First, some background. Omaha's public golf courses (three 18-holers and four nine-holers) -- like most golf facilities in the U.S. right now -- are struggling to make a profit. Reports in the city's press indicate the 18-hole courses are profitable, while the nine-holers collectively lost about $320,000 last year.

So what's the good news? According to this story in the Omaha World-Herald, city officials have abandoned plans to turn over the management of the nine-holers  to a private company. 

“We're going to see, in a year, if we can't get golf to make money,” Melinda Pearson, who began work last month as the city's parks and recreation director, says in the story. “I think it's possible.”

That sounds a like a government committed to golf as a recreational pursuit. We like that. But here's the bad news: the first step towards profitability taken by city officials was to fire the four golf pros who managed the nine-hole courses. Those facilities will now be run by part-time employees, with the help of an on-line tee time reservation system. According the World-Herald, the elimination of the pros -- all of whom were PGA of America members -- will save $250,000.

-- G.R.

But the most breathtaking sign of their wealth might have been their personal residence, Porcupine Creek, a 249-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., which is now on sale for the hold-your-gasp price of $75 million.

What do you get for that kind of dough? Plenty, naturally. For starters, a 25,000-square-foot main residence, four 2,400-square-foot guest houses and four 800-square-foot guest cottages (in case you were wondering what the difference is between a guest house and a guest cottage, apparently it's 1,600 square feet). A wine cellar, commercial kitchen, home theater, pool with waterfall ... and, of course, a golf course. This one is 19 holes (there is a bye hole), with the design credited to the triumvirate of Tom Weiskopf, Dave Stockton and Annika Sorenstam.

The Street has a good story here about the property, with the interesting conclusion that if and when the estate finally sells -- and who knows when that will be -- it will be turned from a private residence into a resort.

-- G.R.

If you are The Cliffs Communities, you try something a little out of the ordinary: You ask your members for help.

According to this story in the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, Cliffs Communities is trying to raise $60 to $100 million, and it has sent letters to its members (an estimated 2,400 at six different developments in North and South Carolina, including High Carolina, where Tiger Woods is building a golf course) to see if they would like to contribute.

The story explains, "[Cliffs Communities] head Jim Anthony said the proposal is a product of the scarcity of funds available from traditional lenders and arose from periodic discussions Cliffs officials have with property owners. 'We have bankers and hedge fund guys,' and other property owners with significant resources and financial expertise, Anthony said. 'It was their initiative.' "

At least one member thinks it's a good idea.

"I think the proposal is worthy of consideration ... because it's well understood that the Cliffs needs additional capital to complete its projects at hand," Miller Williams, a property owner at Walnut Cove and chairman of its Finance Advisory Committee, told the Citizen-Times. "I trust my neighbor a lot more than a private equity group."

-- G.R.

Since the Tiger Woods scandal broke, there has been speculation about the status of his three golf course projects (I might add the struggling economy, and its effect on golf and the real estate markets, didn't help matters). Now, in the space of three weeks, the backers of those projects have gone on the offensive, insisting those courses -- in Dubai, North Carolina and Mexico -- will eventually be built, come hell or high water.

The most recent story concerned the course in Mexico: Punta Brava, in Ensenada about 65 miles down the coast from San Diego. In this article in Sunday's San Diego Union-Tribune, the developers said ground would be broken on the $100 million project this year, with a grand opening planned for 2012. That's two years later than originally scheduled, but officials blamed a long permitting process. As for their course architect, Punta Brava's backers insist they remain committed.

"No matter what, Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world, and there is nobody else that we would rather have design our golf course than the best golfer in the world," Brian Tucker, a vice president of The Flagship Group, Punta Brava's development company, told the Union-Tribune.

-- G.R.

The house -- on .75 acres, with 8,800 square feet, six bedrooms and a view of the Jack Nicklaus designed layout (which is hosting this week's Champions Tour event, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship) and the Pacific Ocean -- sold for $8.7 million. Reports had it valued at between $8 and $12 million.

The Honolulu Advertiser has the story here.

-- G.R.

Two of them have a golf connection. 

The first is "Tranquility," a 10,000 square-foot on 210 acres near California's Lake Tahoe. Built by Joel Horowitz, "one of the co-founders of Tommy Hilfiger," the house has a staircase modeled after one that was on the Titanic, a cigar lounge inspired by one at New York's St. Regis Hotel and -- outside -- a two-hole golf course. Asking price: $100 million.

The second is Albemarle House in Charlottesville, Va. The house has 45 rooms and more than 25,000 square feet, and it is the centerpiece of a 300-acre property with three ponds, guest cottages and -- ta-da -- an 18-hole golf course designed by Arnold Palmer. The catch is that the course hasn't actually been built yet, which -- in our opinion -- makes the $100 million price tag seem a little steep.

-- G.R.

James Burkhouse is a former University Place, Wash., resident, who as a youth played on the beach near the gravel mine that eventually became the site of Chambers Bay. He is now president of Ventur-Hospitality, a hotel and resort development company based in Bruno, Calif., that has the contract to build a clubhouse, a hotel, a retail center and other facilities at Chambers Bay. Burkhouse is still trying to secure financing for the project.

The Tacoma News-Tribune has a story about Burkhouse and the Chambers Bay project here.

-- G.R.