When the rumors first started swirling that Troon North Golf Club was up for sale, it was hard to believe. After all, not many golf courses open to the public have ever been as successful as Troon North, the flagship property of Scottsdale-based Troon Golf.

Then again, management -- not ownership -- seems to be the way most successful companies in the golf business are gravitating these days. So why wouldn’t Troon Golf, which owns 100 percent of Troon North, not want to cash in their cash cow?

Still, nothing about the above prepared me for the price tag -- an unheard of, at least in these parts -- $90 million-plus. Or, as Tim Greenwell of Troon Golf put it: “the price is north of $90 million.’’

OK, so we’re still reeling a little bit from the sticker shock, but the more you think about it, why not? If it truly is the best desert golf course ever built in the Southwest -- Greenwell called it a “trophy asset’’ -- then anything is possible. Especially if the cash flow is worthy of the price tag?

How much does Troon North gross, net or actually take to the bank each year? Everyone is guessing in that department, because only serious buyers are getting to see the numbers. But several industry sources told me that Troon North’s net operating income -- revenues minus expenses -- is probably $5.7 million to $7.5 million a year.

Before the nay-sayers rail that such a sale can’t be done, let’s not forget what Pebble Beach Golf Links sold for the last time around -- $820 million. Granted, that was the sale of the century when it came to upscale golf course properties. And don’t forget, it included three other golf courses, two upscale hotels and about 300 acres of land.

Actually, the Pebble Beach story is a fascinating one, and it shows how the economy’s ebb and flow affects such mega-deals. Hey, if Arizona golf is truly on the upswing after five dismal years, maybe what happened to Pebble Beach will trickle down to Troon North.

To understand the entire Pebble Beach story, let’s start with the sale to 20 th Century Fox, the Hollywood-based film company that purchased the Pebble Beach package for $72 million in 1978. Three years later, Fox sold its entire company to oil tycoon Marvin Davis for $722 million.

Why did Davis want 20 th Century Fox? Believe it or not, so he could cherry pick Pebble Beach out of its portfolio.

“I’m a golfer and Pebble Beach was it,’’ Davis told Golf Digest way back when. “I never fall in love with an asset, but that one I came closest to.’’

As we all know, money does strange things to rich guys, and in 1990 Davis parted ways with Pebble Beach, selling it to Minoru Isutani -- “the Pied Piper of Japanese Golf’’ -- for $841 million. Isutani’s plan was simple: Sell 1,000 memberships for $1 million each and turn Pebble Beach private.

The problem was, the original deeds sold back in 1915 had a clause in them that stated the course could never be “privatized.’’ Within 17 months, Isutani went bust and sold what was left of the Pebble Beach assets to another Japanese company for $500 million.

Eight years later, the Japanese economy went south, once again forcing the owners to sell. This time, a group headed by former baseball commissioner Peter Uebberoth bought the Pebble Beach property for $820 million. To pull of the deal, Uebberoth brought in major partners in Arnold Palmer and actor Clint Eastwood, as well as 133 additional partners at $2 million each.

At last glance, the latest owners were doing fine, even if they did have to jack the green fee to $425. Troon North already is at $295 in peak season, and there’s not as much latitude with no ocean in sight.

Arguably, Troon North is some of the best public golf in Arizona, and produces the greatest revenues.

But finding another Marvin Davis or Peter Uebberoth who is dying to own a golf course regardless of the cost, well, there’s the challenge.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if Troon Golf can pull of the Arizona equivalent of the sale of the century.