The Loop

NFL owner buys biggest ranch in America, could world's biggest golf destination be next? (Probably not)

February 10, 2016
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OK, so that headline is a bit misleading. Yes, an NFL owner, Stan Kroenke, recently bought the biggest ranch in America. However, there are no present plans to do anything golf-related with the land.

But oh, just think of the possibilities.

This isn't just any piece of land. It's the W.T. Waggoner Estate Ranch in northwest Texas, which was listed for $725 million. We already mentioned it's the biggest ranch (with one fence) in all the land, but just how big is it? Try 520,000 acres. That equates to 800 square miles. If you're jaw hasn't dropped yet, just know that's two-thirds the size of Rhode Island.

Can you imagine how many golf courses Kroenke could build there? Actually, we did more than imagine.

According to the American Society of Golf Course Architects, a full-size par-72 golf course typically requires 120 to 200 acres. If we say the average of those two numbers (160 acres), that would leave space for 3,250(!) golf courses. If we take the high number (200 acres), that's still 2,600 golf courses.

Even factoring in other essentials for a golf destination like clubhouses, lodging, and restaurants, that would still leave room for more than 2,000 courses. In comparison, Myrtle Beach, widely considered the golf capital of the U.S., has about 100 courses.

Here's a video about the property:

Kroenke has been in the news lately after reaching a deal with the NFL to move the St. Louis Rams back to Los Angeles. The billionaire isn't known to be a golfer, but he does own at least one golf property, the Meadowood Vineyard Resort in Napa Valley.

We're not expecting Kroenke to just forget about the land's 1,000 oil wells, 30,000 acres of crops or 680 head of cattle in lieu of building golf courses. But we can dream a little, can't we?