Hello All. I am Larry Gavrich. Some of you may know my son, Tim, who is a dedicated GCAer and aggressive promoter of the site. After a few years of reading some of the posts here, and learning much, I thought it was time to dive in, especially since I spend my days writing about golf real estate and reviewing golf courses at my web site, GolfCommunityReviews.com. I started my business, Home On The Course, about six years ago with the idea that northern baby boomers would start moving in droves to their dream retirement homes in warmer climes, and that I could help them by furnishing objective information about golf communities and advising them personally about which locations might best fit their criteria (and their golf games). That, of course, was before Countrywide and Lehman Brothers and the rest of the mess, which certainly changed a lot of plans. In the meantime, I earned my real estate license to be able to accept referral fees from real estate agents in the southeast. I am currently working with 10 clients who are contemplating either vacation or retirement homes in golf communities. I have spent the last six years visiting and reviewing about 100 communities and their courses, a venture my wife has labeled "the biggest retirement scam in America" (I, on the other hand, define "scam" as something you actually make money from, which is not the case, at least not yet, but I acknowledge her point.) As our final child heads off to college this fall, I am trying to inveigle Connie to join me in the "scam."
As for my golfing experience, I was fortunate during my years in the corporate world (communication exec at United Technologies Corp.) to have been invited to play some great golf courses, including Pine Valley, Augusta National, Shinnecock, Wentworth, Fisher's Island, the Ocean Course at Kiawah, Teeth of the Dog and my favorite, at least on the memorability scale, Kapalua Plantation. In my retirement, Tim and I made our first trip to the St. Andrews area a few summers ago where we played the Old Course, which also ranks highly on my list, but I actually preferred Crail Balcomie Links. Later on that same trip, we were invited to play Sunningdale, another highlight experience.
I am impressed with the thoughtfulness of the vast majority of posts here at GCA and look forward to participating in discussions for which I think I might add value. I take a lot of photos when I visit a course and will be happy to post a few here if others have not done so already. Thanks to Ran for inviting me.