- Links DAO has won the bid to buy a Scottish golf course for close to $1 million.
- This follows a landslide community vote in favor of the purchase that closed early Wednesday.
- Spey Bay Golf Club could be the first property the DAO has bought through its governance voting process.
On Thursday, March 16, LinksDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) for golf fans, announced that it won a bid to buy a Scottish Golf Course. The owner of the 18-hole Spey Bay Golf Club, situated on the Moray coast of northern Scotland, and the LinksDAO have signed an exclusive contract. Subject to due diligence, Links anticipates that it will acquire ownership of the property in the following three to four weeks.
Since the sale has not been finalized entirely, LinksDAO refuses to provide the offer’s value. According to the property listing, Spey Bay’s seller listed the house at $905,000.
The successful bid came a month after about 90% of 4,300 LinksDAO token holders voted to purchase the golf course in its governance vote.
In its community proposal, Links said that:
“We believe this is a great opportunity that is both playable today and has unique potential to become an elite links golf course for our membership. We intend to execute this purchase while maintaining velocity on our efforts to acquire course(s) in the US.”
Concerning funding of the course, LinksDAO anticipates using £750,000 (~$900,000), which is the current property “guide price,” although it acknowledges that it could be more. The course will be bought with the money received from its fundraiser. The DAO sold out its debut collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) early last year, raising $10.5 million.
In justifying the purchase of the Scottish golf course, the proposal authors asserted that:
“A primary goal of LinksDAO from the outset has been to purchase an extremely high-quality golf course for our members to call their own – shaping the course and club culture with the direction of the DAO and creating the future of a golf and leisure club in the process.”
As part of their membership, LinksDAO NFT holders have access to several golf courses in the United States. Still, Spey Bay Golf Club might be the first property that the community has acquired as its own through its governance voting process.
Links clarified that purchasing the Scottish golf course will only substantially impact its efforts to acquire and consequently improve a course in the US. The proposal authors added:
“A cash outlay of this size would not significantly affect our remaining course purchase budget, and in fact, would not change our ability to purchase any of the 4 US course options that we are deepest in diligence on.”
Five potential purchases are currently in the final stages of the due diligence process, according to the proposal’s authors, who also claim that the organization is considering more than 30 properties for buying.
About LinksDAO
Links is a decentralized autonomous organization made up of Young, tech-savvy millennial and Gen Z golfers from all over the world, with the majority based in the US. In late 2021, LinksDAO was founded by Links CEO Jim Daily, Head of Strategy Adam Besvinick, and Mike Dudas. In just 15 months, they have collected enough funds to purchase this property and prospective future ones.
Owning its golf course has been a primary goal for Links and its membership ever since it was founded. The objective had been to find a course, or multiple courses, someplace in the United States. Still, the chance to buy a unique set of links in the United Kingdom became too enticing to pass up, especially given Spey Bay’s competitive pricing compared to what was on offer domestically. Their proposal was chosen over those made by several other prospective buyers.
With an NFT push, Links attracted the founding membership. The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) enabled owners to apply for membership, giving them access to the large community of other club members and several perks and advantages. The NFTs also grant members voting privileges when proposals, such as purchasing a specific golf course, are made. A simple majority vote is used to make all club decisions. There were more than 4,300 votes cast on the plan to submit a bid for Spey Bay, with over 88 percent in favor of moving forward.
