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Golf Gourses Add Fun, Value To Neighborhoods 02/19/2007

When Dorothy Tayloe was a little girl in the 1960s, life along the 14th hole of the Birmingham Country Club was a lot different than in today's golf communities.

"The golf course was in our frontyard," Tayloe said. "You'd see people walk up to our house with their golf shoes on, looking for their balls. And our Labrador retriever, Mister, would bring home tee markers that we'd have to return."

Tayloe is now the residential sales manager at Ross Bridge in Hoover, one of the metro area's 13 residential developments that include golf, according to figures from the National Golf Foundation. Many have plans to build additional homes for years to come because of the popularity.

With a total of 52 public and private places to play golf, the Birmingham-Hoover metro area has 999 holes - or one for every 1,098 residents.

Alabama has a total of 250 places to play golf, including 47 residential golf developments, with many having been built during the last 10 to 15 years. That puts the state at about the middle.

By comparison, Florida leads the nation with 520 golf course communities.

At one of the area's newest and most expansive developments, Ross Bridge has more than 300 homes already occupied, and 1,800 units are planned over the next decade. There's also the existing luxury hotel, spa and eight traditional residential neighborhoods with outdoor movies, a farmers market and holiday events.

"It's a lot different today," Tayloe said of the eight subdivisions that comprise the Ross Bridge community. "People love the planned-out development, the pool, the walking trail, the parks. Kids in one neighborhood can cross the street and go play in another neighborhood. That's what I did when I was a child."

More homes are being built near existing courses, golf analysts and developers say. Buyers are having no trouble paying several hundred dollars a year in association fees, and abiding by rules and covenants. Their lifestyle choices range from quiet country living to neighborly interaction reminiscent of Andy Griffith's Mayberry.

In Birmingham, some of the top golf course developments remain major golf venues for events such as professional women's and seniors' tournaments. Ross Bridge residents can walk outside and enjoy the Regions Charity Classic. For 14 years, residents at Greystone Golf and Country Club could watch the Bruno's Charity Classic.

"Having a golf course in your backyard increases your property values by about 8 percent in the Southeast, and up to 20 percent in other parts of the country," said Frank Limehouse, an economics professor at the University of Georgia and researcher with Sportometrics sports consulting.

While golf-course communities may conjure up ideas of devoted golfers, that actually isn't the case. Many people just like to be part of the golf environment.

"I'd say at least half of the residents don't play golf," Limehouse said. "The demand isn't so much for golf, it's for the residential development and the contractual assurance that your backyard will remain pretty."

Kevin Trimm, who handles sales and residential management for Limestone Springs in Oneonta, a part of Honours Golf management and development company with 12 golf communities around the Southeast, shares similar statistics.

"I'd say about 65 percent of our residents don't play golf," Trimm said.

Jim Murphree moved into a house on the second hole at Limestone Springs nearly two years ago - though he hasn't touched a golf club in about 15 years.

"I'm from the area, and I really like the tranquillity," Murphree said. "I think the golf course adds to the beauty. I think it was an excellent value, and the people who play golf are nice neighbors."

The Jerry Pate-designed golf course was completed in 1999, and Limestone Springs' houses first went up in 2000. Construction continues, and Golfweek magazine has named it the 60th best golf community out of the top 100 in the nation.

"People like it because somebody else is taking care of your backyard," Trimm said. "The type of people coming into the golf market have changed, and so have golf course communities. It used to be a white-collar sport, and it has changed, thankfully, in large part to Tiger Woods. Now, you don't have to have a million-dollar home to live on a golf course."

While people like Tayloe recall plenty of nostalgic stories about golfers, more sophisticated development plans minimize the interaction.

Rare are the cases of golf balls crashing into windows, or kids overhearing the colorful rants of frustrated players.

The norm now includes 35 to 75 or more feet of trees that buffer houses and yards from the courses.

"Balls do hit into yards, but there are so many trees, it's not a problem." said Jack Olmstead, a 10-year resident on the first tee at Eagle Point off U.S. 280 in Shelby County.

Olmstead is president of the homeowners' association and a starter at the golf course, designating when players can tee off behind other groups.

"I have deer in my yard almost nightly, and all kinds of nature," Olmstead said. "I go through Eagle Point, and it is such a wonderful community; I don't think I selected it just for the golf course."

GOLF FACTS

The Birmingham-Hoover metro area has 13 of Alabama's 47 planned golf and housing developments. Florida leads the nation with more than 520. The metro area has 999 golf holes, one for every 1,098 residents. Alabama has 250 public and private places to play golf. Source: National Golf Foundation, Jupiter, Fla.