Is this membership really too good to be true???

[BrownCoast]

A course 20-25 mins from my house is offering a special right now. Mon-Thur membership reg price $800 plus tax for $499 plus tax and golf the rest of this year free! How do I not jump all over that, course rating and slope is 72 and 129 from blues and 70.2 and 126 from whites. yardage is roughly 6k from whites and 6400 from blues. The course is Pelham Hills golf course in Pelham ont in the Niagara Falls region. The deal seems too good to be true and like someone else posted his club shut down without notice. I don't really want to find out the hard way that this club is going to just shut down. What can I do to find out if this deal is for real or just a last attempt effort to make $$$ before they shut down? I've played the course twice and love it.

Any help/advice would be great.

[jamo]

For Mon-Thurs and Aug-Dec, I'd say that's not too good to be true. I'm not even sure it's a particularly good deal.

[Club Rat]

Not knowing how long your area season would last, maybe through November?

That would leave 3 months to play.

Doing some math - 10 rds. = $50 per round.

If you play more, then your cost would lower per round basis.

Even at these numbers, you wouldn't get hurt, unless they closed after September, if it's a possibility.

Local golfers would probably know better if there are rumors of closing.

Suggest going to the course and ask a few golfers if they are aware of potential problems.

If the golf shop is empty of merchandise, it could indicate something could be going on.

Or lack of employee's which used to work at the course.

Those are first indicators of a business in trouble.

Club Rat

[iacas]

For Mon-Thurs and Aug-Dec, I'd say that's not too good to be true. I'm not even sure it's a particularly good deal.

I took that as saying it's for next year's membership, with the bonus of the rest of this year's being thrown in free.

[jamo]

I took that as saying it's for next year's membership, with the bonus of the rest of this year's being thrown in free.

:doh: I'm a moron.

[David in FL]

A course 20-25 mins from my house is offering a special right now. Mon-Thur membership reg price $800 plus tax for $499 plus tax and golf the rest of this year free! How do I not jump all over that, course rating and slope is 72 and 129 from blues and 70.2 and 126 from whites. yardage is roughly 6k from whites and 6400 from blues. The course is Pelham Hills golf course in Pelham ont in the Niagara Falls region. The deal seems too good to be true and like someone else posted his club shut down without notice. I don't really want to find out the hard way that this club is going to just shut down. What can I do to find out if this deal is for real or just a last attempt effort to make $$$ before they shut down? I've played the course twice and love it. Any help/advice would be great.

What's included in the membership?

[imsys0042]

Depends on how much you play at that time. That is more than my full privileges where I am now and I have 27 holes on a slope 142-145 course that is in very nice shape. I think it depends on the local economy and cost of living, but that $800 figure might be inflated or was already too high.

[imsys0042]

Wait, is that per month or per year?

[BrownCoast]

For Mon-Thurs and Aug-Dec, I'd say that's not too good to be true. I'm not even sure it's a particularly good deal.

No thats for next year and golf the rest of this year free. membership just says unlimited golf mon-thur excluding holidays for all of next year (not per month but covers entire 2015 season) and they throw in the remaining golf this year which is generally till mid november when they shut down. I asked someone working there if they would refund the money if they shut down and she gave me the best answer she could. which was also what I expected to hear. her words were "I would assume you would be refunded. That only seems fair to me. But I have not heard anything about us closing anytime soon." A great reply, she isn't in charge and only saying what she thinks would happen. doesn't answer my question but I didn't think it would. I also assume there is some kind of contract when you get a membership and the details would be posted in that.

The biggest problem is out here we have nearly 50 courses all within 20-30 mins of each other. and probably a population of less then 400,000 people in the niagara and surrounding areas. We do get a crazy amount of tourists to Niagara Falls during the spring-fall months. So people coming to visit have a large number of courses to choose from. simple quick 9 hole exec courses to full championship style courses.

[mcanadiens]

We have a few courses out this way that offer deals similar to that one, although that is a heck of a price drop.

Have you had a chance to chat with some of the regulars? Don't be shy, golfers love to talk about their course. Aside from that, take a close look at the course conditioning. If they are starting to let basic things slide, it's a bad sign.

[David in FL]

Is that unlimited golf walking? Are cart fees extra if you so choose? Any minimums? Do they have a practice range? Is that included? What's the cost for you to play on the weekend? How often will you play Mon-Thurs and how often will you want to play on the weekend?

[zipazoid]

Devil's in the details. A phone call would likely give you them.

[Wally Fairway]

As a cautionary tale, there is a thread somewhere on this site, about someone who had their club close and he lost the benefits of membership.

It sounds like a great deal, but if the club is under financial distress and they are hoping to raise some cash by doing this then my question is what happens if they don't raise enough?

Good luck with it, but I'd try to find out why they are offering that deal right now.

[hacker101]

Do you know anyone that can run you a D&B; on the course. It wont give you all the answers but at least you can see if there is any bad debt called in on them, who they owe how much and if they are paying on time.

[BrownCoast]

Is that unlimited golf walking? Are cart fees extra if you so choose? Any minimums? Do they have a practice range? Is that included? What's the cost for you to play on the weekend? How often will you play Mon-Thurs and how often will you want to play on the weekend?

unlimited golf mon-thur and yes walking. cart for the year is still reg but I prefer to walk. no minimums or bar tab. they have a range but yes that too is extra. I believe playing weekends is reg price but I work every weekend and can only golf during the week so this is pretty much my best option anyway.

We have a few courses out this way that offer deals similar to that one, although that is a heck of a price drop.

Have you had a chance to chat with some of the regulars? Don't be shy, golfers love to talk about their course. Aside from that, take a close look at the course conditioning. If they are starting to let basic things slide, it's a bad sign.

I should be golfing there again on wednesday if nothing changes in the weather or work schedule. I haven't had a chance to talk to any regulars yet but I will take that advice, given the chance.

Is that unlimited golf walking? Are cart fees extra if you so choose? Any minimums? Do they have a practice range? Is that included? What's the cost for you to play on the weekend? How often will you play Mon-Thurs and how often will you want to play on the weekend?

Devil's in the details. A phone call would likely give you them.

I phoned today but there was only a worker on and she had no idea. she tried to help me out as best she could.

Is that unlimited golf walking? Are cart fees extra if you so choose? Any minimums? Do they have a practice range? Is that included? What's the cost for you to play on the weekend? How often will you play Mon-Thurs and how often will you want to play on the weekend?

As a cautionary tale, there is a thread somewhere on this site, about someone who had their club close and he lost the benefits of membership.

It sounds like a great deal, but if the club is under financial distress and they are hoping to raise some cash by doing this then my question is what happens if they don't raise enough?

Good luck with it, but I'd try to find out why they are offering that deal right now.

I read that post you are referring to and that is what set of warning signals in my head. I know that out here there is so much competition between the courses, almost 50 in a small region that they just can't afford to have jacked up prices. I also know that a lot of the courses are for sale.

I've been trying to find out as much as I can in this little bit of time. I have seen deals offered like this before but never with such high price drops.

Do you know anyone that can run you a D&B; on the course. It wont give you all the answers but at least you can see if there is any bad debt called in on them, who they owe how much and if they are paying on time.

That I have no idea about. Not sure who to talk to or where to even start. I think I will give it a week and see what I can find out. If I am too late to cash in on the deal then oh well, and I will just have to wait to see if they offer the same deal again next year. I just moved to this area in may. lived in Manitoba before. I want to believe they are just offering this as a promo and do it at the end of every season, I will be asking them if in fact this is the first time they have offered this or if they do it every year.

[hacker101]

unlimited golf mon-thur and yes walking. cart for the year is still reg but I prefer to walk. no minimums or bar tab. they have a range but yes that too is extra. I believe playing weekends is reg price but I work every weekend and can only golf during the week so this is pretty much my best option anyway.

I should be golfing there again on wednesday if nothing changes in the weather or work schedule. I haven't had a chance to talk to any regulars yet but I will take that advice, given the chance.

I phoned today but there was only a worker on and she had no idea. she tried to help me out as best she could.

I read that post you are referring to and that is what set of warning signals in my head. I know that out here there is so much competition between the courses, almost 50 in a small region that they just can't afford to have jacked up prices. I also know that a lot of the courses are for sale.

I've been trying to find out as much as I can in this little bit of time. I have seen deals offered like this before but never with such high price drops.

That I have no idea about. Not sure who to talk to or where to even start. I think I will give it a week and see what I can find out. If I am too late to cash in on the deal then oh well, and I will just have to wait to see if they offer the same deal again next year. I just moved to this area in may. lived in Manitoba before. I want to believe they are just offering this as a promo and do it at the end of every season, I will be asking them if in fact this is the first time they have offered this or if they do it every year.

Do you know anyone that owns a business?

If so then ask them about it, they will know how to run and read the reports.

[BrownCoast]

Do you know anyone that owns a business?

If so then ask them about it, they will know how to run and read the reports.

I work in a casino, I'm going to ask around to some of the guys (that I just found out golf) if they know anything about this. The toughest part is most people live in the falls and not in this town but I'll just keep asking as many people as I can about this and if they know anything about it?

[Lihu]

A course 20-25 mins from my house is offering a special right now. Mon-Thur membership reg price $800 plus tax for $499 plus tax and golf the rest of this year free! How do I not jump all over that, course rating and slope is 72 and 129 from blues and 70.2 and 126 from whites. yardage is roughly 6k from whites and 6400 from blues. The course is Pelham Hills golf course in Pelham ont in the Niagara Falls region. The deal seems too good to be true and like someone else posted his club shut down without notice. I don't really want to find out the hard way that this club is going to just shut down. What can I do to find out if this deal is for real or just a last attempt effort to make $$$ before they shut down? I've played the course twice and love it.

Any help/advice would be great.

It's worth it, but you only have a few more months to play this year, so the $499 is probably reflecting that limitation.

I just got a monthly that allows "unlimited" golf weekdays. Usually 18 holes (one of the two courses), but no one really checks if you decide to play 36 or more holes per day. It works out to $185/month which is about $9/round playing only once per day or less if you can play more rounds per day.

I think your deal works out to about the same price per round, probably legitimate.

http://www.pelhamhills.ca/green_fees/memberships.html