to membership or not?

[enis750]

i am considering a membership this year
i havent been a member anywhere, since H/S - couldnt afford it until now

BUT...the place i wanted to buy, bumped their weekday walking from $1750 to $2050
can only book on weekends after 2pm
this course has two 18's, range, practice surface and chipping green - all included in the price

the other consideration is another course in town
price is $1600, practice surface, no chipping green, has a range but not included in membership
book anytime and has an 18 and an executive 9 - this is a city course as well
with this membership, i get access to this course, plus a par 3 course and another 18 hole course (not really that great of 18 though and super short and always packed)

my goal is to practice every morning before work for an hour and a half - mostly putting/chipping - dont really do the range that much
and to sneak in one 9 during the week and 18+ on weekends

i golfed approx. 45 rounds last year

the first course is really nice and is an actual country club
which would be nicer for me to bring clients/business partners to

so...what would you do?

[uttexas]

I see you live in Canada. How long is your golf season...8 months? Do the memberships have a gym or indoor racketball/other indoor facilities? Are you able to pay per month, or are you locked into a year?

[enis750]

  uttexas said:

I see you live in Canada. How long is your golf season...8 months? Do the memberships have a gym or indoor racketball/other indoor facilities? Are you able to pay per month, or are you locked into a year?

season is about 6 months, give or takr

no no, nothing like a gym, indoor anything can't pay per month - not a big deal, I can pay it all up front....just can't decide if i shoould actually buy one or not and WHICH one

[DocWu1948]

  enis750 said:

season is about 6 months, give or takr

Are you far enough west to get those long summer days where the sum goes down around 10 pm? I remember being 100 miles west of Edmonton in June and pulling into a motel around 11:30 PM and it was still light. The golf courses we passed were empty though.

The lack of early tee times on weekends is a drawback for the private club, but it has what you need for early AM chipping, and your clients/guests are going to want to play on weekdays anyway.

[aca247]

man i feel bad for you guys my golf season is year round and my membership is only 400 dollars and this course was one of the golf digests best places to play

[enis750]

  DocWu1948 said:

Are you far enough west to get those long summer days where the sum goes down around 10 pm? I remember being 100 miles west of Edmonton in June and pulling into a motel around 11:30 PM and it was still light. The golf courses we passed were empty though.

not quite far enough west - im in Saskatoon, SK

but it does stay quite light in the summer months in the evenings i would also really enjoy the more private club as well, for mens nights id like to meet some players around the same caliber as me......might be tough at the city course

  aca247 said:

man i feel bad for you guys my golf season is year round and my membership is only 400 dollars and this course was one of the golf digests best places to play

man i wish......i paid $200 as a junior in H/S and worked all summer in the evenings picking range balls to pay for my membership

still the best course ive ever played too...in a TOWN yes a TOWN of 5000

[montru]

I paid $3200 for my first year then $2400 each year after that, we have 81 holes, 2 18 hole, 1 executive 18 (par 63) and 27 holes at the other course, we can book seven days in advance, range is free, no green fees just cart fees which is around $15 per round, and we play all year round.

[r23]

I'd say it all depends on how much green fee's are. 45 rounds at what ever price = more than membership I say buy.
As far as which one I would choose country club.

My country club offers two types of membership, 600$ + tax + 500$ stock(one time fee) will get you green fee's only for the season, 12000$ + tax+ 500$ stock will get you green fee's for you and three buddy's and one cart rental for life. Was wondering if anybody else has lifetime options?

[Lefty-Golfer]

  enis750 said:

i am considering a membership this year

Go private, it be a much better investment if you are planning on playing customer golf.

[Lefty-Golfer]

  r23 said:

I'd say it all depends on how much green fee's are. 45 rounds at what ever price = more than membership I say buy.

Sound imposibly cheap, how does the club pay the bills?

[muzz]

  aca247 said:

man i feel bad for you guys my golf season is year round and my membership is only 400 dollars and this course was one of the golf digests best places to play

Talk about really bad luck, I definitely live in the wrong area.

I can't even get on an 18 hole course within 15 miles for < 1600, and that's ONE course, the rest are 2K or better, and most are around 2700.... These are PUBLIC courses, the 2K course is Semi-Private (may as well be public IMO). I also live in the NE, so we golf maybe 7-8 months a year.

[HoosierGolfer]

If it were me, I would go with the first option.

[r23]

  Lefty-Golfer said:

Sound imposibly cheap, how does the club pay the bills?

Tournaments and more tournaments,just about every weekend theres atleast one tournament. members get to shotgun start in mornings or afternoon depending on tourney start time. I was looking at their website and noticed the lifetime membership went up 500$, you can check out the course at neshobe.com

[enis750]

  HoosierGolfer said:

If it were me, I would go with the first option.

kinda what im leaning towards

but not sure yet...i have some time to decide, as we are over 2 months away from even temporary greens

[Range King]

  enis750 said:

BUT...the place i wanted to buy, bumped their weekday walking from $1750 to $2050

I would go for the country club place. Sounds much better from a golfing perspective.

Sounds to me you are on a mission, with your every day practice schedule. So don't go for a place that has limited practice facilities.

[DavidFehertysBike]

If you plan to play 40+ rounds a year, you should definatly get a membership someplace. Since a practice regimen is so important to you, i would go with the membership that has the superior practice facillity.

[enis750]

just checked the prices again
the country club is $2025 + $100 admin fee + 5% tax = $2231.25

the city course is $1565 TAX in - and i have access to 3 courses, which have a total of 63 holes and 18 of them are a par 3 course (which i tend to golf at once/mnth to practice up the par 3's)
all 3 places have a practice facility minus a good chipping green
BUT...the country club allows you to use their putting surface and chipping green for free, any time of day FREE OF CHARGE

so Im leaning towards the city courses now, for a savings of $666 year

also, being a member somewhere, i golf at stupid slow times...like a Tuesday afternoon at 11am or 2pm
this will yield me more time to practice out of bunkers, from 70-80-100 yds out, w multiple balls and no one to say boo (cause the course is dead)
the private is busy all the time - because the members are similar to me, and can golf anytime of day (Real estate professionals, brokers, doctors, lawyers, self employed etc..)
where as the city course is your more "blue collar" type of golfer, that can only golf weekends and evenings

both courses are alwasy in great shape

hmmm........

AND to boot...the pro at the city course is a client of mine
i should buy a membership from him and support his business, like he did mine
very important in my industry to support your clients

[whetstone]

Given that last information, go with option B all the way. You can hone your game on those courses and treat yourself to the nicer courses once in awhile also. I belong to a CC that is private, but not exclusive. I go out alone alot, or with my daughter, and practice on the course instead of standing at the range whacking balls. It's cool to play the same shot 2-3 different ways, to weigh the various outcomes and learn what works best for you when playing for score.