Steve Sjuggerud's note: My good friend Mike Palmer just returned from New York after visiting one the most amazing places in the world. I thought you'd enjoy his essay about...
An Inside Peek at the World's Most Expensive
Golf Club
By Mike Palmer
April 7 , 2007
When we hopped out of the golf cart on the second tee, we took in one of the most spectacular views on a golf course I've ever seen – the Statue of Liberty stood right behind the pin. Beyond that, the entire Manhattan skyline.
That's when my friend, David Galland, turned to me and said: "It's just another sign that we're in the declining days of the Empire."
You see, David's had a theory for years that America's extravagances and over-the-top spending are similar to what happened in Rome 1,600 years ago.
It's hard to argue with him when you see a place like the Liberty National Golf Club...
This place is over-the-top in so many ways:
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First of all, Liberty National is as close to Wall Street as a golf course can possibly be. It rests on a 160-acre peninsula with a mile of waterfront that juts out from the western shore of the New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty is just 1,000 yards away. |
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The course sits atop an old chemical dump. It took 13 years and 80,000 truckloads of dirt to build. The cost: about $150 million (a record for golf courses). |
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The 50 current members each paid a whopping $500,000... plus another $20,000 in annual dues. (The club is opening up another 100 spots soon and will cap membership at 300.) |
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The details are extraordinary: The golf cart bridges are made of fieldstone... the walking bridges are granite... the golf cart paths (which alone cost more than $1 million) are made with hand-set Belgian blocks. The maintenance shed cost $2 million. |
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The course provides two luxury shuttle boats (complete with full locker facilities) to whisk member to and from Manhattan. This way, when the markets close, and you've made your last trade of the day, you can be on the first tee in about 15 minutes. |
Does this place make economic sense? Probably not.
But that's beside the point. Liberty National was built by an extremely rich man – Paul Fireman – who started Reebok and sold it to Adidas last year for more than $3 billion.
Paul's got plenty of money to burn... and he's sparing no expense. He'll soon break ground on a $30 million clubhouse. Right next door, they're building three 40-story towers that will look something like the Sydney Opera House... with space for nearly 1,000 condos.
The place opened for play last June – and it is truly spectacular... a little slice of golfing paradise reminiscent of the links of Ireland or Scotland... except that you've got the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline on the horizon.
We weren't at Liberty National to play golf, however.
Instead, we were there to meet with Liberty National's course designer, Bob Cupp, who built the place with Tom Kite.
Joining us was a small contingent of architects and designers, who are building their own exotic project in Cafayate, Argentina. They've hired Bob to build their golf course and wanted to get a look at his work firsthand.
After Bob's insider's tour, we went over the preliminary plans of the Cafayate project.
It's going to be spectacular in its own right... with a few hundred houses on large tracts of land... a world-class golf course... vineyards and a winery that can produce a million bottles a year... olive and orange groves... horse stables and riding trails... a clubhouse and restaurants... pools and tennis courts... all in beautiful oasis, between two rivers, with the 15,000-foot Andean mountains as a backdrop.
Of course, it will cost a fraction of what they spent on Liberty National... and in Cafayate, the sun shines 300 days a year. The place has some of the best weather on Earth.
We'll keep you posted on this project. There may be an opportunity in the coming months for you to become an early investor if you are interested.
Good investing,
Mike Palmer
P.S. I'm told Liberty National is no longer the world's most expensive golf course. Soon after Paul Fireman announced that membership would cost $500,000, a competitor on Long Island announced an initiation fee of $600,000. And as soon as Donald Trump heard Fireman spent $150 million Liberty National, the Donald announced he would spend more than $200 million for his course outside of Los Angeles.
Editor's note: If you want to read more about Mike Palmer's golf adventures, he recently took a month off work in search of the world's best golf vacation. He's put together a fantastic book on his findings. Click here for more information.
