next year and is one of the earlier US planned residential golf communities. Legend has it that the developers did not commit to the project until Ross gave his blessing to the land and chose his routing for the course (the routing is still intact). It is not quite the quality of St. George’s Hill, but it is a very good Ross design.

[Ally Mcintosh]

The “model” as meant when I brought it up was very much about real estate before golf. It was an era when the golf course was only included to drive additional property value by providing fairway adjacency. Hence the idea was to build as many lots as close to the fairway as possible, meaning as little as 350 feet between boundary lines and fairways disconnected from each other in fingers (I.e. more property). Happened in continental Europe as well as the US.


The model changed somewhat in the nineties and noughties. I believe developers began to understand that housing in clusters was actually more attractive than in fingers.


It does not mean any golf course with some housing scattered about.

[Jim Hoak]

Estancia Club in Scottsdale, AZ, is generally regarded as the best course in Arizona--or, at least, near the top.  And Arizona is one of the top golf states in the US.  It was originally a real estate model--the first Discovery Land project.
Surprisingly great piece of land, which may be the key to a good real-estate development golf course.

[Pierre_C]

In general, I'm not a fan of the real estate golf model. Below are some of my favorite golf courses associated w/ real estate.
For all around experience and quality The Madison Club & Indian Creek CC are my top 2. I excluded Monte Rei from my top favorite because of its remoteness.

- Reynolds Plantation (Greensboro, GA) - 7 great golf courses enclosed in a community.
                                               1. The Preserve 2. Great Waters 3. National 4. Oconee 5. Landing 6. Creek Club 7. Richland

- Monte Rei - (Vila Nova de Cacela, Portugal) facilities & course maintenance rivals any premiere club in the US.


- The Madison Club (La Quinta, CA)

- Terra Blanche (Tourrettes, France) 2 - 18 hole courses, Le Chateau & Le Riou. There is nothing better than playing golf in Provence during the summer. There aren't many golfers and fairways are like carpet. You can see your footsteps when looking back towards the tee box.

- West Cliffs (Val, Portugal) - Perhaps one of the most scenic golf courses on the Continent.

- Bluejack National (Montgomery, TX)

- Old Tabby Links (Spring Island, SC)

- Indian Creek Country Club (Miami, FL)

[Tim Martin]

In general, I'm not a fan of the real estate golf model. Below are some of my favorite golf courses associated w/ real estate.
For all around experience and quality The Madison Club & Indian Creek CC are my top 2. I excluded Monte Rei from my top favorite because of its remoteness.

- Reynolds Plantation (Greensboro, GA) - 7 great golf courses enclosed in a community.
                                               1. The Preserve 2. Great Waters 3. National 4. Oconee 5. Landing 6. Creek Club 7. Richland

- Monte Rei - (Vila Nova de Cacela, Portugal) facilities & course maintenance rivals any premiere club in the US.


- The Madison Club (La Quinta, CA)

- Terra Blanche (Tourrettes, France) 2 - 18 hole courses, Le Chateau & Le Riou. There is nothing better than playing golf in Provence during the summer. There aren't many golfers and fairways are like carpet. You can see your footsteps when looking back towards the tee box.

- West Cliffs (Val, Portugal) - Perhaps one of the most scenic golf courses on the Continent.

- Bluejack National (Montgomery, TX)

- Old Tabby Links (Spring Island, SC)

- Indian Creek Country Club (Miami, FL)

Would love to see Indian Creek both the golf course and the barrier island itself. Impossible to access without being a resident or having authorized status.

[Rob Marshall]

What's the best golf course that was built as part housing development to bring in the home buyers?

[cary lichtenstein]

All the developments by Discovery Land Corp are first class


Right here in Jupiter, the Bears Club

[Simon Barrington]

Depending how you define real-estate you could add AGNC to this list.  While they do a good job hiding it on TV, there is on-site housing littered around the course.
P.S.  Agree in general that it seems difficult to define this category.

I'm slowly working my way through "A Golf Story" Charles Price, and ANGC would be the opposite in that Bobby Jones did want accomodation (hence the Cabins) but not housing.

So much so that they later bought and raised to the ground one of the founder member's houses sitting behind the 2nd green.

[Jaeger Kovich]

Les Bordes New seems to fit this category.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Les Bordes New seems to fit this category.

That’s even more left field than Rock Creek Cattle Company?… Did you work on that one, Jaeger? Heading to see it in June for the first time.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Cabot St Lucia

[Tommy Williamsen]

Cabot St Lucia

It will be interesting to see how the houses blend into the course.

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