are green fee's a joke

[hovis]

i have friends that are members of clubs such as beu desert, forest of arden and the warwickshire. as a guest i pay around £15/£20/£30 for these courses (this i can live with) it wasn't until i started looking at local courses including the above and realised how much a ''visitor'' green fee is. most clubs charge £50+ for a round. i know money has to be made but i can't help but think that they give it us dry! i would love to try a list of new courses but dont have the cash.
do these club's need the money? if so then i kind of think if they reduce their fee by 40% they'll get 60% more business!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Green fees are an integral source of revenue for all clubs so of course they charge as much as they think they can get away with. It doesnt make it right but that is the nature of the beast. My club charges far less than £50 and to be honest given the prices of our neighbours green fees think we come in pretty well

 

[jpenno]

i have friends that are members of clubs such as beu desert, forest of arden and the warwickshire. as a guest i pay around £15/£20/£30 for these courses (this i can live with) it wasn't until i started looking at local courses including the above and realised how much a ''visitor'' green fee is. most clubs charge £50+ for a round. i know money has to be made but i can't help but think that they give it us dry! i would love to try a list of new courses but dont have the cash.
do these club's need the money? if so then i kind of think if they reduce their fee by 40% they'll get 60% more business!

Your figures are wrong

If they reduce green fees by 40% it would be £30 per round with a 60% increase in custom they lose money

At £50 per 100 rounds they earn £5000 if reduce the fee to £30 the same 100 rounds gets them £3000 to earn the same £5000 they need 167 rounds which is far more wear and tear on the course too

Would possibly generate more cash in th clubhouse but might annoy the members as course busier means less chance of a tee time

 

[hovis]

Your figures are wrong

If they reduce green fees by 40% it would be £30 per round with a 60% increase in custom they lose money

At £50 per 100 rounds they earn £5000 if reduce the fee to £30 the same 100 rounds gets them £3000 to earn the same £5000 they need 167 rounds which is far more wear and tear on the course too

Would possibly generate more cash in th clubhouse but might annoy the members as course busier means less chance of a tee time

i didn't do the math i was just saying that maybe lowering the prices would get a greater foot fall but i did think that maybe they try and price people off the course to prevent wear and tear and keep members happy

 

[User20205]

It's definitely a balancing act between income and being overrun with green fees. I do look at some clubs and wonder if anyone ever pays full wack as they are not worth what they ask.

Have a look at twilight deals. The visitor green fee at my place is £60 but this drops to £29 after about 3pm.

 

[DAVEYBOY]

i have friends that are members of clubs such as beu desert, forest of arden and the warwickshire. as a guest i pay around £15/£20/£30 for these courses (this i can live with) it wasn't until i started looking at local courses including the above and realised how much a ''visitor'' green fee is. most clubs charge £50+ for a round. i know money has to be made but i can't help but think that they give it us dry! i would love to try a list of new courses but dont have the cash.
do these club's need the money? if so then i kind of think if they reduce their fee by 40% they'll get 60% more business!

Imagine paying £80 a round for the course we rip up every week LOL

Great course but £80 LOL

 

[Five&One]

i didn't do the math i was just saying that maybe lowering the prices would get a greater foot fall but i did think that maybe they try and price people off the course to prevent wear and tear and keep members happy

The other thing to consider is the membership who pay up front every year. My subs are getting on for £700. Not a huge amount comparatively speaking but for that money I want to go my club and tee off within half an hour of arriving. We've a thriving membership and a pretty good income from the social side and visiting groups so we don't really need to be clogged up with cheap casual visitors so its pegged at £40 a round with no visitors allowed on Sat/Sun mornings.

if it came to the bit where I couldn't rock up and play because there were too many cheap visitors I'd probably find another club.

 

[Evesdad]

Ours is £36 for visitors at the weekend and £30 in the week which is prob slightly above average round here. No visitors until after 12 at weekends. I suppose it's the flip side of not being a member you pay premium prices.

 

[trevor]

I'd be quite happy to never have any visitors at my club. I pay over £1000 to play there so why would I want to wait at the first tee whilst non members played ahead of me.

 

[stevek1969]

We're £56 during the week and £72 on a weekend in the morning but visitors aren't allowed on the course before 9.30 during the week and 11.00 at the weekend.
But if i sign you on its £15 anytime which is not bad value.

 

[GOLFBALL_WHACKER_GUY]

If you're sincere about joining a course, ring them and tell them so. Most of my local clubs would happily give a free round if it meant you may sign up to full membership.

 

[timchump]

Classic price discrimination i think, the courses the op mentions are well known courses people want to play.

I looked into a booking a round at Saunton £79, people are willing to travel and pay this, yet membership is under £1k, because of its out of the way location membership fees are still relatively competitive to attract local golfers

Exactly the same as my course a green fee of £75-85 but membership is relatively good value at £1k.

 

[stevek1969]

Forgot to say i'm £620 for my membership this year so £56 and £72 green fees

 

[fundy]

get yourselves a county card (assuming your club and county are part of the scheme). Gets you access twice a year to a huge list of courses at members guests rates (costs about £12 and more than pays for itself in 1 use)

 

[richart]

Membership £1300, green fees £60 during the week only. Seems about right, although it is only £25 if you can put up playing with me.

 

[JustOne]

Most green fees are a joke seeing the state of most of the courses we are faced with for our £40+.

 

[MetalMickie]

Ours is £36 for visitors at the weekend and £30 in the week which is prob slightly above average round here. No visitors until after 12 at weekends. I suppose it's the flip side of not being a member you pay premium prices.

Actually below average for Leics.

 

[lyden]

Totally agree with the op. I'd love to play more courses near me but most being £50 a round I always end up at my own course. £35 is my limit for a green fee.

 

[Sweep]

Last year the Yorkshire Union completed a study, comparing 1990 to 2012's green fees and membership subscriptions. In 1990 the average cost of a round of golf at a club when not playing with a member was around £20. The average annual membership subscription was around £250. In 2012 the average cost of a round of golf at a club when not playing with a member is around £25 ( difficult to calculate exactly due to many free offers of coffee, range balls, bacon buttes etc). The average membership subs are now around £850. (These figures are approximate, but you get the idea). So it's pretty clear that golf clubs are supporting the visitor at the expense of those that support them 360 days a year -their members. In 1990, the only way to play regular golf was to be a member of a club. Nowadays, probably all clubs are guilty of taking what they can get, after all the course is there any way, so in some respects the green fee is all profit. Obviously this is an unsustainable situation. Clubs are in fact making nomadic golf more attractive, even though they can't survive without members. So no. Green fees are not a joke. In fact they are a pretty good deal.

 

[scratch]

For those that are club members with handicaps, have a look at playing a few open competitions. They are great value for money. Someone mentioned Saunton at £79 a round, they have 2 opens a year where you get a round on each course for £48 off the back tees. Play well and you could also pick up a prize!