Finding Sites for Golf Courses Using Google Maps/Earth

[Ian_L]

Hi all,


I have heard anecdotally that developers have discovered great, sandy sites for golf by perusing Google Maps or Google Earth. As someone with no experience finding or evaluating golf course sites, I am very curious to know how someone could do this.


Have you used Google Maps to find a site or evaluate a proposed one, either as part of your profession or as a hobby?


What exactly do you look for in satellite imagery, particularly if firm and fast (i.e. links) conditions are an important part of the equation?


Thanks!


Ian

[Ally Mcintosh]

I have been round the entire coast of Ireland looking for linksland (which is pretty recognisable on Google Earth). Upon finding each site, I would then investigate its environmental status and find - inevitably - that it has all been designated as an SAC (meaning no chance).

[Thomas Dai]

Trace around the coast of GB and NI and there are numerous locations. But, as Ally says there are environment etc restrictions.
One potentially prime source though is the Government, or rather the Ministry of Defence, who own copious amounts of dune land etc all over GB and NI.
The MoD doesn’t like giving things up however, even land they may have compulsory purchased decades ago, but one day the Govt/MoD might be inclined, ie need, some cash or no longer wish to pay the upkeep costs on an area/facility they have no need for.
There are also holiday camps and caravan parks, some very large, and if one or more should find themselves in a difficult financial situation etc an opportunity could arise.

Atb

[Craig Sweet]

Check out the land off hwy 200 in montana...near the turn off to Lake Upsata.  The land north of the highway

[Mike_Trenham]

Trace around the coast of GB and NI and there are numerous locations. But, as Ally says there are environment etc restrictions.
One potentially prime source though is the Government, or rather the Ministry of Defence, who own copious amounts of dune land etc all over GB and NI.
The MoD doesn’t like giving things up however, even land they may have compulsory purchased decades ago, but one day the Govt/MoD might be inclined, ie need, some cash or no longer wish to pay the upkeep costs on an area/facility they have no need for.
There are also holiday camps and caravan parks, some very large, and if one or more should find themselves in a difficult financial situation etc an opportunity could arise.

Atb

I would be very careful buying any land owned and utilized by a defense department as they are typically rife with environmental hazards that need to be remediated.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Rather than start a new thread.


Google Earth used to allow free users to see historical photo's - but it seems that's now only available to the (paid for?) Pro version?




Anyone know of a site where I can review historical images?  It of a Golf Course close to London.

[Ben Hollerbach]

Rather than start a new thread.


Google Earth used to allow free users to see historical photo's - but it seems that's now only available to the (paid for?) Pro

Google Earth Pro is free, you can dowload it from Google here

[Nick Schreiber]

Hi all,


I have heard anecdotally that developers have discovered great, sandy sites for golf by perusing Google Maps or Google Earth. As someone with no experience finding or evaluating golf course sites, I am very curious to know how someone could do this.


Have you used Google Maps to find a site or evaluate a proposed one, either as part of your profession or as a hobby?


What exactly do you look for in satellite imagery, particularly if firm and fast (i.e. links) conditions are an important part of the equation?


Thanks!


Ian

Hi Ian,


While I've definitely used Google Earth in some capacity, when I was looking for the site for Old Barnwell, I decided to fork over a monthly payment to use a map application called MapRight (www.mapright.com). I have no idea if it's the best map app out there, but it was something that a lot of land realtors were using to showcase their properties, and when you pay for their services, you get access to a whole bunch of useful information (though not all of it is always reliable): topographic maps, soil types, wetland and conservation areas, etc.  It also helps you identify actual property boundary lines, total acreage, and landowners (it's AMAZING how much land is owned in the Southeast U.S. by timber companies). It was a great resource as I reviewed sites that were for sale online at places like www.land.com, and allowed me to get a pretty good sense of a site before I would spend the time and resources to go and see it in person.


For whatever reason, I found that parts of Google Earth Pro weren't exactly user-friendly, though I never dug too deep into its capabilities. So, MapRight was worth the investment.


Happy hunting!


Nick