Finding a home course

[JarrettLeger]

Good Afternoon! 

I am just curious how do you guys go about picking a home course. I am just getting back in golf after taking a 7-8 year break, and wondering what you guys look for in a home course. 
There are about 6 courses within a comfortable distance from me, that I would consider making it my primary course and possibly become a member at. 

[lungbuster]

I took several things into consideration, practice facilities, distance, crowds, dues, etc... but one of the big things I looked for was the availability of member games.  Nothing worse than having a free Saturday morning, but all of my playing partners are busy and no one to play golf with.  Thus, the member dogfights come in nice.  Most courses do something, but the availability of them and times were something I considered.

[HJJ003]

14 minutes ago, JarrettLeger said:

Good Afternoon! 

I am just curious how do you guys go about picking a home course. I am just getting back in golf after taking a 7-8 year break, and wondering what you guys look for in a home course. 
There are about 6 courses within a comfortable distance from me, that I would consider making it my primary course and possibly become a member at. 

For me it comes down to three things...Location, cost and fun. If the location is all about the same, then determine which course is the most fun to play and decide if your good with paying the greens fee there on a regular basis. 

[RFKFREAK]

If you think you'll get bored playing the same course I might find one that has a reciprocal agreement with other clubs. 

[upndown21]

I looked for condition of the course at different points of the year, practice facilities, other amenities, and distance. 

Obviously it has to be cost efficient.

[NJpatbee]

Location, lack of crowds, and great course maintenance and conditions.  

[Patch]

For me it's all about practice facilities, a convenient distance to the course, how well the course is maintained, and the fees charged for those items. 

My current, and probably my last home course, has everything I need for my game. I especially like it being 5-10 minutes away. 

In fact, I have two courses that are next door to each other that fulfill my needs, while both providing a different type of play. One has tree lined fairways, great turf, and the other one is wide open with great turf. 

The clencher though, is the 19th Hole has $7 pitchers of Miller Lite. That's the best price in town for a pitcher of beer, by $2-$3 dollars.  We all have our prorities. 

[LeftyWhiff]

I'm a member at a course for the 1st time this year. Last couple of years I've been playing at multiple courses with two different sets of buddies. The big issue with getting the membership is that the course has 27 holes and each of the three nines are different enough that the experience per round varies. Other issues are that the course is convenient to both groups I golf with. I'm still playing some at other places. Advantage is that I do more 9 hole practice rounds than ever before and this is making the membership pay off well.

 

Good luck.

[JarrettLeger]

Great information guys! What is a good price for a memebership? The one I have my eye on, and what other golfers in the area are recommending is at $975 for family or $705 for single. 

[billchao]

19 minutes ago, JarrettLeger said:

Great information guys! What is a good price for a memebership? The one I have my eye on, and what other golfers in the area are recommending is at $975 for family or $705 for single. 

Is that for the year? I live in the wrong place...

[HJJ003]

54 minutes ago, billchao said:

Is that for the year? I live in the wrong place...

That’s what I am thinking lol. The cheapest club membership around me is $1500 a year and that’s a pretty low end executive course with membership privileges. 

[Buckeyebowman]

FWIW, I've never been interested in being a club member! For my whole life I've never been a "joiner"! I'd find it boring to play the same course all the time. Variety is the spice of life. My buddies feel the same! We like to play as many different courses as we can.

[LeftyWhiff]

12 hours ago, JarrettLeger said:

Great information guys! What is a good price for a memebership? The one I have my eye on, and what other golfers in the area are recommending is at $975 for family or $705 for single. 

Seems like a fantastic rate. but I guess price will vary by local market competition and such. When I joined my course, I calculated how many rounds I'd have to play in the year to break even there, and then how much I would save on a calculation (guess) of how much I'd save per round if I hit my target number of rounds for the year. One of my buddies did the same and decided it wasn't worth it for him. Personally, I'm going to save a lot although my rate was 1135 per year for a single, less than a 1000 for city residents there, which was cheap in my local market compared to other munis and public courses. I do go to other courses, and if I play too much at my home base, I do get tired of it even with 27 holes. For me, all in all, it was the way to go and I don't regret doing it. Will likely do it again next year.

Good luck, Seems like you have a great rate by any comparative standard.

[billchao]

13 hours ago, HJJ003 said:

That’s what I am thinking lol. The cheapest club membership around me is $1500 a year and that’s a pretty low end executive course with membership privileges. 

The cheapest place I know is about 20 minutes from me without traffic but in the summer with shore traffic it could be closer to an hour. $1,600 for a single membership and only because I'm young enough to qualify for one of their junior membership tiers.

There are four clubs within five miles of my house and the cheapest one is $4,400 per year for an intermediate membership, but I would be forced to use a cart for all rounds before 3:00PM for which I have to pay $29/round. Two other clubs are more expensive with initiation fees and the last club is one where if you have to ask, you're not qualified to be considered for membership.

[Patch]

I am thinking a good home course does not require a membership fee. Most of the golfers I know do not own a club membership. They just play when ever, and where ever they please. 

Not saying owning a club membership is not a good thing. For those that do belong to a golf club, more power to you. 

[HJJ003]

51 minutes ago, Patch said:

I am thinking a good home course does not require a membership fee. Most of the golfers I know do not own a club membership. They just play when ever, and where ever they please. 

Not saying owning a club membership is not a good thing. For those that do belong to a golf club, more power to you. 

Agreed. A home course can absolutely be a public track, which is the case for me. 

[iacas]

20 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Variety is the spice of life. My buddies feel the same!

You need to replace them with new buddies every two years. Variety is the spice of life.

That's my way of saying that there are those who enjoy playing the same course in a variety of conditions and those who don't.

If the course is good, it'll still probably hold your attention after 10 rounds and after 100 rounds.

[Patch]

54 minutes ago, iacas said:

You need to replace them with new buddies every two years. Variety is the spice of life.

That's my way of saying that there are those who enjoy playing the same course in a variety of conditions and those who don't.

If the course is good, it'll still probably hold your attention after 10 rounds and after 100 rounds.

My home course keeps me prepared for the other 20+, different courses I might play this year......The spice of golf life, and a home course....lol