<PAGE>
 
                   As filed with the Securities and Exchange
                         Commission on August 15, 1997
                                                      Registration No. 333-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C. 20549
                                  ----------

                                   FORM S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     Under
                          The Securities Act of 1933
                                  ----------

                        NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES, INC.


               MARYLAND                                95-4549193
     (State or other jurisdiction                   (I.R.S. Employer
   of incorporation or organization)               Identification No.)

     2951 28th Street, Suite 3001
       Santa Monica, California                          90405
(Address of principal executive offices)               (Zip Code)
              
                                  ----------


          THE 1995 INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR EQUITY PARTICIPATION PLAN OF 
                        NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES, INC.

        THE 1997 EQUITY PARTICIPATION PLAN OF NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES,
       INC., NATIONAL GOLF OPERATING PARTNERSHIP, L.P. AND AMERICAN GOLF
                                  CORPORATION



                                  ----------

                                                          Copy to:            
                                                     
            WILLIAM C. REGAN                           JOHN M. NEWELL, ESQ.   
Vice President - Controller and Treasurer               Latham & Watkins       
     National Golf Properties, Inc.                   633 West Fifth Street  
      2951 28th Street, Suite 3001                          Suite 4000  
     Santa Monica, California 90405                Los Angeles, California 90071
            (310) 664-4100                                (213) 485-1234
                                                
                                                        
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, 
                             of agent for service)

                        Calculation of Registration Fee
<TABLE> 
<CAPTION> 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                               Proposed
                                   Amount                Proposed               Maximum
                                  of Shares               Maximum              Aggregate               Amount of
Title of Each Class of              to be             Offering Price           Offering              Registration
Securities to be Registered      Registered            Per Share (1)           Price(1)                   Fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                               <C>                    <C>                   <C>                      <C> 
Common Stock
$.01 par value                    948,000                $30.125               $28,558,500              $8,655
</TABLE> 



(1)      Estimated based on a bona fide estimate of the maximum offering price
         of $30.125 solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee
         pursuant to Rule 457(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
<PAGE>
 
                                    PART I

Item 1.      Plan Information

             Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.


Item 2.      Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information

             Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.


                                    PART II

Item 3.      Incorporation of Documents by Reference

             The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") by National Golf Properties, Inc., a Maryland
corporation (the "Company" and the "Registrant"), are incorporated as of their
respective dates in this Registration Statement by reference:

             (a)  The Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K for its fiscal
                  year ended December 31, 1996;

             (b)  The Quarterly Reports of the Company on Form 10-Q for its
                  quarterly periods ended March 31, 1997 and June 30, 1997; and

             (c)  The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
                  Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-B filed with the
                  Commission on December 29, 1995.

             All documents filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a),
13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which
indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, are incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and are a part hereof from the date of filing such
documents. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement
contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such
statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed,
except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration
Statement.


Item 4.      Description of Securities

             Not applicable.


Item 5.      Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

             Not applicable.

                                       2
<PAGE>
 
Item 6.      Indemnification of Directors and Officers

             The Company's Articles of Incorporation authorize the Company to
indemnify its present and former directors and officers and to pay or reimburse
expenses in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding to the maximum
extent permitted from time to time by the laws of the State of Maryland. The
Company's Bylaws obligate the Company to indemnify present and former directors
and officers to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. The Company's
Bylaws also permit the Company to provide indemnification to a present or former
director or officer who served a predecessor of the Company in such capacity,
and to any employee or agent of the Company or a predecessor of the Company. The
Maryland General Corporation Law (the "MGCL") permits a corporation to indemnify
its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments,
penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them
in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made a party by reason of
their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that (a) the
act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving
rise to the proceeding and was committed in bad faith or was the result of
active and deliberate dishonesty, (b) the director or officer actually received
an improper personal benefit in money, property or services, or (c) in the case
of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to
believe that the act or omission was unlawful. In addition, the MGCL requires
the Company, as conditions to advancing expenses, to obtain (i) a written
affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he
or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the
Company as authorized by the Company's Bylaws and (ii) a written statement by or
on his or her behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the Company if it
shall ultimately be determined that the standard of conduct was not met. Under
the MGCL, rights to indemnification and expenses are non-exclusive, in that they
need not be limited to those expressly provided by statute. As a result, under
the MGCL and the Company's Bylaws, the Company is permitted to indemnify its
directors, officers, employees and other agents, within the limits established
by law and public policy, pursuant to an express contract, bylaw provision,
stockholder vote or otherwise.

             Because the indemnification provisions of the Company's Articles
and Bylaws are tied to applicable Maryland law, they may be modified by future
changes in such law without further stockholder action. The Company's Bylaws
provide that amendment or repeal of the indemnification provisions of the
Company's Bylaws would be effective on a prospective basis only and neither
repeal nor modification of such provisions would adversely affect rights to
indemnification in effect at the time of any act or omission which is the
subject of a proceeding against an indemnified person.

             The MGCL and the Company's Bylaws may permit indemnification for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act") or the Exchange Act. The Board of Directors of the Company has
been advised that, in the opinion of the Commission, indemnification for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act is contrary to
public policy and is therefore unenforceable, absent a decision to the contrary
by a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

Item 7.      Exemption from Registration Claimed

             Not applicable.


Item 8.      Exhibits

             4.1     The 1995 Independent Director Equity Participation Plan of 
                     National Golf Properties, Inc.

             4.2     The 1997 Equity Participation Plan of National Golf
                     Properties, Inc., National Golf Operating Partnership, L.P.
                     and American Golf Corporation

             5.1     Opinion of Latham & Watkins

                                       3
<PAGE>
 
             23.1    Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

             23.2    Consent of Latham & Watkins (included as part of Exhibit
                     5.1)

             24.1    Power of Attorney (included on page 5)


Item 9.      Undertakings

             (a)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

                     (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales
are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                          (i)   To include any prospectus required by Section
             10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

                          (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
             arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or
             the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
             individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in
             the information set forth in the Registration Statement;

                          (iii) To include any material information with respect
             to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
             Registration Statement or any material change to such information
             in the Registration Statement;

             Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not
apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment
by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to
the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

                     (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability
under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to
be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.

                     (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-
effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold
at the termination of the offering.

             (b)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of
the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

             (h)     Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under
the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and
is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.

                                       4
<PAGE>
 
 
                                  SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant 
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused the Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto authorized,
in the City of Santa Monica, State of California on the 15th day of August,
1997.

                           National Golf Properties, Inc.

                                    By:  /s/ RICHARD C. PRICE
                                         --------------------
                                         Richard C. Price
                                         President

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below, hereby constitutes and appoints Richard C. Price and William C.
Regan and each acting alone, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents,
with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name,
place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all amendments or
supplements to this Registration Statement and to file the same with all
exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing necessary or
appropriate to be done with respect to this Registration Statement or any
amendments or supplements hereto in and about the premises, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his
substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration
statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and
on the dates indicated.


      Signature               Title                                Date
      ---------               -----                                ----   


/s/ DAVID G. PRICE            Chairman of the Board of      August 15, 1997
------------------            Directors                     
    David G. Price            


/s/ RICHARD C. PRICE          President and Director        August 15, 1997
--------------------                                        
    Richard C. Price


/s/ NEIL M. MILLER            Vice President-Finance        August 15, 1997
------------------                                          
    Neil M. Miller

/s/ WILLIAM C. REGAN          Vice President-Controller     August 15, 1997
--------------------          and Treasurer                 
    William C. Regan


/s/ RICHARD A. ARCHER         Director                      August 15, 1997
---------------------                                       
    Richard A. Archer

                                       5

<PAGE>
 
 
      Signature                     Title                       Date
      ---------                     -----                       ----

/s/ JOHN C. CUSHMAN, III            Director              August 15, 1997
------------------------                                  
    John C. Cushman, III



/s/ BRUCE KARATZ                    Director              August 15, 1997
----------------                                          
    Bruce Karatz



/s/ CHARLES S. PAUL                 Director              August 15, 1997
-------------------                                       
    Charles S. Paul



/s/ EDWARD R. SAUSE                 Director              August 15, 1997
-------------------                                       
    Edward R. Sause

                                       6

<PAGE>
 
                               INDEX TO EXHIBITS


EXHIBIT                                    
-------                                    

4.1      The 1995 Independent Director Equity Participation Plan 
         of National Golf Properties, Inc.

4.2      The 1997 Equity Participation Plan of National Golf
         Properties, Inc., National Golf Operating 
         Partnership, L.P. and American Golf Corporation

5.1      Opinion of Latham & Watkins

23.1     Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

23.2     Consent of Latham & Watkins
         (included in Exhibit 5.1)

24.1     Power of Attorney (included on page 5)
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 18724}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES INC", "cik": "0000905897", "assigned-sic": "6798", "irs-number": "954549193", "state-of-incorporation": "MD", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-33775", "film-number": "97665280"}, "business-address": {"street1": "1448 15TH STREET #200", "city": "SANTA MONICA", "state": "CA", "zip": "90405", "phone": "3102605500"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "1448 15TH STREET", "street2": "SUITE 200", "city": "SANTA MONICA", "state": "CA", "zip": "90404"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange
                         Commission on August 15, 1997
                                                      Registration No. 333-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C. 20549
                                  ----------

                                   FORM S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     Under
                          The Securities Act of 1933
                                  ----------

                        NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES, INC.

               MARYLAND                                95-4549193
     (State or other jurisdiction                   (I.R.S. Employer
   of incorporation or organization)               Identification No.)

     2951 28th Street, Suite 3001
       Santa Monica, California                          90405
(Address of principal executive offices)               (Zip Code)
              
                                  ----------

          THE 1995 INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR EQUITY PARTICIPATION PLAN OF 
                        NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES, INC.

        THE 1997 EQUITY PARTICIPATION PLAN OF NATIONAL GOLF PROPERTIES,
       INC., NATIONAL GOLF OPERATING PARTNERSHIP, L.P. AND AMERICAN GOLF
                                  CORPORATION

                                  ----------

                                                          Copy to:            
                                                     
            WILLIAM C. REGAN                           JOHN M. NEWELL, ESQ.   
Vice President - Controller and Treasurer               Latham & Watkins       
     National Golf Properties, Inc.                   633 West Fifth Street  
      2951 28th Street, Suite 3001                          Suite 4000  
     Santa Monica, California 90405                Los Angeles, California 90071
            (310) 664-4100                                (213) 485-1234
                                                
                                                        
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, 
                             of agent for service)

                        Calculation of Registration Fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                               Proposed
                                   Amount                Proposed               Maximum
                                  of Shares               Maximum              Aggregate               Amount of
Title of Each Class of              to be             Offering Price           Offering              Registration
Securities to be Registered      Registered            Per Share (1)           Price(1)                   Fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock
$.01 par value                    948,000                $30.125               $28,558,500              $8,655
(1)      Estimated based on a bona fide estimate of the maximum offering price
         of $30.125 solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee
         pursuant to Rule 457(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
PART I

Item 1.      Plan Information

             Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.

Item 2.      Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information

             Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.

                                    PART II

Item 3.      Incorporation of Documents by Reference

             The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") by National Golf Properties, Inc., a Maryland
corporation (the "Company" and the "Registrant"), are incorporated as of their
respective dates in this Registration Statement by reference:

             (a)  The Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K for its fiscal
                  year ended December 31, 1996;

             (b)  The Quarterly Reports of the Company on Form 10-Q for its
                  quarterly periods ended March 31, 1997 and June 30, 1997; and

             (c)  The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
                  Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-B filed with the
                  Commission on December 29, 1995.

             All documents filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a),
13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which
indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, are incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and are a part hereof from the date of filing such
documents. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement
contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such
statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed,
except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration
Statement.

Item 4.      Description of Securities

             Not applicable.

Item 5.      Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

             Not applicable.

                                       2
Item 6.      Indemnification of Directors and Officers

             The Company's Articles of Incorporation authorize the Company to
indemnify its present and former directors and officers and to pay or reimburse
expenses in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding to the maximum
extent permitted from time to time by the laws of the State of Maryland. The
Company's Bylaws obligate the Company to indemnify present and former directors
and officers to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. The Company's
Bylaws also permit the Company to provide indemnification to a present or former
director or officer who served a predecessor of the Company in such capacity,
and to any employee or agent of the Company or a predecessor of the Company. The
Maryland General Corporation Law (the "MGCL") permits a corporation to indemnify
its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments,
penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them
in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made a party by reason of
their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that (a) the
act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving
rise to the proceeding and was committed in bad faith or was the result of
active and deliberate dishonesty, (b) the director or officer actually received
an improper personal benefit in money, property or services, or (c) in the case
of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to
believe that the act or omission was unlawful. In addition, the MGCL requires
the Company, as conditions to advancing expenses, to obtain (i) a written
affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he
or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the
Company as authorized by the Company's Bylaws and (ii) a written statement by or
on his or her behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the Company if it
shall ultimately be determined that the standard of conduct was not met. Under
the MGCL, rights to indemnification and expenses are non-exclusive, in that they
need not be limited to those expressly provided by statute. As a result, under
the MGCL and the Company's Bylaws, the Company is permitted to indemnify its
directors, officers, employees and other agents, within the limits established
by law and public policy, pursuant to an express contract, bylaw provision,
stockholder vote or otherwise.

             Because the indemnification provisions of the Company's Articles
and Bylaws are tied to applicable Maryland law, they may be modified by future
changes in such law without further stockholder action. The Company's Bylaws
provide that amendment or repeal of the indemnification provisions of the
Company's Bylaws would be effective on a prospective basis only and neither
repeal nor modification of such provisions would adversely affect rights to
indemnification in effect at the time of any act or omission which is the
subject of a proceeding against an indemnified person.

             The MGCL and the Company's Bylaws may permit indemnification for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act") or the Exchange Act. The Board of Directors of the Company has
been advised that, in the opinion of the Commission, indemnification for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act is contrary to
public policy and is therefore unenforceable, absent a decision to the contrary
by a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

Item 7.      Exemption from Registration Claimed

             Not applicable.

Item 8.      Exhibits

             4.1     The 1995 Independent Director Equity Participation Plan of 
                     National Golf Properties, Inc.

             4.2     The 1997 Equity Participation Plan of National Golf
                     Properties, Inc., National Golf Operating Partnership, L.P.
                     and American Golf Corporation

             5.1     Opinion of Latham & Watkins

                                       3
23.1    Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

             23.2    Consent of Latham & Watkins (included as part of Exhibit
                     5.1)

             24.1    Power of Attorney (included on page 5)

Item 9.      Undertakings

             (a)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

                     (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales
are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                          (i)   To include any prospectus required by Section
             10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

                          (ii)  To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
             arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or
             the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
             individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in
             the information set forth in the Registration Statement;

                          (iii) To include any material information with respect
             to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
             Registration Statement or any material change to such information
             in the Registration Statement;

             Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not
apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment
by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to
the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

                     (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability
under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to
be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide offering thereof.

                     (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-
effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold
at the termination of the offering.

             (b)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of
the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

             (h)     Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under
the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and
is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.

                                       4
SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant 
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused the Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto authorized,
in the City of Santa Monica, State of California on the 15th day of August,
1997.

                           National Golf Properties, Inc.

                                    By:  /s/ RICHARD C. PRICE
                                         --------------------
                                         Richard C. Price
                                         President

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below, hereby constitutes and appoints Richard C. Price and William C.
Regan and each acting alone, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents,
with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name,
place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all amendments or
supplements to this Registration Statement and to file the same with all
exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing necessary or
appropriate to be done with respect to this Registration Statement or any
amendments or supplements hereto in and about the premises, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his
substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration
statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and
on the dates indicated.

      Signature               Title                                Date
      ---------               -----                                ----   

/s/ DAVID G. PRICE            Chairman of the Board of      August 15, 1997
------------------            Directors                     
    David G. Price            

/s/ RICHARD C. PRICE          President and Director        August 15, 1997
--------------------                                        
    Richard C. Price

/s/ NEIL M. MILLER            Vice President-Finance        August 15, 1997
------------------                                          
    Neil M. Miller

/s/ WILLIAM C. REGAN          Vice President-Controller     August 15, 1997
--------------------          and Treasurer                 
    William C. Regan

/s/ RICHARD A. ARCHER         Director                      August 15, 1997
---------------------                                       
    Richard A. Archer

                                       5
Signature                     Title                       Date
      ---------                     -----                       ----

/s/ JOHN C. CUSHMAN, III            Director              August 15, 1997
------------------------                                  
    John C. Cushman, III

/s/ BRUCE KARATZ                    Director              August 15, 1997
----------------                                          
    Bruce Karatz

/s/ CHARLES S. PAUL                 Director              August 15, 1997
-------------------                                       
    Charles S. Paul

/s/ EDWARD R. SAUSE                 Director              August 15, 1997
-------------------                                       
    Edward R. Sause

                                       6
INDEX TO EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT                                    
-------                                    

4.1      The 1995 Independent Director Equity Participation Plan 
         of National Golf Properties, Inc.

4.2      The 1997 Equity Participation Plan of National Golf
         Properties, Inc., National Golf Operating 
         Partnership, L.P. and American Golf Corporation

5.1      Opinion of Latham & Watkins

23.1     Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

23.2     Consent of Latham & Watkins
         (included in Exhibit 5.1)

24.1     Power of Attorney (included on page 5)