June 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 25

fensive activities. The absence of these nuisances from
a golf course contributes to the premium for residences
abutting a course.
The premiums primarily reflect views. Frontage
properties embrace the concept of 'appropriation' that
was articulated by Humphry Repton, one of the pioneering 'fathers' of landscaping in the early 1800s. Appropriation is the view of the landscape that is visible
from a residence that effectively integrates a view into
the resident's private property, even though it is not part
of the property.
Frontage golf course premiums typically averaged
between 15 percent and 30 percent, which is much
higher than the 8 percent to 10 percent typically associated with properties fronting onto passive parks.
Premiums are almost all attributable to the location
of a lot rather than to residences constructed on a
lot, because the cost of building a given house in a
community is likely to be approximately the same
irrespective of where it is located. This means that
when premiums are expressed as a percentage, there
is likely to be a substantial difference between those
of undeveloped lots and those of built-out developments. Consider the following:

premiums. In contrast, premiums for courses in golf
communities that are intentionally threaded around
real estate and designed to create attractive viewscapes
are likely to have relatively high premiums.
Frontage premiums are dependent on high-quality
maintenance of the course. However, this prerequisite
is under threat in some communities, because more
than 1,200 golf courses in the U.S. have closed since
2003, often leaving abutting homes looking at unkempt
open space, rather than manicured, attractive green
space. The closures have resulted from an over-supply
of courses constructed in the latter decades of the past
century, and a decline in both the number of people
playing golf (from 30.6 million in 2003 to 24.2 million
in 2018) and the number of rounds played (from 518
million in 2000 to 434 million in 2018).
John L. Crompton, Ph.D., is a University Distinguished Professor,
Regents Professor and Presidential Professor for Teaching
Excellence in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism
Sciences at Texas A&M University and an elected Councilmember
for the City of College Station (jcrompton@tamu.edu).

Lot cost

House cost

Total cost

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Prime
frontage

$250,000

$400,000

$650,000

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Interior lot

$100,000

$400,000

$500,000

In this example, the premium for the vacant lot is 150
percent ($250,000/$100,000), but the premium when
the lot is developed is 30 percent ($650,000/$500,000).
Frontage premiums are not all the same magnitude.
The evidence suggests that those for 'ordinary' fairway
lots are approximately half those for 'prime' fairway
lots with extended views (e.g., 180, 360) or prized views
(e.g., water features and/or greens).
Premiums tend to be relatively low for municipal
courses and relatively high for private courses. This
is mainly attributed to differences in the quality/exclusivity of the courses, and the negative impact of
more rounds/players on properties adjacent to municipal courses.
Course configurations may also influence premiums.
Long-established 'core' courses that were constructed
by municipalities or private clubs to provide opportunities for golfers to play the game without regard to their
impact on real estate are likely to have relatively small

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Parks & Recreation

June 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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