Do you want to join this new golf facility? No fees, just buy an NFT

If you find yourself wanting to join the crypto craze this holiday season, readers of this website may be interested in purchasing an NFT golf membership.

Aspen Lakes, a longtime family-owned public golf course near the Central Oregon town of Sisters, near the popular resort town of Bend, was recently sold to Rhue Resorts and the new owners are launching a unique business model.

They plan to turn the course into the flagship of a private luxury resort network, with the cost of membership as an NFT.

Before we dive into the crypto aspect, in case you’re not familiar with Rhue Resorts, it’s a new brand started by Oregon’s Wyant family, which Rhue Resorts CEO Cindy Wyant said has a 40-year history of developing properties from hotels to apartment complexes to indoor water parks and more.

But when the family bought Aspen Lakes earlier this year, intending to move to Central Oregon at the same time, they also wanted to cater to those with huge crypto assets.

Wyant calls it the world’s first NFT golf facility.

“It’s huge. There’s a lot of people camping on a lot of crypto and they don’t have a lot of options. You can buy or sell crypto and that’s about it,” Wyant said.

An NFT or non-functional token is a unit of value on a blockchain, but typically they have been associated with artwork and digital sports collectibles that can be purchased with cryptocurrency.

“I started to see the possibilities with real estate,” Wyant said. “So that’s why we chose this way to give people in that room the opportunity.”

Right now, Rhue Resorts consists only of the par-72, 7,300-yard golf course and restaurant at Aspen Lakes, but there are big expansion plans. This spring, the plan is to open a cigar lounge, wine tasting, mini golf and a concert venue. By summer and fall, expected amenities will include a day spa and a luxury campground.

By 2024, the resort plans to begin construction of a luxury hotel, apartments and other long- and short-term housing. They are approved to build 3,000 homes.

The company even has plans to expand to other properties. Wyant said they are looking at building new resorts in Naples, Florida, Arizona and Montana.

And all founding members will have lifetime access to these facilities.

“You can rent out your membership for additional income, you can sell your membership on the secondary market, and the more amenities and features we add, the more resorts we open, the more value it will have,” Wyant said. “You can also give it to your loved ones. It never goes away. It’s not just a lifetime membership. It’s forever forever.”

The resort is starting to sell the first “founding memberships” that include all the amenities planned for Aspen Lakes and future properties, but they will be limited to just 10,000 memberships globally. They are offering a steep discount through this holiday season for half of Ethereum (the cryptocurrency Rhue uses for the transaction) equivalent to $10,000.

No dues!

And if you’re not interested in buying NFT yourself, or you don’t have any cryptocurrency, Wyant said the resort will take the cash equivalent and deposit it into a crypto account for you.

Crypto has shown wild volatility, especially recently with the bankruptcy of the exchange FTX, but Wyant felt good about Ethereum’s projections and believes crypto will see better days. (Editor’s note: Our interview was conducted before FTX’s bankruptcy.)

“If you look at the history of crypto, which you don’t have to go far, it’s nine years old, everything goes down in the fall,” Wyant said. “So that’s why we’re launching in November during the holidays. This is the gift that keeps on giving forever.

“It’s becoming more mainstream and people should take advantage of the opportunity.”

Jack Hirsch

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is associate editor at GOLF. A native of Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of the golf team in high school and is still *trying* to stay competitive in local amateurs. Prior to joining GOLF, Jack worked for two years at a television station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at [email protected].