Is Pebble Beach Worth $495 (or $550 in 2019)?

[Lefty-Golfer]

Supply and demand?? There is only one Pebble Beach...if you want to play it that is what it costs. Nobody has a gun to your head. if there is no demand the 500 will come down...you can take that to the bank.

I guess it depends on your demographic. From what I read in this thread 500 is a lot of money. If i walked into my club and and asked the same question i would have 20 guys say "sign me up" without blinking...just like buying a car. Do you want a car, a nice car or something great??

[montru]

I voted NO, even if I was a millionaire I would not pay that for a round of golf, I love the game don't get me wrong but to me $495 is just exploitation.

[Bump-n-MI]

Would I like to play there? ---------Hell yes!
Would I pay $495.00? ---------Hell no!

[DavidFehertysBike]

I know somebody that has played there, and he told me aside from the few signature seaside holes, he didnt think his round was worth 500 bucks. The conditions of the course were not as good as he expected. He thinks (i tend to agree with him) that Pebble is priced so high for socio-economic reasons. If pebble didnt sit on public land it would probably be as exclusive as cypress point is.

[Fatphil]

yeh I played there in '92 on the company dime...so yeh it was worth it (ha ha ha). I heard Jim Rome on ESPN radio make a clever analogy to money...he said if you earn $10 and hour you don't pay someone $10/hour to clean your house. So on that logic if a round of golf takes 4.5 hours....and it costs $500...you need to make at least $112.00/hour to justify the splurge.

[VCGolfer]

I think it's well worth it for a once in a lifetime trip. I went some years back when it was about $350 a round and thought it was well worth it. Going back this April so I sure hope it's worth the $500. Saved up for a year for this trip and looking forward to another great round.

[Lefty-Golfer]

  montru said:

I voted NO, even if I was a millionaire I would not pay that for a round of golf, I love the game don't get me wrong but to me $495 is just exploitation.

obviously you are not a millionaire...500 to you is exploitative....to me it is a part of a great day. I have paid as much or more for less many times, do a Nascar day at the track, my season tickets for the eagles cost 800 per game...including preseason games!! Spent 800 in August to watch a BUNCH OF GUYS THAT ARE GOING TO BE CUT THE NEXT DAY and see if 500 for PB seems like a bargain!!

[Fourputt]

  Lefty-Golfer said:

obviously you are not a millionaire...500 to you is exploitative....to me it is a part of a great day. I have paid as much or more for less many times, do a Nascar day at the track, my season tickets for the eagles cost 800 per game...including preseason games!! Spent 800 in August to watch a BUNCH OF GUYS THAT ARE GOING TO BE CUT THE NEXT DAY and see if 500 for PB seems like a bargain!!

If you can afford all of that, then you clearly have a disposable income well beyond what most do. If you are paying $800 for a football game, then you definitely live in a different circle than I do. We are far from destitute, but what you describe is far outside of what I'd pay for something I can see for free on TV.

It's a matter of priorities. For me, any sporting activity takes second seat to real life. My real life expenditure is building a beach home in The Bahamas. By the time it's completed sometime next year, we will have spent about $400K on our cottage, sited on 2 acres of beachfront... and we will actually have something tangible to use for the rest of our lives. If that means that I never play Pebble Beach... well that's an easy trade off.

[Lefty-Golfer]

  Fourputt said:

If you can afford all of that, then you clearly have a disposable income well beyond what most do. If you are paying $800 for a football game, then you definitely live in a different circle than I do. We are far from destitute, but what you describe is far outside of what I'd pay for something I can see for free on TV.

Priorities for sure. congrats on a beach house...i hope it works out for you. I know a couple guys who have them to mixed reviews. You are going to have to make sure you take the time to enjoy it!! most guys i know who have them never seem to be able to get there...I would come under that umbrella so I don't buy one. i do have a good friend who lets me use his every summer!!

I really am amazed by the conversation here. i guess i am just a golf wing nut will a little extra cash!!

[Phil McGleno]

  Fourputt said:

If you can afford all of that, then you clearly have a disposable income well beyond what most do.

Holy christ on a broomstick, Fourputt. Judgmental much?

The dude could go to 500 football games at $800/game for what you're paying for your cottage, and he too will have something that will last: memories. Just because you place value on "tangible" items and not the intangibles like experiences and memories doesn't mean he "has more disposable income" - it just means he values different things than you. $400k, why, that could buy you a whole host of experiences... or education. Or whatever. There are people out there who would spend their last $500 to play the 7th or 18th or 17th holes at Pebble Beach just as there are people out there who wouldn't pay a nickel - hell, there are people who wouldn't play Pebble Beach if you gave them $495 . Your values are not some sort of universal truth.

[Fourputt]

  Phil McGlenno said:

Holy christ on a broomstick, Fourputt. Judgmental much?

What did you spend on your last house???? This is our retirement home, not just a vacation villa. We will be living there full time. I doubt that Lefty will be living at the stadium.

If the worst should happen and our plans don't work out, we can still get the value back from it, plus interest. Ain't gonna happen with an Eagles ticket.

[Lefty-Golfer]

  Fourputt said:

What did you spend on your last house???? This is our retirement home, not just a vacation villa. We will be living there full time. I doubt that Lefty will be living at the stadium.

i thought we were discussing Pebble, the cost, supply / demand and relevance of disposible income to what a round of golf is worth...please don't worry about me having to retire at the LINC...i will be ok and besides if Andy Reid is still there I would have to kill him.

[Fourputt]

  Lefty-Golfer said:

i thought we were discussing Pebble, the cost, supply / demand and relevance of disposible income to what a round of golf is worth...please don't worry about me having to retire at the LINC...i will be ok and besides if Andy Reid is still there I would have to kill him.

I was only pointing out the extreme variety of income and thinking that goes onto how we spend our available funds. I literally can't consider spending as you do in a way that offers no tangible return or benefit, not because we don't have the money, but because it is totally foreign to my way of thinking. That same reasoning applies to paying $495 to play Pebble Beach. I grew up poor, and the fact that I'm not so now is due to both hard work and good luck.

I CAN spend in a way that some might see as excessive because we are building a permanent residence which fulfills a dream that both my wife and I share. At that, the outgo is only temporary as it will be recouped when we sell the house we live in here. I see our the two philosophies as being very different from each other. Neither is wrong, just different.

[Fatphil]

if u make $250K/yr it is OK,,,if u make $50K/yr it is irresponsible.

[Lefty-Golfer]

  Fourputt said:

I was only pointing out the extreme variety of income and thinking that goes onto how we spend our available funds. I literally can't consider spending as you do in a way that offers no tangible return or benefit, not because we don't have the money, but because it is totally foreign to my way of thinking. That same reasoning applies to paying $495 to play Pebble Beach. I grew up poor, and the fact that I'm not so now is due to both hard work and good luck.

Oh you are not wrong, i don't consider it excessive, in fact i agree with your thoughts. I may not use it for a beach house on an island but the concept i agree with. I own investment real estate, stocks, gold, college funds for the kids, cash reserve and so on.

I play golf with fun money, i buy tickets with fun money, i travel with fun money...why work hard and not enjoy some of it?

[Lefty-Golfer]

  Fatphil said:

if u make $250K/yr it is OK,,,if u make $50K/yr it is irresponsible.

or painful!! yea if you are making 50k a year you aren't going to dump 500 on a round. I would assume the typical golfers income trends quite a bit higher then 50k though

[Fatphil]

  Lefty-Golfer said:

I would assume the typical golfers income trends quite a bit higher then 50k though

yeh probably but another point is tourist vs. local...if you live within driving distance and are flexible with the t-time u r talking $500 + gas...If u are a tourist with limited time and u need a specific day or time u probably need to stay at their resort...($300),,,then airfare ($300),,,then a car & gas or taxi ($150)....then food & booze ($150)....Then a cheaper hotel by the airport ($150) as you don't want to play a round then fly 5 hours back home the same day....this doesn't even consider strip bars & hookers...plus since you are there already you will want to play Cypress / Spyglass or Spanish Bay..so the deal ain't $500...more like $2,000-$3,000.

So in conclusion...we need a sliding scale...If u are married you better be making ton of money to go by yourself or some buddys...If single (and probably divorced) I think the $250K still applies as a reasonable cut-off point.

[DavidFehertysBike]

  Lefty-Golfer said:

or painful!! yea if you are making 50k a year you aren't going to dump 500 on a round. I would assume the typical golfers income trends quite a bit higher then 50k though

Incorrect assumption. Most of the passionate golfers i know make less than that. I just barley make that much and i play 40+ rounds a year. I actually think most golfers are just normal day to day folk who find the time and the money to play. But im only 31 so it could be all relative.

But as a one time shot, i could justify paying 500 bucks for a round of golf. I wouldnt play peeble for that amount, but someplace like Pine Valley.