Mark Enderle has been at the forefront of upscale golf and resort-style communities for more than 30 years, dating back to the 1990s when he was president of IMI Resort Sales that recorded $1 billion-plus in real estate sales.
He later co-founded Traditions Management LLC in 2002 that subsequently sold another $1.5 billion in lots/homes for numerous high-end developers such as DMB Associates, which built a string of acclaimed private golf developments from DC Ranch and Silverleaf in Scottsdale, Arizona, to Lake Tahoe’s Martis Camp and Lahontan, and Hawaii’s Kukui’ula on the island of Kauai.
Now through Storied Development, his newest real estate firm, Enderle is trying to put Nashville, Tennessee, on the map as the next great place for prestigious private club living. His latest real estate venture is called Firefly. The 700-plus acre luxury golf and residential community, which is being developed with Wheelock Street Capital, about 30 miles south of Nashville in Spring Hill, began construction in December 2024 and real estate sales are already off to a strong start after commencing in the spring.
At least that’s one way to describe demand for this master-planned middle Tennessee project where homesites range from $500,000 to $1.5 million and initial membership deposits are currently $100,000. According to Storied Development, the group has already secured 60 Founder Memberships, giving buyers priority positions for homesite selection in a community that will eventually have 407 single-family homes expected to start at $2.5 million.
Among the $350-million development’s future family-friendly amenities are an 18-hole championship course and 9-hole short course designed by Andrew Green. The courses, on track to open for member play in spring 2026, are Green’s debut solo design efforts after doing numerous historic restoration projects for a number of top country clubs like Congressional in Potomac, Maryland, and Interlachen in Edina, Minnesota.
“Firefly will be the premier club community in the Nashville area,” says Enderle, who is from nearby Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. “The amenities are designed to give everyone in the family an activity and a level of service they will love, and the golf is destined to receive national acclaim.”
Besides exceptional golf, Firefly’s other amenity highlights being planned amidst the serene Tennessee countryside setting are a full-service clubhouse, fitness center, family club, adult and children’s pools, bowling alley, golf simulators and a racquet club with tennis and indoor pickleball courts.
Firefly comes on the heels of Enderle almost selling out The Grove, another upscale gated Nashville-area private club community he helped open in 2013 with a Greg Norman-designed course and 820 homes that start in the low $2 millions.
“Nashville’s come into its own,” said Enderle, who developed The Grove through a partnership with Terra Verde Group LLC. “For years Nashville was a second-tier city and that’s not true any longer. The biggest companies and the most famous people are finding a way to live in Nashville.
“(Firefly) provides an opportunity for people in Nashville to enjoy the kind of community with the type of amenities and experiences that you only find in the bigger cities and the resort destinations. And it gives us the opportunity to bring that quality to Nashville and I think it’s probably just the first of many that will come to Nashville because of what Nashville’s become.”
NICKLAUS DESIGN SOARS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, VIETNAM
At the dawn of the new millennium, Mainland China seemed poised to be the next main hotspot for golf’s future growth. For historians, this might have seemed farfetched considering the country’s famed late Marxist leader Mao Zedong banned the sport when he took over in 1949, and up until 1980 there were no courses built under Communist rule.
However, after Mao died in 1976 and the late Deng Xiaoping assumed leadership of the People’s Republic of China in 1978 and subsequently introduced elements of free market capitalism in special economic zones around China, golf took off. For instance, during a 20-year period from 1983-2003, the biggest architects in the business built more than 100 courses with no end in sight as China’s privileged class was benefitting from unprecedented wealth.
By 2008, Jack Nicklaus and his namesake design firm was one of the more prolific companies in the burgeoning market with 13 courses to their credit. The portfolio included the World Cup Course at acclaimed Mission Hills and prestigious Nicklaus Club Beijing that Nicklaus Design still oversees as part of a unique “one-off” branding/third-party management deal, according to longtime Nicklaus Design president Paul Stringer.
Less than a decade later, with a country now under the watchful eye of paramount leader Xi Jinping, China no longer represented the promise land for golf as the country’s leadership returned to its Maoist roots and squelched the lifeblood of the bourgeoisie business and sport.
Nevertheless, Stringer is still spending a lot of time these days doing course design deals in Southeast Asia, namely Vietnam, which in some respects can be called, “The Next China.” At least that’s one way to describe the recent spate of course openings in Vietnam, which ironically, is another one-party Communist state, albeit one that has gained great favor in recent years as Asia’s next manufacturing hub of choice.
After Stringer landed in Vietnam around 2008 it led to the opening three years later of Legend Hill Golf Resort for Madame Nga’s BRG Group outside of Hanoi. Stringer and Nicklaus Design subsequently signed a multi-course deal with Nga’s BRG (Banking, Real Estate and Golf) empire and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to jointly develop tourism in one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
“Vietnam has a tremendous potential for golf tourism supported by good year-round weather and our friendly, service-orientated people,” Madame Nga said during the 2017 signing ceremony in Washington, D.C, with her country’s former prime minister and president. “To take full advantage of our competitive edge, we have teamed up with Nicklaus Design through an agreement that ensures our new golf courses will be very attractive destinations designed and built to international standards.”
Madame Nga noted the landmark deal was “especially meaningful” that the signing ceremony coincided with the prime minister’s state visit to America and went on to say, “We promise the Prime Minister that we will deliver this vision of Vietnam as a fabulous golfing destination and a great golf nation.”
Nearly a decade later the vision is stronger than ever for Vietnam. Last June, Stringer was going back to Vietnam for a groundbreaking event with another owner client doing a 27-hole layout.
That brings the number of Nicklaus Design projects to 15 in planning or under construction with eight already open for play. According to Stringer, much of the country’s course development is centered around major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the facilities are akin to traditional U.S. private clubs where memberships are being sold and/or with some type of real estate component.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of newer development around coastal cities such as Da Nang, Nha Trang and Ha Long Bay.
“These courses are a little more touristy and/or international in scope,” Stringer says, “and are more what I would call upscale daily fee. They still sell some memberships, and the locals still travel there because they’re really nice areas to visit.
“So, it’s a different model that would be similar to what you might see in Mexico. Where if you’re in Mexico City you’re doing private clubs but if you’re in Cabo for example, it’s a little bit more resort and daily fee (courses).”
PICKLEBALL POWERS PRIVATE CLUB RACQUET RENAISSANCE
If you think the pickleball-powered racquet renaissance is going to peter out, think again. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association says pickleball was America’s fastest-growing sport for the third straight year in 2023 with 8.9 million participants aged six years or older playing at 11,000-plus locations.
One perfect place where traditional tennis and pickleball are mutually thriving is Memphis Country Club, which recently garnered first-place honors by Golf Inc. Magazine for Amenity of the Year: Racket. In the club’s 120-year history, members have always held racket sports in high regard.
With a newly opened 60,000-square-foot indoor racket facility, featuring five new tennis courts, four pickleball courts, tennis pro shop and new Racquets Café, members now have a popular new indoor venue to pursue their recreational passion year-round. Strategically designed by Kuo Diedrich Chi Architects and built below grade, the new tennis center serves two purposes: create a tournament atmosphere for the signature stadium court and reduce noise for the surrounding neighborhoods.
Another place where people are getting increasingly rabid about racquet pursuits — both pickleball and tennis —- is Country Club of Spartanburg. The historic South Carolina club has long been recognized by the U.S. Tennis Association as having one of the top 100 programs.
But this centennial club took tennis to even greater levels this spring when it opened a newly built $10 million-plus facility with eight pickleball courts, nine tennis courts — seven clay and two hardcourt surfaces —stadium seating and a pro shop/office pavilion.
This KDC-designed project was so important to the membership, the club rerouted and completely rebuilt hole Nos. 14-16 to free up high-profile racquet real estate right up to the clubhouse. Not only did Spartanburg get a signature new spot for racquet sports, but the member-owned club gained a closer overall club culture.
In KDC principal Mark Diedrich’s 20-plus years of designing clubhouses and recreational amenities, it was the first time he had a club’s golf course get rerouted to accommodate racket-related venues.
“Before the new facility was built racquet players played on the other side of the club and had to cross a couple holes to get to the clubhouse,” Diedrich said. “They had their own parking lot and everything, but there was no food and beverage there.
“So those racquet players would go use the facilities and go home. They never really became part of the golf community. When we started working on a strategic masterplan for the club with the previous general manager (Haissam Baityeh), one of the desires with the new tennis facility was trying to build a stronger community by bringing everybody closer.”