The region is showing a 5% growth in people playing golf, with Windsor Parke Golf Club in Jacksonville, a formerly private facility that now relies on public access, reporting that it keeps players coming back through a stellar food and beverage department at the clubhouse, high-level course conditions, and customer service.

Pacific Life Insurance Co., which paid $13 million in the 1990s for the two properties in Jacksonville, Fla., sold them for $2.7 million to Brown, which now owns or manages 23 courses in seven states.