Personally, I'm not a big golf fan. I think that, in general, golf courses are ecologically unsound (dangerous even, in some climates – Saudi Arabia doesn't need to be wasting potable water on golf courses) and a waste of valuable land. They are extremely large, but provide services only to a small number of usually wealthy people. Having said that, I know that many people are passionate about the sport and love to travel the world to play on various famous courses. I'm sure those folks will find this story absolutely fascinating – it tells of how Pebble Beach, a globally famous golf course in California, nearly fell prey to financial machinations that may have destroyed the course. The course was rescued by an unlikely alliance of Hollywood and golf royalty, in a deal meant to preserve the course for a generation. – Felicity Duncan

How Clint Eastwood, Arnold Palmer and $820m took Pebble Beach off the auction block

By Brian Costa

(The Wall Street Journal) PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.—Twenty years ago, one of the most coveted pieces of golf real estate in the world was back on the market. Pebble Beach, the picturesque, seaside host of this week's US Open, was about to be sold by the Japanese company that had bought it only seven years earlier. It would be the fourth time in two decades that the iconic course changed hands.

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