Rich NYers drive up Florida country club membership fees to over $1M: 'A luxury golf arms race'

Published

1 year ago

April 11, 2024

admin

The influx of wealthy New Yorkers and Californians who relocated en masse to Florida have driven up the price of golf club memberships with some Miami area locations charging six- and seven-figure fees.

Luxury golf clubs in South Florida have in some cases doubled and tripled their membership rates since the pandemic, according to Financial Times.

A hedge fund investor who plays golf in the area told the publication that there is fierce competition in what has evolved to be 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-era 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, you cant be a member of any of the old-school clubs because the wait-list is 10 years long.”

The price surge is coinciding with a rising demand for membership, which has created a backlog that has kept A-list celebrities waiting.

DJ Khaled has reportedly 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 pre-COVID days.

Thus far, however, the record producer and disc jockey, who already has 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 which found that the cost of membership 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 Boston-based 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 FT, New York City-based real estate developer Witkoff, which also owns Shell Bay, plans to build Dutchman’s Pipe, the first newly constructed golf club in the Palm Beach area in the last 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.

Indian Creek — the private golf club located on the Miami island that has been dubbed “Billionaire Bunker” thanks to its well-heeled residents such as Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Ken Griffin, Tom Brady, and Carl Icahn — reportedly charges $500,000 for new members.

Before the pandemic, Indian Creek’s membership fee was less than half that amount, according to FT.

The club is considering hiking membership fees even further, it was reported.

The Breakers, an elite golf club in Palm Beach, charges new members a fee of $550,000. Before COVID, the fee was closer to $300,000, the FT reported.

Emerald Dunes in West Palm Beach, which has a reported waiting list of 100 would-be members, charges a fee of $700,000 — more than double the approximate $300,000 price tag from pre-pandemic days.

The old clubs are impossible to get into,” a financier who plays at several clubs is quoted as telling FT.

“Its crazy the initiation fees that people are paying to just have a place to go to dinner or play golf.

Dutchman’s Pipe, Indian Creek and Shell Bay are all invite-only clubs where membership can be obtained only through knowing someone who is already a member.

Paul N. Leone, the CEO of The Breakers Palm Beach, told The Post, “A direct comparison cannot be made between pre- and post-pandemic fees, as the fee structures for membership changed.

The club does not publicly disclose details on membership fees and pricing, he added.

The Post also sought comment from DJ Khaled, Shell Bay, Witkoff, Indian Creek, La Gorce and Emerald Dunes.

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

1 hour ago

July 10, 2025

admin

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

US

Donald Trump praises Liberian president’s English – the country’s official language

Published

1 hour ago

July 10, 2025

admin

Donald Trump praises Liberian president's English - the country's official language

Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.

The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.

After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.

The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.

“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.

The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.

He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.

Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”

But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.

Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.

US

Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says Israeli government

Published

1 hour ago

July 10, 2025

admin

Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says Israeli government

The Israeli government believes the chances of achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza are “questionable”.

The pessimistic assessment, in a top-level Israeli government briefing given to Sky News, comes as the Israeli Prime Minister prepares to leave Washington DC after a four-day visit which had begun with the expectation of a ceasefire announcement.

Benjamin Netanyahu will leave the US later today with the prospect of even a temporary 60-day ceasefire looking extremely unlikely this week.

Within “a week, two weeks – not a day” is how it was framed in the background briefing late on Wednesday.

Crucially, though, on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the framing from the briefing was even less optimistic: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement. But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Sky News has spoken to several Israeli officials at the top level of the government. None will be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

But I have been given a very clear understanding of Mr Netanyahu’s thinking.

The Israeli position is that a permanent ceasefire (beyond the initial 60 days, which itself is yet to be agreed) is only possible if Hamas lays down its arms. “If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war],” said a source.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

My briefing of Mr Netanyahu’s position is that he has not shifted in terms of Israel’s central stated war aims. The return of the hostages and eliminating Hamas are the key objectives.

But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, it was clear from my briefing that no permanent ceasefire is possible in the Israeli government’s view without the complete removal of Hamas as a political and military entity.

Hamas is not likely to negotiate its way to oblivion.

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Sky News: “We would want IDF in every square metre of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone.”

It was clear to me that Mr Netanyahu wants his stated position to be that his government has no territorial ambition for Gaza.

One quote to come from my briefing, which I am only able to attribute to a senior Israeli official, says: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas.”

Another clear indication of Mr Netanyahu’s position – a quote from the briefing, attributable only to a senior Israeli official: “You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, it’s clear from my briefings that Mr Netanyahu continues to rule out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

The Israeli government assessment is that the Palestinians are not going to have a state “as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state”.

On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the briefing revealed that Mr Netanyahu’s view is that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated.

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official said.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary”, is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”