COSTS A FORE-TUNE
Surge of rich is driving Fla. golf club fees up
The influx of wealthy New Yorkers and Californians to Florida has driven up the price of golf club memberships, with some Miami area locations charging six- and sevenfigure fees.
Luxury clubs in South Florida have in some cases doubled and tripled their membership rates since the pandemic, according to the Financial Times.
A hedge fund investor who golfs in the area told the publication that there is fierce competition in what has evolved into an “access to luxury golf arms race.”
Of the more than 545,000 people who left New York state in 2022, more than 91,000 relocated to Florida that same year, many of them looking to escape high taxes and draconian COVID lockdowns, according to data.
Many of them have cash to burn.
“The types of people moving down there are used to getting their way and having access to the best of the best,” the hedge fund investor said.
“Then you tell them ‘Congratulations, you moved to Palm Beach, [but] you can’t be a member of any of the oldschool clubs because the wait-list is 10 years long.’ ”
Even A-list celebrities must cool their golf-shoed heels.
DJ Khaled reportedly has been trying to gain membership at the exclusive La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, which charges $700,000 to join, up from $200,000 in the preCOVID days.
Thus far, however, the record producer and disc jockey, who already has a membership at Shell Bay, the north Miami Beach country club that charges $1.35 million for access, has been unable to get in, the FT reported.
The report cited data that found the cost of memberships at golf clubs in southeast Florida has risen at more than quadruple the national rate.
The median cost of joining one of these clubs went from $120,000 in 2019 to $200,000 in 2023, according to data from Club Benchmarking, a Bostonbased analytics firm.
“Country clubs are experiencing the collective rise of South Florida like many businesses. It’s simple supply-and-demand dynamics at play, and these institutions are wise to capitalize,” Filippo Incorvaia, the founder of Miami-based FI Real Estate, told The Post.
“New Yorkers will pay to get in because it means exposure to the right people, and it’s a true competition.”
Incorvaia said that a similar dynamic is playing out “at marinas, private membership clubs and even select restaurants, too.”
According to the FT, New York City-based realestate developer Witkoff, which also owns Shell Bay, plans to build Dutchman’s Pipe, the first new golf club in the Palm Beach area in 25 years.
Dutchman’s Pipe, which is slated to open on the site of the old Banyan Cay club later this year, is reportedly set to charge membership fees ranging from $300,000 to $350,000, the FT reported.
More hikes seen
Indian Creek — the private golf club located on the Miami island that has been dubbed “Billionaire Bunker” thanks to its wellheeled residents such as Jeff Bezos, Ken Griffin, Tom Brady, Carl Icahn, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — reportedly charges $500,000 for new members.
Before the pandemic, Indian Creek’s fee was less than half that amount, according to FT.
The club is considering hiking membership fees even further, it was reported.
“It’s crazy the initiation fees that people are paying to just have a place to go to dinner or play golf,” a financier who plays at several clubs told the FT.
DJ Khaled, Shell Bay, Witkoff, Indian Creek and La Gorce did not respond to requests for comment.