I spent a good amount of time trying to rationalize the burgeoning success of the Villages at Tullymore at a time when such stories are few and far between. I emailed Warren Buffett. I purchased Freakonomics. In the end, my conclusions are far from fancy: a high quality product, positioned at a very fair price, funded by a proven developer with the staying power to see a long term project through to fruition. Of course the golf course, named the number one new upscale public course by Golf Digest in 2002, is the huge asterisk at the end of my hypothesis.

According to Tom Wujczyk, The Villages at Tullymore’s director of real estate development, inquiries aren’t just come by the bushel from the Midwest, but from states more than a thousand miles away. “We’re very busy,” exclaims Wujczyk. “We’ve moved 32 lots and sold our first 12 condos before the models were even open.”

But back to that asterisk. The secret to the success of Tullymore, located in Stanwood, Michigan, just an hour’s drive north of Grand Rapids, is the captivating Jim Engh-designed golf course. Unlike the traditional formula of pitching golf-front real estate on the heels of the course’s opening, the developers allowed Tullymore Golf Course to mature, cultivate a reputation, and stack up national awards, thereby having a proven centerpiece once selling commenced. And it’s not just Golf Digest singing praises; Golfweek named it one of the Top 100 Modern U.S. Courses of All Time. The 7,148-yard layout is visually stunning thanks to the shaping and aggressive mounding. It isn’t very often you come across a course with so much going on and yet so non-contrived. And let us not forget the beautiful sister course St. Ives, the Jerry Matthews gem located a mere 10 minutes down the road.

Residential properties at this 850-acre village — custom homes, condominiums and even fractional ownership — come with golf club memberships and reciprocal club privileges through RCI Global Vacation Network, the largest timeshare exchange network in the world. Less than $85,000 will claim your stake in a $1 million, 2,040-square-foot custom home. Tullymore’s fully deeded Residence Club fractional program is comprised of four homesteads on the 18th fairway. If you don’t care to share, Blarney and Dublin condo packages range in size from 1,836 to 1,836 square feet sporting all the accoutrement expected in today’s marketplace, among them hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and granite counters. For even more space, custom home floor plans reach 2,875 square feet with each of the 197 unique home sites sporting a river, lake or golf view.

Amenities, however, don’t stop on the 18th for homeowners and visitors. In August the ribbon was cut on Tullymore’s $7 million, 13,000-square-foot clubhouse offering a range of fine dining, meeting and banquet space and fire pits overlooking the finishing hole. The $50 million master plan calls for even more amenities including a 16-room lodge due to open in spring 2009 and a full service spa and wellness center.

For more information on The Villages at Tullymore and St. Ives, please visit www.tullymoregolf.com or call 800-503-2630.