John Russo
Michael S. Meldman, 60, wasn’t a golfer when he founded Discovery Land Company in 1994, a real estate business based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that has developed 25 private high-end golf communities in North America and the Caribbean.
“Master-planned communities and golf were hugely popular and the premium drivers in real estate,’’ he said, “and I saw an opportunity, even though I hadn’t ever really played golf. In fact, I only started playing seriously five years ago.”
Today, Mr. Meldman’s luxurious communities with members-only golf clubs — Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas, Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Mont.