Eagle Creek Golf & Country Club

Eagle Creek is 458 homes and 18 holes of golf east of Collier Boulevard in Naples, gated, on about 294 acres. The streets inside are private, and the association staffs the gatehouse around the clock, keeps a second gate at the rear and patrols in the evenings. Of those, 299 are condominium units and 159 sit on their own lot, built between 1986 and 2007.

What settles a purchase here isn't the house. It's the club. Joining the country club is not optional: "Membership in the Country Club is mandatory for all Owners in Eagle Creek", the recorded covenants say. That obligation runs with the land and binds anyone who takes title, including a buyer at a foreclosure, judicial or tax sale. Nobody escapes it by never using the club, or by walking away from the home.

What does the mandatory membership cost?

Two charges arrive on top of whatever the associations bill. A Club Membership Fee falls due the moment title is conveyed, so it lands at closing, and Club Membership Dues run annually after that. Both are the owner's personal debt, and both sit as a continuing lien against the home. Leave either unpaid for 15 days and the club can record a claim of lien, then foreclose it like a mortgage. Club money is secured against the house itself.

Neither figure is published: asked what joining costs, the club says "Membership pricing is available upon request". The covenants add that "there is no obligation that all Owners pay the same Club Membership Fee or Club Membership Dues". The club's board sets both and can move either up or down, so get the figures for a specific address in writing before you commit.

Can a sale close while club money is owed?

No. Under the covenants, "no sale or other disposition of property shall be permitted until an estoppel letter is issued by the Country Club acknowledging payment in full of all Club Membership Fees and Club Membership Dues". A buyer who takes title while arrears stand can be refused occupancy and club use until they clear. That holds even where a previous owner ran the arrears up, so ask for the estoppel letter in the first week of a deal, not the week you close.

Does every home here come with golf?

It can't. Every owner holds either a golf membership or a social membership, and "Golf memberships are capped at 370" against 458 homes. At least 88 homes cannot carry golf even with the cap full. The club states it plainly: "Not all properties at Eagle Creek qualify for a Golf Membership. Properties may be associated with different membership types, so prospective buyers should confirm the membership designation for a specific property before purchasing." So if you want golf, check the address first.

A social membership isn't golf-free. It carries golf privileges from May 1 to November 30, and the clubhouse, dining indoors and out, tennis, pickleball, the fitness center and pool come with it.

The course is a Larry Packard original, redesigned end to end in 2021 by Naples architect Gordon Lewis, and the club dates its opening to 1984. The resort-style pool and the racquet sports sit at what the club calls the Crystal Lake Sports Complex: five Har-Tru tennis courts, four Har-Tru pickleball courts and bocce. The spa, as the club puts it, runs to "limited spa services".

Who has to approve you as a buyer or a tenant?

No owner may transfer a home by sale or any other means "without prior written approval of the Board of Directors". The board may require credit history, a background investigation, references and an interview with every buyer and proposed occupant. Turn down an ordinary arms-length sale without good cause, though, and the board has 30 days to buy the home or produce a buyer. The club runs its own approval on top, with three personal references, a personal financial statement and an interview with a committee member or governor.

Leasing is boxed in too:

• Written leases only, 30 days minimum, no more than four leases in one calendar year
• No individual rooms, no subleasing, no rent-sharing, no transient tenants
• Board approval for every lease, and the tenant may be interviewed
• A deposit of up to one month's rent, and a transfer fee for each lease applicant
• No pets kept by a tenant in a leased condominium unit

Who governs Eagle Creek?

Three bodies bill an owner here. The Eagle Creek Community Association sits over the top, with a neighborhood association for each of the three classes: estate homes, villa homes and condominiums. The association handles the gatehouse and gates, the roads, sidewalks, street lighting and the architectural review committee. It also covers residential landscaping, the condominium exteriors, trash, cable and internet, the lakes and the perimeter fencing. Its board can commit up to fifty thousand dollars to any one capital project without a vote of the members.

What have homes at Eagle Creek sold for?

What has sold here spans the $170,000s at one end and around $1.7 million at the other. That span is not a ladder. The condominium units sit low in it, the houses on their own lots sit high, and the two barely overlap. Homes run from about 750 to about 5800 square feet, and bedrooms from 1 to 6. Roughly two in every three homes here are condominium units.