Downswing Not Hurting Pricey Golf Retreats

As the recession puts a damper on luxury spending throughout the country, the nation’s toniest golf clubs—catering to a clientele at the heart of the credit tumult—are flourishing, Portfolio finds. Even with initiation fees approaching $1 million, Wall Street’s clubs of choice are brushing off the downturn even as courses elsewhere in the US are facing hard times.

Famed New York-area venues—like Hamptons mainstay Shinnecock and Westchester’s Winged Foot—are able to maintain such a high degree of exclusivity that they remain detached from downward trends affecting less prestigious venues. “There may be fewer rounds played and less activity, but in those clubs the difference is more marginal,” explains one analyst. (More golf stories.)