Twilight Club

[Chris Stewart]

This morning I was talking about how so many courses around me could be a little more flexible in the way they handle memberships and design plans around the typical working class of people. The common theme around here, speaking to public courses, is that a yearly membership is for a calendar year and costs the full fee whether you start on Jan 1 or Aug 1. I'd love to know how few memberships they start from June-December. Pro-rating the fee would be an option, or simply going by a revolving year (start whenever, lasts for a year from that date). If they were pro-rated, I would have joined one already. I can't imagine paying a yearly membership fee and starting it half way through the year. Another thing I was thinking about is how I couldn't find any courses that had plans that would appeal to the average person, one who works M-F from 9-5 and doesn't have the flexibility to play at least one round each and every weekend. Normal memberships seem to make the most sense for those who have flexibility during the work week, or those who can play at a minimum of once on the weekend. Even then, playing once a weekend doesn't offer a savings on greens fees at the courses around here. I understand a lot of people join a club for more than financial savings, but I'm sure that's a benefit most of us are looking for as well. So, I was thinking why don't courses offer membership options for those of us who can't start until 4-5pm. Maybe half the full membership cost to have privileges after 4pm daily. It would likely limit you to 9 holes most of the year, especially for busy courses, but that's basically what I get in when I play after work anyway. 9 holes on a Friday at 5pm is better than 0 holes. :-) So after my thinking, I realized that a local course I'm fond of has a membership option called the "Twilight Club". You pay $50/month, month-to-month, with no commitment. For that, you get to play after 5pm from March-Nov for cart fee only, after 3pm from Nov-March for cart fee only, and/or 2 large range buckets any day after 5pm. They classify it as a "health club for your golf game". I think it's a brilliant idea. It gives me immediate savings, as I typically play somewhere else at least once a week after work, typically Friday around 4pm. Playing here instead saves me money immediately. The course itself is quite nice, and much better than where I've been playing instead. I'm curious, do any clubs around you have similar types of memberships or those that differ from the typical "pay X up front, get greens fees for the year"? With the majority of golfers working a typical day job, you'd think more courses would offer unique packages to attract players and work with their availability.