# Joining the R&A



## shivas irons (Dec 9, 2016)

Whilst in St Andrews this year I got talking to a fella who told me he was a member to one of the clubs affiliated to the old course,he went on the say as a St Andrews local his subs to play the home of golf was Â£200 per year .
Not that I want to join  but am just curious does anybody know how much it is to join and the yearly subs for the R&A?


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## patricks148 (Dec 9, 2016)

shivas irons said:



			Whilst in St Andrews this year I got talking to a fella who told me he was a member to one of the clubs affiliated to the old course,he went on the say as a St Andrews local his subs to play the home of golf was Â£200 per year .
Not that I want to join  but am just curious does anybody know how much it is to join and the yearly subs for the R&A?
		
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with the Links ticket they are very cheap in you live in the town, you also have to join on of the clubs. Jimeroid and Golfcitydeweller on here are both members of one of them (2) member ship of the club on top of that links ticket charge.

a couple of guys i know are members of the R&A, one is on the rules committee, so ref's R&A events and does the Scottish Open.

its takes a while to get in i think you need X number of current members to forward propose you. Another guy i know had made the final leg this year and it had taken him 15 years+ , he's an ex club captain has his own business etc.

I don't think you get much in the way of playing rights. The have a couple of meets a year, spring and Autumn on the old course and you get to go in the short term ballot and points for the other courses i think.

I'll ask Robin tomorrow how much it is and how long it took him, been a member for 20.


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## golfcitydweller (Dec 9, 2016)

st.andrews  links ticket 
we have  many  types of ticket available, but the 3 main ones are     resident  , north east fife  ,   country 
resident ticket applies to people residing within the `town` boundary   approx  205  pounds
north east fife ticket  is for those who  live outside the boundary but within north east fife   410
country   for everyone else   820
waiting list applies only to   N E F  and  COUNTRY  tickets

we have    R@A    ,   ST.ANDREWS GC , THISTLE GC     NEW GOLF CLUB   1 LADIES CLUB AND LADIES SOCIETY  , NINETEETH HOLE GC 
 you can`t apply to join the r@a   only invitation   with 15 letters of introduction     approx 5-7 years  process 
all others clubs you can apply to join 

that is the basic set-up here in st.andrews    ,  hope this helps


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Dec 9, 2016)

I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.


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## Crazyface (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.
		
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So nowt but an overpriced muni then? I'll not bother playing it.


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## patricks148 (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.
		
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Why do you think its unfair??

surely the town owns the land and runs the links trust, so why should t be geared towards providing cheap golf to residents of the town, its there land after all?


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Dec 9, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			Why do you think its unfair??

surely the town owns the land and runs the links trust, so why should t be geared towards providing cheap golf to residents of the town, its there land after all?
		
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Fair enough but in that case why do NE Fife residents get discount as well. Following your logic either give discount to nobody outside the town or ALL of Fife or ALL of Scotland. 

Like I said, I don't have an issue with giving locals a discount I just think the numbers are not right. Maybe Â£500 for a links ticket (still superb value) and Â£100 a round for TOC?


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## patricks148 (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			Fair enough but in that case why do NE Fife residents get discount as well. Following your logic either give discount to nobody outside the town or ALL of Fife or ALL of Scotland. 

Like I said, I don't have an issue with giving locals a discount I just think the numbers are not right. Maybe Â£500 for a links ticket (still superb value) and Â£100 a round for TOC?
		
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Maybe Fife council have some  interest, I don't know maybe GCD or Jim know. The links ticket fee, makes it look cheap, but you still have to join one of the clubs don't you? which adds to the cost.

Lets face it though, St Andrews is off the beaten track and is a University town if you forgot about the golf courses.


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## patricks148 (Dec 9, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			Maybe Fife council have some  interest, I don't know maybe GCD or Jim know. The links ticket fee, makes it look cheap, but you still have to join one of the clubs don't you? which adds to the cost.

Lets face it though, St Andrews is off the beaten track and is a University town if you forgot about the golf courses.
		
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Lets face it though the old course as a one off is not overly expensive when you consider what Trumps wants for his places or what Wentworth charge


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Dec 9, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			Lets face it though the old course as a one off is not overly expensive when you consider what Trumps wants for his places or what Wentworth charge
		
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No that is true but it is still a public course not a private business.


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## patricks148 (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			No that is true but it is still a public course not a private business.
		
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yes buts lets face it, the old course is subsidising the other 5 courses and pretty much must fund the links trust the rest must get invested in the courses and up keep. 

The cost has gone up though, when i went there in 2006 it was only Â£120 for the old course, luckily i played ad a guest of an R&A member and it was free


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## Val (Dec 9, 2016)

An out of town ticket inc club membership is around Â£800 or so. Tee times on TOC are scarce I believe but clubs do get them, the Castle I believe also has restriction so in essence you get 4, 18 hole courses for your ticket and I may be wrong but I believe most members tend to play New and Jubilee through choice.


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## Val (Dec 9, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			yes buts lets face it, the old course is subsidising the other 5 courses and pretty much must fund the links trust the rest must get invested in the courses and up keep. 

The cost has gone up though, when i went there in 2006 it was only Â£120 for the old course, luckily i played ad a guest of an R&A member and it was free

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Â£55 increase in 10 years. Compare that to other courses of similar stature and you'll find that increase pretty modest. Kingsbarns I believe has risen by over Â£150 in 10 years, then we can talk Turnberry, Wentworth etc.


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## Val (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			No that is true but it is still a public course not a private business.
		
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Still a business, it still has to cover costs and make money.


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## Foxholer (Dec 9, 2016)

Val said:



			Still a business, it still has to cover costs and make money.
		
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It (the Links Trust) seems to have done that pretty well!

https://www.standrews.com/SALT9/media/pdf-forms/Annual-Accounts-2015.pdf


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## shivas irons (Dec 9, 2016)

Thanks for the info guys that was very informative and what a great deal you get in St Andrews to play your golf.
I seem to remember a story in the past regarding membership of the R&A that the American owner of the Old Course hotel and Hamilton hall was refused membership to the R&A on many occasions,apparently at one time his sponsors were no less than Tim Fenchem and Pete Dye! I'm from Suffolk where golf fee's are reasonable but it never fails to amaze me the fee's the guys in Surrey pay to play golf on very mediocre golf courses.
Anyway I think its time to relocate to St Andrews


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## Doon frae Troon (Dec 9, 2016)

I would imagine that price is also a driver for controlling demand.
Just imagine how over stretched their admin staff would be if it were Â£50 a round.

Links Trust do a good job. Fife Council is part of the set up of a three tier trust.
Top two tiers are rarely involved in the decision making process, just there for clout.


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## stevek1969 (Dec 9, 2016)

As someone who is on the list for a Links ticket i will be about Â£800 which includes my club memership, i stay in Dundee which is just across the water from a few guys who stay in Tayport and pay roughly Â£550 there classed as North East Fife, but in my eyes its a bargain and just the way it works, as Euan says he stay in the town boundaries so why shouldn't he get the benefits of it.


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## CliveW (Dec 9, 2016)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the R&A is the governing body of Golf and not a golf club.


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Dec 9, 2016)

CliveW said:



			Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the R&A is the governing body of Golf and not a golf club.
		
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I'm correcting you, it's both


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## Deleted member 18588 (Dec 9, 2016)

CliveW said:



			Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the R&A is the governing body of Golf and not a golf club.
		
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A trifle pedantic but,nevertheless, correct.

The golf club is the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

The R&A is the ruling body of golf outside of North America and also organises events such as the Open Championship.


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## shivas irons (Dec 9, 2016)

drive4show said:



			I'm correcting you, it's both   

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Yes both


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## HomerJSimpson (Dec 9, 2016)

Val said:



			Still a business, it still has to cover costs and make money.
		
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Totally agree and they seem to be making a good fist of it to date


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## golfcitydweller (Dec 9, 2016)

the R@A  has 3 parts to it ..golf club   , championship  committee  , rules


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## Jimaroid (Dec 9, 2016)

Links Ticket prices are complex as there's lots of variations. Most you can pay is Â£920 for the open unrestricted ticket for all courses which anyone in the world would pay to retain their ticket without being a member of an affiliated club. It then gets cheaper if you're resident in north east fife, in town, a student of the university etc. and whether or not you have a full or restricted (5 day, not including old course) ticket and a member of an affiliated club. It's tricky to outline costs exactly because of so many variations. 

So depending on circumstances you can be paying anywhere between Â£200 and Â£1000 a year approximately. 

I'd say is probably the most flexible, good value and fairest golf "membership" deals going.


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## shivas irons (Dec 10, 2016)

Jimaroid said:



			Links Ticket prices are complex as there's lots of variations. Most you can pay is Â£920 for the open unrestricted ticket for all courses which anyone in the world would pay to retain their ticket without being a member of an affiliated club. It then gets cheaper if you're resident in north east fife, in town, a student of the university etc. and whether or not you have a full or restricted (5 day, not including old course) ticket and a member of an affiliated club. It's tricky to outline costs exactly because of so many variations. 

So depending on circumstances you can be paying anywhere between Â£200 and Â£1000 a year approximately. 

I'd say is probably the most flexible, good value and fairest golf "membership" deals going.
		
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So are memberships to the R&A comparative to all the othet tickets for St Andrews or is it an expensive club to join and pay playing fee's to?


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## patricks148 (Dec 10, 2016)

shivas irons said:



			So are memberships to the R&A comparative to all the othet tickets for St Andrews or is it an expensive club to join and pay playing fee's to?
		
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Played with a friend today who is an R&A member.
You have to be recommended by 2 other members , they are only allowed to propose one person in a certain period of time.. You then go in "the book" in the meantime you have get 10 or 15 letters of recommendation from. Other members, which takes another few years. He pays About Â£700 but is an "overseas" mber . Think there was a joining fee , but he couldn't remember how much. There are apparently far more overseas members and it easier to become one of those.


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