Mystery Buyer From South Korea Pays $122M for OC Golf Clubs

A company tied to a Korean family has bought two country clubs in south Orange County for $121.6 million.

Irvine-based STI USA, linked to the unidentified family that owns a mystery multinational conglomerate based in South Korea, bought the 36-hole Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club and the 18-hole Aliso Viejo Country Club, the Orange County Business Journal reported, citing unidentified sources.

The seller was Dallas-based Invited, formerly ClubCorp, which will manage the two courses as part of the sale.

The deal works out to $2.25 million per hole.

STI bought the Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club at 25291 Vista Del Verde, in Coto de Caza, for nearly $81 million.

The 152-acre Coto de Caza club, built in 1995 based on designs by Robert Trent Jones Jr., has a 23,000-square-foot clubhouse, a 14,000-square-foot fitness center, 10 racquet courts and various swimming pools. It was the first private, 36-hole country club in OC.

STI bought the Aliso Viejo Country Club at 33 Santa Barbara Drive, in Aliso Viejo, for $40.6 million.

The 216-acre Aliso Viejo club, with a course designed by Jack Nicklaus, was revamped in the late 2000s. It has a 36,000-square-foot clubhouse with a fitness center, locker rooms, dining room and card rooms.

Sources told the Business Journal that the unidentified Korean family bought the OC golf courses as “a passion project.” STI USA, founded in 1999 as Samchully USA and later known as Samtan USA, is led by Sang Hoon Lee, according to state business records.

Invited has been on a selling spree, peeling off more than 20 golf course properties since 2020 for a combined $275 million. The sell-off came after it had picked up 37 courses for a combined $207 million, beginning in 2007. The firm now owns 180 golf clubs across the U.S.

— Dana Bartholomew