Forbes Magazine February 2016

Where Athletes And Off-Duty PGA Golfers
Play Barefoot / SportsMoney
February 20, 2016
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, Lance Armstrong, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson and
Kelly Slater are among those frequently spotted at Discovery Land Company
communities. Nike Phil Knight and Bill Gates also reportedly own homes at
Discovery properties.
With all of that in mind, when I was invited to
play at the members-only Baker’s Bay Club, I
quickly accepted. I was curious to see what lures
so many professional athletes and off-duty PGA
Tour pros to Discovery’s golf and ocean club located in the Abaco family islands of the Bahamas.
Baker’s Bay
I had the chance to talk with Tom Fazio, the noted
designer of the Baker’s Bay golf course before I
departed. He is responsible for eleven golf courses
at Discovery clubs and considers the company a
dream client, because the projects are “one-of-a-
kind” and there are “literally no compromises.”
When I arrived, I realized how much Fazio
understated the one-of-a-kind description of the
Baker’s Bay project. The property occupies a 600acre piece of land on the northern end of Great
Guana Cay with the Sea of Abaco on one side and
the Atlantic Ocean on the other, and is only accessible by boat.
I was greeted by warm smiles, a golf cart
emblazoned with my name (mine for the duration
of my stay), and a spirited fruit punch in a monogrammed cup. We glided past neat rows of mega-yachts, spectacular water vistas and landscaping that clearly takes an army of groundskeepers
to maintain.
I was told that I could dress casually, but I
still expected the formality that hovers in the air
at very exclusive clubs. I did not think that when
I approached the driving range in a t-shirt and
shorts that I would be told to take off my shoes
and play barefoot. I soon found out that at least
half of the golfers were playing the pristine course
without any shoes on, and there was not a collared
shirt in sight.
I could not help but think that Baker’s Bay
Club is exactly the club I would design given the
chance. A plethora of pit stops along the eighteen
holes, with fully stocked fridges and snacks only
adds to the laid back, enjoyable experience.
“I wanted to build a club for the members,”
said Discovery Land Company founder Mike
Meldman, who says he is “not a country club kid”
and only wears jeans.
I fit right in with my attire (and no shoes) at
Baker’s Bay.
The standard collared shirt requirement is
absent at all of Meldman’s clubs, an unusual distinction among the world’s top-ranked private
courses. It was the only way he could get his kids
to play when they were younger — that and the
coolers filled with snacks he used to have staff
place on every hole when he built his first golf
club.
Today, the lack of dress code keeps Meldman’s now-adult sons coming back with their
friends who wear bathing suits on the course
and the impromptu coolers have evolved into
Discovery Land Company’s signature “Comfort
Stations.” These fully provisioned gourmet snack
huts are often air-conditioned and usually have
rock music playing within. Fish tacos and ice
cream sundaes beckoned between my round, and
jars of candy and beef jerky filled the counters.
Members helped themselves to the snacks and
coolers full of beer like they were in their own
houses and money never changed hands.
The ninth hole saw a Casamigos Bar owing to Meldman’s partnership in the moderately
priced tequila brand with George Clooney and
Rande Gerber.
It is hard to believe, but Meldman admitted
that he could not really even play golf and had
“no track record or brand” when he developed Estancia, his first club in Arizona. He found what he
describes as a landmark, amazing property and
examined the top West Coast clubs before deciding that Fazio should design the course. His other
goal, which has remained a tenet of the seventeen
properties that followed, was to “build into the
land without disturbing the environment.
Interestingly, Meldman said “the golf business is not a good business” and noted that the
infrastructure is expensive. “It’s a minimum $200
million investment. The only way it works,” said
Meldman, “is to sell real estate.”
Apparently it works very well, because
there is an ever-growing cadre of believers who
invest in Meldman’s properties often before
ground is broken, including Terry Bradshaw.
“Every sale creates scarcity and more value,”
said Meldman, who reported sales of $6 billion
in real estate last year.
Buy-in is not inexpensive. In addition to
the initial six figure membership fee, a condition
of membership requires purchase of a lot on the
property and a commitment to buy or build a
house within a year.
A limited number of memberships at each
property keeps demand high, and Discovery
cited estimates that homes at their clubs sell for
between two and ten times as much as homes at
adjacent properties.
The younger membership will often play
eighteen holes before noon and then look for the
next adventure. This is where Discovery excels.
Scuba diving and sport fishing are big at Baker’s
Bay along with distinctly Bahamian activities like
conch diving and lobstering.
Membership at the clubs is vertical, meaning
that children and parents enjoy benefits as a way
to foster cross-generational relationships. It is
something important to Meldman, which turned
out to resonate with busy captains of industry, celebrities and athletes who spend a lot of time on
the road.
Meldman is now testing the Baker’s Bay formula on the East Coast of the U.S. for the first
time at Silo Ridge Field Club, a development 90
miles north of Manhattan in the New York’s Hudson River Valley. After a round on Fazio’s latest,
members will be able to hit the hunting reserve or
shoot clay pigeons. Equestrian activity will be a
huge part of club life, with practice and boarding
facilities and miles of riding trails.
Not surprisingly, I overheard that more than
one famous New York-based athlete has inquired
about membership.
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder
of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL,
P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.