LinksDAO: An Early Look
An interesting and unconventional journey to purchase a golf course.
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Hey Golfers -
There have been multiple developments involving golf and crypto in the last few weeks.
The PGA Tour released a players’ memo regarding a possible NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) revenue stream.
Joel Dahmen announced a partnership with Crypto Country Club.
LinksDAO was formed in hopes of purchasing a Top 100 Golf Course.
PGA Tour players’ involvement with NFTs isn’t necessarily new. In March of 2021, Bryson DeChambeau was the first golfer to release a set of NFTs. Bryson launched a total of 73 NFTs on OpenSea. One of Bryson’s NFTs was a 1/1 and sold for 24.15 ETH, worth $90,900 today, fairly impressive.
Tiger Woods entered the NFT space in September. Tiger partnered with Upper Deck to release 10,000 NFTs on the Autograph marketplace. Interestingly, Autograph was co-founded by Tom Brady. Tiger is an advisory board member of Autograph.
LinksDAO appears to be the first idea in the golf space for a DAO. Let’s break it down.
What is a DAO? DAO stands for ‘decentralized autonomous organization.’ A DAO’s financial transaction and rules are recorded on a blockchain. DAOs have been used for:
Investment
Charity
Fundraising
DAO members can vote on important decisions for the organization.
An example of a DAO was the recent Constitution DAO. In mid-November, Constitution DAO crowdfunded nearly $47 million in Ether. The goal of Constitution DAO was to buy a copy of the constitution at a Sotheby’s auction. Unfortunately, Constitution DAO did not win the auction.
Constitution DAO was a novel idea, but it had an issue. They publically stated how much money they raised, tipping off their competition bidding on the copy of the constitution at Sotheby’s. LinksDAO has learned from this experience. In a Twitter Spaces last week, it was noted they wouldn’t release specific information that could hinder the acquisition of a golf course.
Over the weekend, LinksDAO dropped membership NFTs. LinksDAO has two different membership NFTs.
Lesiure Membership NFT - 0.18 ETH ($680)
Global Membership NFT - 0.72 ETH ( $2,730)
It is important to note; both membership NFTs do not include membership to a future golf course LinksDAO purchases. However, the membership provides the right to purchase a membership in the future. LinksDAO will be making a separate NFT sale in 2022 to fund and support an acquisition.
Leisure Membership NFTs are already trading at 0.232 ETH ($880) on OpenSea, representing a 29% increase over the minting price. Global Membership NFTs are trading as high as 0.888 ETH ($3,375), a 23% increase over the minting price.
LinksDAO raised $10 million+ in their initial mint for their treasury and sold out Leisure Membership NFTs. They may sell out of Global Membership NFTs as well. A fantastic movement that 4,000+ governance NFT holders have joined.
Once the initial DAO funding is complete, LinksDAO will develop a list of 3-5 golf courses to acquire; they have high ambitions, some of their options are below.
Purchase a Top 100 Golf course
Design and Build their course
Purchase a Top 500 course and renovate into a Top 100
Golf Course that has previously hosted PGA Tournaments
If LinksDAO decides to purchase and renovate a golf course, they will focus on Golden Age designers. They reference Pinehurst, Seminole, Shady Oaks, Oakland Hills, and Southern Pines as inspiration.
LinksDAO desirable amenities would make it a world-class golf course and membership.
Onsite lodging
Co-working areas
Spa
Driving Range
Locker-Rooms
Pool
Tennis Courts
Food and Beverage
Crowdfunding a golf course acquisition is entirely realistic. According to Loopnet, the cheapest golf course for sale is a 9-hole golf course in Pennsylvania for $499,000. The most expensive golf course for sale listed on Loopnet is an 18 hole golf course in Hawaii for $14,500,000. It is reasonable for LinksDAO to raise this much capital for an acquisition.
I am more curious about purchasing a Top 100 Golf course, or a PGA Tour scheduled event course and how much capital that could require. Additionally, the operating budget of a membership with such desirable amenities could be enormous.
Could this be a shift in how we see golf courses acquired in the future? I’m always interested in golf-related acquisitions. I am excited to follow LinksDAO in their journey to purchase a golf course.
Have yourself a Monday, talk to you next week!
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