A home in The Crosby comes with membership in the homeowners association. It does not come with any ownership in The Crosby Club, the 18-hole course and clubhouse that sit in the middle of the community. The club was set up as non-equity, meaning the members do not own it. Since 2017 it has belonged to the South Korea-based Bando Group. That arrangement decides who sets the club's priorities. It also explains why the community's most important document about the club is an operating agreement between two separate parties, and not a membership brochure.
This matters now because the club changed operators this summer. In late July 2026, Troon was named manager of The Crosby Club. Its private club division, Troon Privé, now runs club operations, agronomy, food and beverage, and membership sales and marketing. Bando still owns the club. The house a buyer is pricing sits next to an amenity whose owner has not changed, whose manager has, and whose history shows what can happen when an owner's needs and homeowners' needs drift apart.
Two entities, one gate
The Crosby Estate at Rancho Santa Fe Master Association handles the community side. That covers gate access, the private-community rules, roads, common areas and the open-space preserve. The club handles golf, dining, fitness, the pool and the courts. In the Union-Tribune's August 2026 description, those amenities include dining venues, a fitness and wellness center, three tennis courts, four pickleball courts and a junior Olympic-size pool with cabanas and a hot tub.
The club now sells three membership types. Golf includes athletic privileges. Athletic covers fitness, pool, tennis and pickleball, plus up to eight reduced-rate golf tee times. Social covers dining and social events. The club's public membership page does not say that owning a home grants any of these, and it posts no prices. It sends prospective members to its sales team and says food-and-beverage minimums are billed quarterly, without giving the amount.
When the club's math and the homeowners' interests split
The history shows why ownership matters more here than at a typical HOA amenity.
- Early 2000s. Starwood Development builds the community and its golf facilities. The course, designed by Brian Curley and Fred Couples, opens in 2004.
- 2004 to 2007. Troon manages the club. A 2007 trade profile describes it as non-equity, with 262 golf members and 90 sports members.
- 2009. Escalante Golf, a Texas-based company, buys the course, clubhouse and other club facilities. A court filing later said the club was then in a "financial death spiral," with annual operating deficits of $1.8 million.
- 2009 to 2012. According to the same filing, Escalante stabilized the club within three years through "aggressive expense management and event sales." Starwood still controlled the HOA board during that time, and the filing says the club received no complaints about its events.
- 2012 to 2013. Starwood turns the HOA over to elected resident representatives. The filing says they found the events "distasteful and a nuisance." The HOA sues in 2013.
- March 31, 2016. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Margaret Mann rules for the HOA.
- January 2017. Bando buys the assets of Crosby National Golf Club, LLC in bankruptcy court on January 9. The HOA's board president writes that this ends "almost five years of disputes with the former Club owner."
The underlying problem is simple. A non-equity club has to pay for itself, and in this case outside events helped do that. The same events brought traffic jams, parking on private streets and "hundreds of members of the general public" into a gated community, according to the HOA's lawsuit. One party was protecting the club's balance sheet and the other was protecting the community's privacy. Both were acting in their own interest.
The guardrails that outlast any manager
Two documents settled that conflict. They protect a buyer today far more than any change of management does.
The first is the 2016 ruling, as the Union-Tribune reported. The HOA argued that county zoning, which applies because The Crosby is in unincorporated San Diego County, does not allow a private club to host public events. The HOA's attorney, Andrew Berman, described the result this way:
"The court ruled that the golf club ownership cannot sponsor events, that the use of the club facilities are for the members and their guests, it is a private club and can't be rented out to the public."
The second is the agreement the HOA signed with Bando after the sale. The board president's 2017 letter describes it as allowing Bando to run its private club "using its best-practices business principles while the HOA retains its own private nature." The same newsletter says the club must follow gate rules, use Bing Crosby Boulevard only to come and go, and prevent nuisances. In return, the HOA accommodates the club's Tuesday tournaments.
So the club cannot fall back on public event revenue, the way it did from 2009 to 2012. Any operator now has to make the numbers work through membership, dining and golf.
What Troon's arrival changes, and what it leaves in place
Troon's return is a change of operator inside that existing framework. The Union-Tribune reported it is the first time Bando has hired a professional management company since buying the club. Troon said current staff who want to stay can keep their roles. Justin Lake, Troon's vice president of operations, said Troon "helped establish the foundation here more than 20 years ago" and would "work alongside ownership to elevate the member experience."
Troon is no stranger locally. The Union-Tribune lists Fairbanks Ranch, Lomas Santa Fe, The Grand Golf Club at Fairmont Grand Del Mar and Aviara among the courses it serves in the area.
The announcement did not name a clubhouse renovation, a dining change or a revision to membership policy. Because Troon now runs membership sales and marketing, membership terms are the part of the club most likely to change. A buyer should treat any membership figure from before August 2026 as provisional. For example, in 2017 the club offered a corporate category for people whose primary home was at least 100 miles away, a junior-executive category for ages 25 to 46, and a social category open to residents of The Crosby and The Lakes. Those categories are history, not a current price list.
How nearby clubs are set up differently
Buyers comparing The Crosby with other gated golf communities are also comparing ownership models. The model determines whose balance sheet the club answers to.
| Club | Ownership model | Link between a home and club eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| The Crosby Club | Non-equity. Owned by Bando Group since 2017 and managed by Troon Privé since 2026 | Current public materials do not tie club privileges to owning a home |
| Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club | A division of the Rancho Santa Fe Association since 1987 | Eligibility comes from owning property in the Covenant |
| Fairbanks Ranch Country Club | Acquired by Bay Club in July 2016, after being member-owned | Bay Club's site does not state a homeowner requirement |
| The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe | Offers an "Equity Golf" category. The site does not name the club's legal owner | A National category is for people who do not own residential property in San Diego County |
The Rancho Santa Fe model shows the alternative most clearly. There, club finances run through the association. In June 2024 the Association approved cost sharing with the Golf Club and joint oversight of food and beverage at the Ranch Clubhouse. The Golf Club board also voted to repay its Association loan early, by December 31, 2024, which ended a $100 monthly debt-service charge for golf members. At The Crosby, decisions like those are made by the owner of the club.
What to get in writing during escrow
The public record does not settle whether current governing documents require Crosby homeowners to hold a club membership. These questions belong in your due diligence period, not after closing:
- The CC&Rs and HOA disclosures. Confirm in writing whether any club membership or fee is attached to the lot.
- The operating agreement between the HOA and the club owner. Ask the HOA whether the 2017 agreement is still in force, and whether it has been amended since.
- Current membership terms from the club. Get initiation, dues and the quarterly food-and-beverage minimum, dated after Troon took over.
- Recent HOA board minutes. Look for any discussion of the Troon transition or of club operations near homes.
- The lot's position relative to the course and clubhouse. When the lawsuit was filed, HOA board member Mick Dannin told the Union-Tribune that residents living near the club were also bothered by noise from events.
A short FAQ
Does buying a home in The Crosby make me a club member? The club's current public membership page does not say that owning a home grants privileges. It sends prospective members to its sales team. Confirm the answer for your specific lot in the governing documents.
Did Troon buy The Crosby Club? No. Troon Privé manages the club, and Bando Group, which has owned it since 2017, remains the owner.
Can the club host public weddings or concerts again? The 2016 ruling discussed above limits use of the facilities to members and their guests and bars renting them to the public.
How large is the community? The Union-Tribune described it in 2016 as about 420 single-family homes. The HOA's Fall 2017 newsletter reported 425 HOA members.
If you are weighing a home in The Crosby and want help reading the HOA documents, the club terms and the operating agreement before your contingencies expire, Lorenzo Sorano can work through each one with you. Owners thinking about selling can request a confidential home valuation that accounts for how the club's new management affects their buyer pool.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
