In the early '90s, Brennan turned most of his horse farm in this Monmouth County community into a very exclusive golf club, also called Due Process. But the Feds finally caught up with him - Brennan is currently serving a nine-year sentence in the federal prison at Fort Dix, NJ for money laundering, bankruptcy fraud and obstruction of justice. And the bankruptcy courts are shedding his assets to pay off his debts and the $75 million fine levied on him in a civil judgment in 1995.

The golf course was considered Brennan's most valuable asset, and the property is now in the hands of a top Goldman Sachs executive after a court-ordered auction. The sale price for the valuable 220-acre property, which cost an estimated $40 million to build a decade ago, was $20 million, and Peter Gerhard, who heads Goldman Sachs' foreign exchange division, is paying cash.

Actually, bankruptcy court trustee Donald Conway had expected the property to net about $17 million, but the several bidders drove the price substantially higher. The sale brings to some $40 million the bankruptcy court has collected from disposing of Brennan's assets.

The other finalists for the property were the Clinton Group, a New York-based investment company; Richard Santulli, who runs the Woodbridge, NJ-based Executive Jet Inc.; the Arden Group, a Philadelphia developer and hotelier; and Matrix Golf & Hospitality of Cranbury, NJ, a spin-off of the Matrix Development Group, a commercial developer.

There had been fears that whoever bought the property would try to develop it commercially. The site, once a horse farm, is in a rural portion of Monmouth County with enough remaining horse farms to make it reminiscent of Kentucky. But Gerhard, the new owner, is himself a member of the golf club and has promised to retain that use.

Gerhard also intends to keep the club very exclusive. It only has a little over 100 members, including former football coach Bill Parcells and a raft of powerful businessmen and attorneys. Members have been paying $50,000 initially to join, and more than $17,000 in annual dues thereafter, and Gerhard has given no indication that he will lower those fees.

"We intend to keep the course very exclusive," Gerhard commented after his winning bid was accepted. The transaction is expected to close very quickly, probably as soon as next week.