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Belonging to a local club, is it that important?


peteraleman
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I want to ask a serious question here.  I am hoping for an honest answer and I hope to get many on this topic. I have been playing for over 22 years now. No, I am not a single digit handicapper although I would like to be.  But I am curious, do any of you belong to a local golf club or even a national one? If you don't belong to one, curious why you haven't.  If you do belong to one, how has your experience been with your organization and how important is to you?

Now I ask this because, I am the sort that loves being a part of something.  As a former military man and a current member of a career fire department in South Florida, I enjoy the camaraderie, I enjoy the challenge of being able to challenge each other.

Love to hear from you all.

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I want to ask a serious question here.  I am hoping for an honest answer and I hope to get many on this topic. I have been playing for over 22 years now. No, I am not a single digit handicapper although I would like to be.  But I am curious, do any of you belong to a local golf club or even a national one? If you don't belong to one, curious why you haven't.  If you do belong to one, how has your experience been with your organization and how important is to you? Now I ask this because, I am the sort that loves being a part of something.  As a former military man and a current member of a career fire department in South Florida, I enjoy the camaraderie, I enjoy the challenge of being able to challenge each other.   Love to hear from you all.

I've never joined a club because I don't have the disposable income for it. If I did, not sure I would because I like playing different courses and I think I would feel obligated to pay there all the time to get the most bang for my buck. I know my gf's sister's father in law is a member of a public/private club in northern Vermont and I think he pays somewhere between $900-$1200 a year and it's a nice course. If I can swing something like that in retirement, I'd do it. He tells me he plays pretty much every day he can so it's certainly worth the investment, IMO. The other thing is that it's not so pricey that I'd feel bad about playing other courses every once in a while. However, there aren't any courses in the Albany, NY area that are that inexpensive so, for a weekend warrior like me, it's just not good value.

Christian

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I want to ask a serious question here.  I am hoping for an honest answer and I hope to get many on this topic. I have been playing for over 22 years now. No, I am not a single digit handicapper although I would like to be.  But I am curious, do any of you belong to a local golf club or even a national one? If you don't belong to one, curious why you haven't.  If you do belong to one, how has your experience been with your organization and how important is to you?

I don't have the disposable cash to belong to a large country club where there are yearly dues, monthly dues, and food minimums, but I do belong to a semi-private club, River Forest, 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

I am a retired teacher and have been a member for more than 20 years. The initiation fee was minimal, and the yearly dues are only around $300. In addition, I only pay $16 to walk weekdays or $21 weekends. To ride the cost is $30/weekdays and $35/weekends. For guests you can add $9 to each of the fees.

I love being a member at River Forest. They have a wonderful grill room and banquet facilities that are reasonably priced. I golf there every week during the season and also try to play another course or two in the Pittsburgh area. (BTW, Pittsburgh is an unknown treasure for their number of fine golf courses.) I take friends there in the summer where you pay $100 for a foursome that includes carts, play most Mondays with two friends who are also avid golfers, and in the early spring or late fall get to the course early and walk 18 holes solo in around 2 hours 45 minutes.

How important is it to me? Hm-m-m-m. I guess I could get by with playing the public courses in the area, but having River Forest as MY club, gives me a sense of belonging. I love going to the course and shooting the breeze with Tim, Joe, Bill, Larry or Bob, the guys who work the pro shop. Then there is the sense of familiarity when you play the course. You don't have to guess on your club selection and you know which way the ball breaks on the greens. I guess I love it, too, since I have had some success there including a hole-in-one, as well as 4 other eagles on par 4 holes.

I love this course! :-D

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I have been a member of private club for over 15 years.

There is nothing better than not only having a regular group of guys to play with but also getting to play with other members of the club.

During the slow times I can go out by myself if I want to practice for a few holes.

I will always be able to find a game during busy times if I am not playing with my regulars.

It is such a habit for me to head out to the club every weekend morning that I go there even if it is pouring rain and I know I wont be playing.

There will be a dozen or so other members to have breakfast with and to just chew the fat for a couple of hours.

Depending on your income belonging to a club will not prohibit you from playing other courses.

Don't forget that most private clubs have reciprocal agreements with other private clubs.

Also I find that even if your club does not have a specific reciprocal agreement with another out of town club, the head pro can get you a round there.

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I don't have the disposable cash to belong to a large country club where there are yearly dues, monthly dues, and food minimums, but I do belong to a semi-private club, River Forest, 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

I am a retired teacher and have been a member for more than 20 years. The initiation fee was minimal, and the yearly dues are only around $300. In addition, I only pay $16 to walk weekdays or $21 weekends. To ride the cost is $30/weekdays and $35/weekends. For guests you can add $9 to each of the fees.

peteraleman,

Despite variations in their name, non-municipal golf courses in our area mainly shake out into two varieties: equity Country Clubs and semi-private Golf Clubs.

A Country Club requires members to pay an initiation fee and buy some stock, and normally has some vetting process by existing members. Besides initiation and stock $$, you have the monthly dues and facilities assessment, plus annual assessments for club storage, locker rental, range fee, etc. Normally there's a food minimum - the average private-equity club loses north of $120K a year on dining room - and often a fee for golf carts.

Also, the country clubs normally have tennis and a pool - sometimes a kid's swim team - and occasion polo.

The Golf Clubs , on the other hand, have a mix of standing memberships and annual memberships. In our area, most of these golf clubs were built as part of housing developments in the 1990s. Here in St. Clair Co., IL, just across the river from St. Louis. We have four such clubs, with a few more in counties just north and south. These have OK to excellent courses (including a Nicklaus and two Bob Goalby designs). There's no tennis and only one has a swimming pool. Most have no shower room - hey, everyone was supposed to a walk back to their house after the round and get cleaned up there.

But, too much capacity swamped the market. As it turned out, not everyone over age 35 wanted to own a home on a golf course. Half the plotted housing lots in any of these golf neighborhoods were never developed. And, the original idea of neighborhood-based private courses never took off. Some homeowners have oddball legacy "equity" memberships, while the rest of us pay $1,800 to $4,000 a year - per couple - for pretty much all the golf and range balls you can handle - carts included. This is what my wife and I have.

Some also provide a Seniors card for $400 which allows you to play-space available during week for $20 a round.

These golf clubs can put on an excellent catered spread for wedding receptions or after-tournament awards meals. Daily food, however, is some nice wrapped sandwiches or a hot dog or bratwurst off the grill. Most of these clubs had a full dining room when we are arrived in 2002, but now all have retreated to the snack bar + catering.

Your question: Why belong to a local club?

It gives you a golf "base of operation" - to borrow from the military. You have a home course, and can build a network of others to play with. The club can keep you apprised of local amateur tournaments you like in the area. As a firefighter, it could help you tap into the network of fundraising tournaments. Also, you learn what you can do at a given practice facility, given your remarks about wanting to improve your game.

So, a semi-private club gives you the best of both worlds: Personal standing at a decent golf course, without having to help defray the annual $120K shortfall for a fancy dining room.

We're going into our third year with a couple's annual membership. There's a women's golf league, a bloc of couples that play together, a group of retirees who play on Wednesdays - on occasion I can join them - and some younger guys who work flextime and invite me to play if I'm around. There's a group of hardcore, play for big $$ types, but I steer clear of them.

And, being you're former military in Florida, can you tap into any of the military courses in the area as a home base?

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I belong to the ladies club at a local public course. There are about 30 of us who get together regularly on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. We have tee times blocked out, and it's a community.

No I can't afford the dues at a private club. Most of the women can't either, so this is what we do. It gives us a home course. We have weekly competitions, and we keep our handicaps.

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I know my gf's sister's father in law is a member of a public/private club in northern Vermont and I think he pays somewhere between $900-$1200 a year and it's a nice course.

I have a deal like that at a course that I can drive to in 12 minutes. That might be hard for some to believe, seeing as how I live in California, but the part of the state I'm in is not the California that most out-of-staters think of. It's basically western Montana with warmer weather.

My deal covers unlimited golf and range balls. I pay the walking rate and if I want to take a cart, it runs me an extra $10 per occurrence.

The monthly fee is low enough that if I don't go out there for three months straight – which happens every year from September through November because I devote those months to bird hunting with my dogs – I don't sweat it. There are regular skins games every Monday and Friday that I really enjoy and a fun handicap game on Thursdays that rotates through a wide variety of formats. There's a lot of good guys in the men's club and I was recently elected to serve as the club's membership chairman for 2015.

If the cost were double what it is, I probably wouldn't do it. But as it stands now, the price is right. I get more than my money's worth out of it from December through August.

John

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I used to belong to a nice muni ... gave it because golfnow.com makes golf a lot more affordable in my area

John

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Man I am so jealous of all you guys that have access to nice courses for such a low annual cost.

Up here in Vancouver golf, like everything else, is extremely expensive.

I figure that my costs for just golf (not including food, clubs, balls etc) are $5,000 annually for my club.

This would include the monthly golf dues, bag storage, golf services and range fees.

That doesn't include the opportunity costs on the initiation fees.

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I want to ask a serious question here.  I am hoping for an honest answer and I hope to get many on this topic. I have been playing for over 22 years now. No, I am not a single digit handicapper although I would like to be.  But I am curious, do any of you belong to a local golf club or even a national one? If you don't belong to one, curious why you haven't.  If you do belong to one, how has your experience been with your organization and how important is to you?

Now I ask this because, I am the sort that loves being a part of something.  As a former military man and a current member of a career fire department in South Florida, I enjoy the camaraderie, I enjoy the challenge of being able to challenge each other.

Love to hear from you all.

I've only been playing basically for one year.  I thought about joining the local club but did not get around to it.  I have it on my short range goal to be signed up before the end of the year.  It is winter here so no playing at all until probably late March or early April unless the weather does something out of the ordinary.  A bunch of guys I work with go to different courses throughout the year.  I never went with them because I was still in the learning stages (still am) and we all live over an hour away from one another.  I didn't want to get into the travel thing and be tied down to sitting in some bar room after the round was complete.

The 5 minute ride to the local course is a definite plus.  It cost $1050 as of right now for the yearly membership.  That includes playing for free if you walk, $16 if you use a cart, plus discounts on tournaments, club access and functions, etc.  I think you still have to pay extra for lockers or club storage but that isn't on my radar anyway.  There might be discounts on clubs and clothing too.  I did buy a jacket at a discounted rate and the club pro threw in a shirt for free.  He has been egging me on to join.  lol  I thought the walking deal would be great even if I only played nine holes.  It is a very hilly course so it might take a while for me to get in the proper shape to be doing full rounds.  The club also has reciprocal agreements with quite a few of the other courses nearby so you wouldn't feel tied down to the home course.  You still need to go through the pro shop for tee times at home or away.

It still comes down to if you join, you got to get out and play.  I have not sat down and figured out the break even point vs. just showing up and plopping down double or more to play.  The walking rate got my attention and I could use that to my advantage.  I play better for some reason when pushing a cart vs riding in one.  I've never walked the local but have done 18 holes on a course about 30 minutes away from here.

That reminds me, that Clic Gear 3.5 cart looks so much better than the $99 Maxfli one I bought.  I don't think mine would hold up with a lot of use because of the cheap plastic used in key areas.

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I do not belong to a club but do intend to join a league this year.

There are a bunch of leagues associated with the former employer where I retired.

One of the leagues plays Wednesday evenings at a course about 15 miles from me and I know a bunch of the members.

Bad part is they don't start until April.

I guess I will get some lessons and practice in before that.

The closest course to me is called Druids Glens and it is a great one. They have a senior membership that gets lowered rates during the week. I may look at something like that also.

Don

Took up golf late in life with a lot to catch up. 

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I'd like to point out that - depending on your area - joining a club does not automatically require a hefty amount of disposable income. I joined a local men's club affiliated with a public muni here in Long Beach and my yearly dues are $120. That gives me access to all of their events, monthly tournaments, away trips, etc. Although I still have to pay for each event/round I play separately.

Without question, it has been the best golf related decision I have ever made. Not only have I met hundreds of other members who are like minded in their enthusiasm for golf, but it's been a relatively low pressure introduction to tournament golf. I've probably had the opportunity to play upwards of 30 tournament rounds over the last 3 years. I'm lucky to have joined an active men's club with a very robust membership, but even a smaller club still confers many of the same benefits.

To the OP, I can't imagine that South Florida wouldn't have a handful of similar organizations. Pick a public course that you like (or two) and join the men's club for a year. See which one suits your schedule the best and whose membership you like the most. Hell, there's a couple of guys I know in the area that are active members of multiple men's clubs. They just really love to golf!

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My city munis were offering an annual pass for unlimited play to all 4 courses for $1600. We have exceptional munis in my area so this was quite a deal. Unfortunately this only happened for one year. But I agree with Big C, a mens club is the way to go to try out the experience.
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I'd like to point out that - depending on your area - joining a club does not automatically require a hefty amount of disposable income. I joined a local men's club affiliated with a public muni here in Long Beach and my yearly dues are $120. That gives me access to all of their events, monthly tournaments, away trips, etc. Although I still have to pay for each event/round I play separately.

Without question, it has been the best golf related decision I have ever made. Not only have I met hundreds of other members who are like minded in their enthusiasm for golf, but it's been a relatively low pressure introduction to tournament golf. I've probably had the opportunity to play upwards of 30 tournament rounds over the last 3 years. I'm lucky to have joined an active men's club with a very robust membership, but even a smaller club still confers many of the same benefits.

To the OP, I can't imagine that South Florida wouldn't have a handful of similar organizations. Pick a public course that you like (or two) and join the men's club for a year. See which one suits your schedule the best and whose membership you like the most. Hell, there's a couple of guys I know in the area that are active members of multiple men's clubs. They just really love to golf!

Big C I noticed you are from Long Beach. I will be there in a month visiting my wife's family.

Can you recommend any good courses in the area?

Up to $100 per round would be the highest I would like to pay.

Thanks,

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I'd like to point out that - depending on your area - joining a club does not automatically require a hefty amount of disposable income. I joined a local men's club affiliated with a public muni here in Long Beach and my yearly dues are $120. That gives me access to all of their events, monthly tournaments, away trips, etc. Although I still have to pay for each event/round I play separately.

Without question, it has been the best golf related decision I have ever made. Not only have I met hundreds of other members who are like minded in their enthusiasm for golf, but it's been a relatively low pressure introduction to tournament golf. I've probably had the opportunity to play upwards of 30 tournament rounds over the last 3 years. I'm lucky to have joined an active men's club with a very robust membership, but even a smaller club still confers many of the same benefits.

To the OP, I can't imagine that South Florida wouldn't have a handful of similar organizations. Pick a public course that you like (or two) and join the men's club for a year. See which one suits your schedule the best and whose membership you like the most. Hell, there's a couple of guys I know in the area that are active members of multiple men's clubs. They just really love to golf!

Sweet deal.

Wish they had something like that in Albany.

Christian

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Big C I noticed you are from Long Beach. I will be there in a month visiting my wife's family.

Can you recommend any good courses in the area?

Up to $100 per round would be the highest I would like to pay.

Thanks,

Sure thing. You can't go wrong with any of the 3 Long Beach Muni's - Skylinks, El Dorado or Rec Park. They are all fun to play and even weekend rates with a cart won't set you back more than $60-72 bucks. I'd probably suggest Skylinks because in my experience, it's easiest to get a good tee time there and the course conditions are usually very good. Los Verdes in Palos Verdes is a great option (affordable, coastal views on many holes), but if you can't get a 9am or earlier tee time, I wouldn't bother because they are notorious for 5-6 hour rounds later in the day.

Venturing a bit further north into Orange County, Mile Square has two very good tracks and is about 15-20 minutes from Long Beach. When will you be in town? I'd offer to play a round with you, but it sounds like you will be visiting in January and unfortunately my weekends in Jan are completely slammed right now....

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I am a member of the very best semi private club in my area- its better than some of the private clubs.

No its not as pretty as some of the those clubs, it doesn't have after shave in the bathrooms, not high priced drinks but for pure golf, really fast hilly greens, my tee length is 6600-6800 yrds, its a challenging course that often will eat people alive from the other course in the area.

a small  pro shop, nice bar area, seasonal cart girl and most importantly not a lot of outside activities and golf functions that would other wise curtail my own use of the course.

that's the part you want to pay attention to when you think about joining, how many members, how many touneys, how many leagues? etc.

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Everyone, thank so much for answering my question.  It is very much appreciated.  Some gave more than others, but felt like I got a good dose of good information.  I do belong to a club, its actually free. It is called the The Grint.  This is a mostly online club that has members around the country. In my area we are about 458 strong, every area around the country should have something similar set up.  The club is USGA regulated and in my area they put up an event once a year.  Supposedly, we are going to start doing them once a month beginning the new year.  I found this club through the USGA website.  They have a neat app for smart phones that you can use either the free version or the paid version.  The club gives you an official handicap when you register and upload your game score, I think you need to have played 8 rounds to get an official handicap.  You can even use that handicap on any tournament. They have a great gps system with a great view of any course in the country. Now, it isn't like the clubs some of you have mentioned.  But through their website and forum, I have been able to make friends and get to play in different courses with folks I would otherwise not play with. Truth be told, there is little benefit other than having another avenue in meeting like minded folks and having an excuse to play somewhere different, if your handicap is important for you than this may be an option.

Now some of you pointed out a few good points regarding having a course to call home.  I like that idea, but I also don't like that idea.  I'll tell you why, first, I like to travel a lot, I also like to visit different courses and really challenge myself on how I do in different courses.  On any given year I will visit about 8 to 12 different courses, from South Florida to Central Florida.  I've played in some of the great courses in Miami and some of the best ones in Naples and in Orlando.  I truly love the game of golf and I suppose I can try making one a home.  I will need to factor in the cost of joining a particular club and see if it is truly worth it for me.

In the end, I hope this conversation continues as I think it was a good one to bring up.  Thank you WU Tiger for your input, I felt that was right on!

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