Business Notes

To the incurable golfer, the club names are almost mythic: Palm Beach, La Quinta, Mission Hills. But the owner of those exotic courses, California's Landmark Land Co., has been stuck for months in that great sand trap of the American economy, the savings and loan crisis. Landmark owns the resorts through a New Orleans subsidiary, Oak Tree Savings Bank, which is under pressure from federal regulators to raise some cash and shore up its finances. As a result, Landmark agreed last week to sell nine golf clubs and resorts for an estimated $739 million to an investor group led by Tokyo's Daiichi Real Estate.

While Japanese investment in foreign properties has slowed dramatically, the country's affinity remains high for golf courses and other resorts. "They think we're the best in the world in golf communities," says Landmark's chairman, Gerald Barton, who will run the properties.