nullFor years Silicon Valley's priciest country clubs had waiting lists for joining. Now they have waiting lists for leaving.

At Silver Creek Valley Country Club, more than 40 members—almost 5 percent of the total—lined up this fall to sell their rights to golf, swim, and whack tennis balls inside a gated community in the south San Jose hills. Membership, once restricted to Silver Creek residents, was opened to anyone. The fee for a "premier" membership: $75,000, down from $100,000-plus in 2001.

Chalk it up to the limp economy and a massive golf bubble bursting. In the mid- to late-'90s, sculpted greens sprouted along the Valley's ridges almost as frequently as office parks popped up in the flats. Club general manager Bob Lee calls the local golf scene "oversaturated.'' For some of the newest clubs, it's looking more like a sinkhole.

The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge opened atop San Jose's Santa Teresa hills on September 1, 2001. "Ten days later the world changed,'' says General Manager Chris Simpson. But the club's sales strategy didn't: Initiation fees were kept at $150,000 for an individual, $187,500 for a family. Thirteen months later, 333 memberships—83 percent—remained unsold.

At public courses, too, prices have dropped. Corporate outings, tournaments, and lessons are down, and wait lists for tee times have vanished. Morgan Hill's Coyote Creek Golf Club offers occasional two-for-one deals and web-only specials. Some courses even book Fridays at weekday rates. "People play hooky less," says the golf director at city-owned Palo Alto Golf Course.

Most private clubs have shown more "flexibility.'' If they learned anything during the boom, it was nimble pricing. At Saratoga Country Club, the initiation fee shot from $20,000 in 1997 to $80,000 in 2000. By late 2002, it had dropped to $46,000, one more sour investment for anyone who bought at the peak.

Saratoga's membership is heavy on Cisco execs, including CEO John Chambers, so it's not surprising to hear about the parallel fortunes and misfortunes of the clubhouse and the corporate suite. Club president Rich Burton says fees hit an all-time high the day Cisco's share price did. "I like to tell Mr. Chambers that our membership fee has gone down one-third. His stock price has gone down two-thirds.''