Chris Charnas specializes in the brokerage of golf courses. His experience includes sales, development, financing, feasibility, valuation and consulting. He has substantial experience working on distressed deals both public and private.
Charnas founded Links Capital Advisors in March of 2008; prior to that he was a director with Cushman & Wakefield’s Golf Group.
He has closed on golf courses with an aggregate value in excess of $500 million. Among the projects whose sales he has brokered are the prestigious Valencia Country Club, site of the 1998 Nissan Open, and Kemper Lakes Golf Club, home of the 1989 PGA Championship. He was the sole broker handling the disposition of the Warrior Golf Portfolio, which involved more than 20 golf courses in 11 states sold over a two-year period (2019-2021).
His career in the golf business began with Crown Golf Properties where he was a director in the acquisitions and development department. Previous to that Chris was a commercial broker for Cushman & Wakefield of Illinois.
Charnas graduated with honors from Tufts University with a BA in history. He has an MS in Real Estate Appraisal and Investment Theory from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a past president of The Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association – Chicago Chapter. Charnas currently serves as vice president of golf for The Canal Shores Golf Course Board of Trustees, a 501(c)(3) corporation. In that capacity he oversees golf operations and interacts with KemperSports Management on a daily basis.
Canal Shores is a 3,400-yard par-60 golf course built in 1919. It is operated by a local board of trustees that oversees the entire operation and is dedicated to four pillars: golf, youth development, ecology and community.
In 2020, Charnas was part of the committee that chose Todd Quitno to develop a master plan for the renovation of Canal Shores. He then was involved in fund raising $6 million for the project. All of the money came from private funding with no money coming from public institutions.
In 2023-2024, Charnas served as a volunteer construction manager for the golf course. In that capacity he had daily involvement in the entire project including communication with Wadsworth Golf Construction and Todd Quitno. The Canal Shores Renovation project was completed on time and on budget. Thirteen holes opened for play in August 2024 and the balance are due to open in April of 2025.
In 2025, The Western Golf Association will open a new Chick Evans Caddie Academy at The Evans Course at Canal Shores. The program will provide caddie jobs for local children and a path to college through the WGA’s Evans Scholar program. WGA will pay the caddies so they will be free to the golfers at The Evans Course.
Learn more at Linkscapitaladvisors.com.
[This post is sponsored by Links Capital Advisors.]