How Do You Decide Where to Play Golf

[gatsby47]

I am a member of a course and the majority of my golf is there. Good value for retired and ex  military personnel and the course is in great condition.  But within the province of New Brunswick there are a lot of fine course and my foursome make use of NB golf's 2 for one sticker packet. As well, PEI and Maine offer a different set of fine golf courses and we take yearly excursions

[Fourputt]

This is a more difficult question for me to answer than it once was, so I selected "Other".  

If I play locally, then I only have a couple of choices.  But this year I rejoined the Men's Club at my old home course, so that has now become my current home course even though it's a 2½ hour drive (about 150 miles).  I also play several other courses just as I feel like it, no one course by price because I can get varying deals at 30 or 40 Colorado courses with my Avid Golfer Passport.  

A lot depends on how far I feel like driving, it may depend on when my brother drives down from Idaho to play for a few days, and it just depends on what I feel like.

[BuckeyeNut]

For any golfer that "TRULY" plays a lot of golf, a membership of some kind is an absolute MUST.  To pay every time a peg is set in the ground............this is insanity.  

[Fourputt]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeNut said:

For any golfer that "TRULY" plays a lot of golf, a membership of some kind is an absolute MUST.  To pay every time a peg is set in the ground............this is insanity.  

Not if you like to play a lot of different courses.

[sjduffers]

24 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Not if you like to play a lot of different courses.

True dat. Also, not if your club is a pricey country club with say $400-600 per month dues, which is pretty frequent around here.  Meanwhile, I pay $20-35 to walk, taking advantage of various deals, etc... I am not playing 20 rounds a month, so I come out ahead and I do have variety.

[boogielicious]

12 hours ago, BuckeyeNut said:

For any golfer that "TRULY" plays a lot of golf, a membership of some kind is an absolute MUST.  To pay every time a peg is set in the ground............this is insanity.  

Hmm. The closest member course to my house (3 miles) will cost me a $50,000 initiation fee alone. Others in the area, $20,000 on average. So, I have no issue taking out the credit card and playing the many well kept public courses in the Boston area.

[Fourputt]

I have 6 different courses in the last 20 scores on my GHIN list.  One is what I call my home course, 6 rounds there.  Then I have 7 rounds at the 18 hole course nearest my house.  3 rounds at the Old Works in Anaconda, Montana.  Then 4 more scattered among 3 other courses.

How I choose them depends on the circumstances.  For a quick 18, I just go to Riverview, about 20 minutes from home.  To play with my friends in Denver, I contact them when I'm going to be in town and play at what I consider my home course because that's where I play my tournaments.  When my brother is down from Idaho a couple of times each season, we play several different courses around Denver and the mountains, and when I visit him, we play different interesting courses in Idaho and Montana.

I buy a Colorado Avid Golfer Passport each year and my brother and I focus on playing the premium courses in the areas where we will be hanging out which offer discounts through that.  I don't use any of the discount internet booking services.

[dennyjones]

Last year I played in a league near work and used Golfnow.   The most I paid for golf was about $25 and I played about 14 different courses.  

This year I am retiring and purchased a membership all-inclusive for $900.   Exciting to see how it plays out.  

[Dave2512]

I live in town population 8k. Strange as it sounds we have 3 courses within 7 miles, I stick to those.

[choppineapple]

I normally play at one course that is a little farther away than other courses because it is cheaper and laid back.  It is also the opposite way of traffic after work so that is a plus.  During the summer I play with friends on Wednesday's after work and the friend that organizes it usually picks the course.  For vacations, I look for the best stay and play deals that have unlimited golf.  

[ppine]

It can be a complicated process. It is better to just say "let's go play at Squaw's Heel."

I like to play with my brother. He lives in Oregon. Sometimes we meet half way and camp and play golf.  Fall River Mills in northern California is one of the best muni courses in American. It is in the middle of nowhere. A par 5 on the back is a double dog leg and over 600 yards long. We play it as a par 6.

[inthehole]

TOTAL GOLF BOTTOMFEEDER HERE.   

 

I exclusively search golfnow for the best deal available.    It's like getting a great deal on something at a flea market or eBay ... playing a $60 course for $18 is the spice of life (especially when I usually have to buy 2 tee times on weekends - one for me & the wife).     If they ever go out of business, I'm going to be a sad boy ...

[Psyber]

I try and go with whoever has a hot deal on golf now. Really am not at a level where I'd enjoy an expensive round of golf.

[Patch]

A buddy and I were driving back from an Estate Sale. We passed a golf course and he made the remark that it was too bad we didn't have our clubs with us. A second look at each other, and he turned around, and we played 9 holes with rented clubs. 

A spur of the moment decision works well when deciding when/where to play. 

[pganapathy]

Complicated.  When I am in Coorg, where my home course is, generally play my home course, but the other two courses there are also affiliated and free to use so occasionally use them too.

In Bangalore, currently use two courses that are free for me to use (one with my Amex card and the other via affiliation with my home club) but use others depending on where friends are playing

[Gator Hazard]

As previously stated we bought a home on a golf course, and it is actually a pretty nice course.  It isn't a country club course or anything like that but it is well maintained.  The greens roll true and are almost always in very good shape.  The price is right usually and we have booked using GolfNow, a discount card I purchased from them and what not.  So, I usually play my home course because it is affordable (probably the best bang for the buck in the area) and close.  Every once in a while we get an itch to play a different course and will venture out, usually we look for deals on GolfNow and book that way at whichever of the places has the best rate.  It has been a while since played a different course, so thinking maybe this weekend, hit up a new course I have not played yet.  

[Hardspoon]

There are 5 courses near my house that are in my "rotation"...I'll usually check GolfNow to see if any have deals, but really just rotate through them based on how I'm feeling that day (and the recent weather, since some of them have much better maintenance/drainage than others).

[Scotsclaff]

In general, our group plays our local course as most of us are members and those who are not get a nice discount but we like to play somewhere different every 2nd week and will decide on where to go in the clubhouse.After we decide,one of the group will call the course and book.

We have never used websites.