Florida
Not even the ultra-rich can get into South Florida's most exclusive country clubs
Not even the ultra-rich can get into South Florida’s most exclusive country clubs. Thanks to the influx of high net worth households moving from California, New York, and other wealthy enclaves in recent years, demand for memberships in elite country clubs in Boca Raton, Miami Beach, Jupiter, and Palm Beach has sky-rocketed, area real estate agents say.
So what’s the key to getting off the years-long waitlists? Historically, it’s entailed waiting for a slot to open while ensuring your golf stroke is good enough for these elite clubs. But for individuals feeling impatient, there is another way: tapping into a new wave of luxury golfing communities that are starting to dominate the area social scene. More of these developments are springing up in South Florida to meet the demand of ultra-wealthy transplants who want to socialize with other VCs and CEOs but don’t yet have the clout to join the area’s more traditional clubs.
“The only way for new people to get in the club is if people pass away or the cost continues to increase so much that somebody doesn’t want to be a member anymore,” Devin Kay, a local real estate agent with Douglas Elliman, tells Fortune. “It’s become a gigantic problem for people moving down here.”
Courtesy of Shell Bay
Admittance to the top spots is invitation-only, and that can be an obstacle for newcomers arriving from distant places like Boston or Chicago. Kay, who is used to closing deals on the green, can help with that. A former pro golfer, Kay is also a member of the storied La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach and the Shell Bay Club, a new development in Hallandale Beach.
“Joining has become next to impossible,” Kay says of the more traditional country clubs, adding that the newer golf communities “have become tremendously popular now because they give people real estate and get them into the club.”
At the more traditional La Gorce—one of the most exclusive country clubs in South Florida—members must be sponsored by five other current members, and there is a $1 million fee to join, says Kay (the clubs don’t publicly advertise their membership prices), plus a years-long waitlist.
“If you try to join a club now, the list does not go by the order you requested to join. It goes by the order of who they want to get in,” says Gary Pohrer, a former pro-golfer who works alongside Kay at Douglas Elliman. “The waitlist is indefinite unless you meet the right people.”
Meanwhile, buying a property in a new development like Shell Bay, where condos start at $2 million, can get owners on the greens straight away with a discounted membership. Golfers can also pay $1.4 million outright to join (though given the current cap, the club is only accepting new members who buy a residence at this time, Kay says). For most Americans, spending well over a million for a luxury condo or a golf membership is out of the question, but among the hedge fund managers and techies flocking to South Florida, there is no shortage of demand.
If the membership prices seem steep—most clubs cost in the hundreds of thousands to join, plus yearly dues and minimum spends—they reflect what the ultra wealthy are willing to pay. Many of the top South Florida clubs have doubled or tripled their fees since the pandemic thanks to demand.
For those willing to purchase a condo in one of the new developments, Kay notes they get more for their membership than access to the golf club. In addition to a 9-hole and 18-hole golf course, Shell Bay boasts tennis and pickleball courts, a yacht club with a 48-slip private marina, and a spa. Residents can charter a private helicopter for a fishing trip in the Bahamas. It’s everything the ultra wealthy need all in one place.
The new communities solve one of the ultra-rich’s biggest problems, says Kay. At least until they fill up, too.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Federal judge blocks DeSantis executive order declaring CAIR a 'terrorist organization'
Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
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