Cheapest way to play golf

[jermzkill]

I just started to play golf and come to find out it is EXTREMELY expensive. What are some of the cheapest ways to play 9 or 18 holes? Joining a club, play twilight, play early bird, sneak on to the course lol, etc? or do you guys just pay normal fees.

There is a player card deal in my area that costs $50 and you receive complimentary green fees at 7 different courses BUT you have to buy a cart when you play which can cost up to $18 at some courses. Is that a good deal?

[glebert]

The cheapest way for me to play is at a few smaller 9 hole courses, I can usually play 9 for $8-10 without a cart. Shorter courses are often be much cheaper, and still be challenging, especially for beginners. I buy 10 round cards at one course that gets me about a 30% discount. Oddly the munis here in Portland aren't that cheap. Look for last minute deals on golfnow.com or something similar.

I would say that the player's card deal sounds pretty good, as long as there aren't too many restrictions on it. $50 divided by 7 courses is $7, plus $18 for a cart is pretty good for 18 holes. The couple of times a year I play at bigger courses I usually pay at least $35 for 18 without a cart.

[jermzkill]

Alright I thought I was paying a lot because yesterday I paid the most I've ever paid to play. At my friends local course it was $39 with cart and that is about $12 more than I usually pay for 18 with a cart. That's a lot of money for me right now since I'm in college without a job.

[Jay-Bird]

I'm going to buy a player's card this year.

Our muni has a one-year $750 player's card "membership". The $750 card gets you free range balls and free golf (walking) for 12 months. Without the player's card the course is $20 to walk 18 on weekdays ($23 on weekends). The break even point would be after about 30 rounds and a few buckets of balls - playing 2 or 3 times a week, that might take until the end of May for me. That would leave me with 5 months of actual *free* golf.

I wish I could hibernate until Spring...

[Q.Q.Quillume]

Alright I thought I was paying a lot because yesterday I paid the most I've ever paid to play. At my friends local course it was $39 with cart and that is about $12 more than I usually pay for 18 with a cart. That's a lot of money for me right now since I'm in college without a job.

I don't know about your college, but a lot of colleges have their own golf course and it's likely they have student rates. I know they did when I was in college. Also "municipal" courses are generally less expensive to play than privately owned courses. Additionally stay, if possible, away from courses that force players to take a riding cart - it should be a lot cheaper to walk than to take a riding cart.

[jermzkill]

I don't know about your college, but a lot of colleges have their own golf course and it's likely they have student rates. I know they did when I was in college. Also "municipal" courses are generally less expensive to play than privately owned courses. Additionally stay, if possible, away from courses that force players to take a riding cart - it should be a lot cheaper to walk than to take a riding cart.

Yeah, I have a college course. It is a 9-hole that costs $15 with cart. The semesters over so I can't really play there until school start up again.

[PiKapp23]

When I was in college I still played a lot, but it was usually 'hacker' courses (mostly little 9 hole courses) and always walked. Some of those type of courses have 'memberships' available that can be pretty cheap and allow you to play either anytime or at least unlimited during certain times. Twilight can often be a great deal with prices sometimes as much as 50% off. As a newbie, you should seek out some 9 hole 'executive' courses and 'par 3' courses to help learn and tweak your game. They tend to be cheap and can be lots of fun. To this day I frequently play these kind of courses and will often play 2-3 balls on every hole (unless by some crazy chance there are actually other players out there). They are great for practicing iron play and short game.

[jermzkill]

When I was in college I still played a lot, but it was usually 'hacker' courses (mostly little 9 hole courses) and always walked. Some of those type of courses have 'memberships' available that can be pretty cheap and allow you to play either anytime or at least unlimited during certain times. Twilight can often be a great deal with prices sometimes as much as 50% off. As a newbie, you should seek out some 9 hole 'executive' courses and 'par 3' courses to help learn and tweak your game. They tend to be cheap and can be lots of fun. To this day I frequently play these kind of courses and will often play 2-3 balls on every hole (unless by some crazy chance there are actually other players out there). They are great for practicing iron play and short game.

I've actually searched for these par 3 courses in my area, but unfortunately there are none!! I wish there were, par 3's are always my favorite to play.

[ks8829]

I play for $21 on weekdays and $26 on weekends at a local municipal golf course with a resident card that I paid $45 dollars for the year, not bad for the SF bay area.

Other local courses range from $36 - $46 but I am able to play a couple of days a week at the $21 rate. I practice my short game at another local golf course for free.

"Golf now" is a website that has discounted golf rate if you set up a program on their website they will e-mail you special rate for that day directly to your e-mail.

I must spend about $772-$1,000 for playing golf each year, but its worth every penny. I don't smoke, drink, chase skirts and not seeing a shrink, at least not at this time.

[jermzkill]

Are there any other sites similar to Golf Now, since none of those courses listed are near me. Virginia Beach.

[glebert]

Are there any other sites similar to Golf Now, since none of those courses listed are near me. Virginia Beach.

teetimewatch.com has some in Virginia Beach, but even with discounts they aren't cheap. The online booking sites usually only have the mid and high range courses.

[Fat Slice]

Don't sneak on the course - someone like me will report you. Why not see if you can get a part-time job at a course? Some places can set you up to work only a couple of days a month. Around here, that gets you free golf as well as a little pocket change.

[svchiefs19]

When I was in college I still played a lot, but it was usually 'hacker' courses (mostly little 9 hole courses) and always walked. Some of those type of courses have 'memberships' available that can be pretty cheap and allow you to play either anytime or at least unlimited during certain times. Twilight can often be a great deal with prices sometimes as much as 50% off. As a newbie, you should seek out some 9 hole 'executive' courses and 'par 3' courses to help learn and tweak your game. They tend to be cheap and can be lots of fun. To this day I frequently play these kind of courses and will often play 2-3 balls on every hole (unless by some crazy chance there are actually other players out there). They are great for practicing iron play and short game.

i agree, thats the best way to play. a course near me is $9 for 9 holes walking and its a pretty tough course (narrow fairways, small greens, etc.) so what ill do is ill go out in the morning and work my way to they 7th or 8th hole and just chill there. ill work on pitches, chips, putts, and shots out to 50-60 yards or so. theres hardly every anybody out there, so i take my time and fine tune some things. im sure the owners frown upon that, but ive never been caught

[Yanks Fan]

Go see if the course will hire you. Obviously they won't right now because it is out of season in our area and no one is playing but once February rolls around, go apply at a couple different courses in the area. I did that last year and got a job at a very nice course in my area and play for $5 or for free. If you don't have time for a job, then see if you can volunteer to be a marshal on the course on the weekends because at my course at least, marshal's get the same benefits as employees.

[flopdarock]

Are there any other sites similar to Golf Now, since none of those courses listed are near me. Virginia Beach.

dude... you live in vb? what courses do you play now? there are a ton of ways to play for cheap... heck walking 9/18 at kempsville an bowcreek is like a buck a hole... but those are dog tracks... owls creek is an exec course that has all you can play at certain times of the week for cheap... p-town if you know anyone that lives there has an all you can play with cart for like 10-12 bucks at the links... lemme know an ill give you more 411... there are even ways to play for freeeeee

[MI Rob]

The closest course to me is usually 12 with cart to play 9 and 16 to play 18. But twilight is the same prices, play as many holes as you want.

[mkrolewski]

Golf is an expensive hobby -- equipment (clubs, carts, balls, etc), green fees, driving range fees, club fees, country club fees, etc. In addition, it takes lots of time.

Re-iterating a previous response, many courses have an executive course/par 3/9 hole course. They generally are very inexpensive. The closest one to me is $14 for the first 9, and $4 for every additional 9 on the same day. On light traffic times, you can play 9 holes in 60 minutes. For most beginners (and often for everyone else), it is really a good challenge and a useful training/playing environment. They play like a standard course without the tee shot.

On regulation courses, you are at the mercy of the going rates. Course rates vary widely. To paraphrase, quality is in the eye of the beholder. Do not rule out any course until you have played it. That said, cheap often is.

You may be able to trade distance (cost of driving/time) for green fees.

There are often discount coupon books ($10-20, good for a calendar year) -- generally priced around foursomes and weekday play.

[wb4tjh]

I am lucky to have several executive courses near my home here in Sarasota, Florida. I can play at one for ten bucks after 2:30 p.m. that offers 27 holes, and the other just a couple of dollars more--it has 18 holes. I use my own push cart too and I like the walking. During the winter/tourist season here, the regular golf courses really scalp you on greens fees, but by playing late in the afternoon, you get a substantial break, compared to earlier in the day. But come the middle of April, the fees drop down to summer levels, and we full-time residents can again play the regular courses pretty cheaply. But I can't really complain, because today, December 20th, I played in shorts and golf sandals. it was sunny and the temperature was in the high 70s. I also played yesterday, and it was 81 degres. I am going to play again tomorrow, too.