Club Membership

[SteveW86]

I am looking at playing a lot more golf this year and am having a debate with myself whether it is worth joining a club or not, the first thought for me has always been would I play enough to justify the membership fee (if the number of times I play x green fees is more than the membership then it is sensible to join), however Im thinking it is more than just that. I am wanting to get an official handicap and start paying in competitions, it is likely I will need to be a member to regularly play in competitions.

Im guessing that all those who are members of clubs will think that it is worthwhile, but what are the true pro's and con's of being a member or not?

There is also the decision of which club to join too, what considerations did you take when deciding.....was it a simple case of which course you liked best. I like having the ability to go and play wherever I like at the minute, I don't really want to lose that ability by joining somewhere and mentally tying myself to only playing there.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Welcome and an interesting question. Where are you based and what are the membership fees (plus joining fees if appropriate) for the club you are interested in? Personally it's a no brainer as I'm always at the club in the summer so feel I get value for money. I get my handicap, play in lots of comps and club matches and have a great time socially with a big group of members. I still play other courses, and one of the great things about the forum is that someone is always happy to invite you for a game

 

[full_throttle]

Joining a club shouldn't restrict your ability to play other courses, it could help.

Get yourself a handicap, join a roll-up to meet fellow golfers and get your name down to represent the club in matches, this enables cheap golf at other courses.

Take this into account when factoring in cost (rounds vs membership)

 

[palindromicbob]

Suppose it will depend on how much you are going to play and what you want. If you plan to play lots of practice/social rounds then find a course you like and play the odd open elsewhere. If you want to get out and about for loads of opens all over the place then find the cheapest membership available that will allow you to that.

Joining is the only way to get an official handicap and could open up a plethora of affordable open options that would be closed to you not having a handicap.


I'm resigning my membership at a local club this year and moving elsewhere. My choice is based on picking one that will offer best value for money. New club is £199 for a points based flex membership which works out at about 8 Saturday rounds in peak season and I can purchase a top up if needed. Quality of the course is actually slightly better in some ways and the layout is more interesting but it is a 30-40 minute drive compared to the first tee being 500 yards away as the crow flies. My Dad is also joining so fuel cost will be split and aren't a major factor anyway at the minute since is would probably cost around £40 in fuel to get up and down for those 8 rounds.

I'll save £460 and I'll continue to play opens elsewhere so it's a no brainer really. Out of 22 qualifiers last year only 8 were at my home club and at least 2 of them were after turning down options to play opens because I didn't want to completely waste my membership. Play a bit of society golf as well so that gets me playing around the country a bit. Best part. I'll still be able to play opens at my previous course for £12-£15 so could repeat my 8 rounds there and pay the odd green fee if I really really wanted a practice round and still save.

 

[Fyldewhite]

As well as all the usual benefits such as competitions, handicap, meeting people etc I think one of the often overlooked benefits of club membership is that you don't have to block out half a day every time you want to play. Sure you will play a lot of full rounds but you also have the chance to play a few after work, try a few tips, experiment with different types of shot, or maybe just pop in for an hour on the putting green or practice area. It becomes an all round facility which you can use anytime you like and for as much or as little as you like. Simply comparing the number of full rounds is maybe not a fair comparison in terms of the relative value.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Pros of joining a club? For me the first bonus is that I consider it saves me money. My membership is about £1700 per year, green fees at weekends on nearby public courses are about £30 so 50 weekends by £30 is £1,500. Add 25 midweek rounds or 9 holes, lets call that £15 on a twilight rate and we are up to £1,875, so as far as I'm concerned I'm ahead in purely financial terms. there's also an incentive, having paid up front, to use it. I also have access to free practice facilities. I have been fortunate enough to join a club where the members are very friendly so no shortage of playing partners or game opportunities. The club actively participates in inter club competitions so there's the opportunity to play other local courses for very little, usually a match fee of about £5. The club runs a Pro Am, an invitation day and lots of other competitions and members run various roll ups so further opportunity to get games & meet people. Now add the social opportunities; my club runs theatre trips, various social events at the club such as a live music night, murder mystery evening, quiz night, summer ball, New Year's Eve and the caterer we have puts on regular dining evenings in addition to the normal breakfasts & lunches. Oh, nearly forgot to mention the 2 snooker tables and the winter snooker league.

Cons; if you add up what gets spent in the bar, which I'm far less likely to do if I've played on my own or with strangers at a public course, then overall I probably spend more through being a member than I would if I wasn't, but in value terms membership wins hands down for me. And that's it for the cons as far as I am concerned.

Which club to join? The one that you like most which is conveniently close to home and preferably work; one thing I have learnt from experience is that if you are too far away from it you will not use it. However good the financial deal is, if you don't like the course then you won't enjoy it. I don't know what the choice is where you are, but investigate all the possibilities to see what each has to offer, work out which suits you best and if you join, commit yourself fully to it in order to get the most out of it.

Good luck.

 

[selwood90]

I'd recommend joining somewhere. Best thing i ever did. There are different membership options available more than likely, 5 day or 7 day normally plus others. I enjoy the social side of it all, and as you say, getting an official handicap and playing in comps brings a different side to the game than just playing social golf. Go for it, you won't be disappointed. If you pick the right club for you. Good luck

 

[Oddsocks]

Pros of joining a club? For me the first bonus is that I consider it saves me money. My membership is about £1700 per year, green fees at weekends on nearby public courses are about £30 so 50 weekends by £30 is £1,500. Add 25 midweek rounds or 9 holes, lets call that £15 on a twilight rate and we are up to £1,875, so as far as I'm concerned I'm ahead in purely financial terms. there's also an incentive, having paid up front, to use it. I also have access to free practice facilitues.

I pretty much worked on the same method of thinking. Before I was a me member at my course my golf had two levels after o got back into it

Level one was just a nomad with mates playing every other week or when they didn't blow out because it was too hot, too cold, too wet, too hung over...... Basically my golf was being run by unreliable people.

I joined a local muni pay and play which had a great middle ground package: £75 a year membership which included any Union fees then just pay per round. They played every Sunday with comps every other week so you could maintain a handicap and play competitive golf. The major plus here was if you mates wanted a game you wasn't losing money, you only payed when you played.

Level one was all good until I did the maths, were were playing an OK course in bad conditions and it worked out almost £1600 a year for one round a week, add the odd Saturday round of evening 9 holes and I was touching £2000 a year.

From here going into level three I looked st how much it would cost to join against how much I would play I was paying around £30 a round at my muni, but by paying £1000 upfront it would bring my rounds down to £19 and also get me free evening golf after work and great practice facilities

What's better is this depends on where you live, I know on some parts of the country 7 day memberships are as low as £400

 

[CMNI]

I will have been playing a year this May and have just bit the bullet.

I have joined up to one of my local clubs - my better halves Uncles play at it and is where I have played and will likely play the most next year.

I did exactly the same as you. I divided fees by times likely to play, and it worked out more or less the same. But then when I took into consideration the chance to get a handicap and have an actual goal to play towards opposed to just messing about, and the fact that I can walk on in the summer after work and play 4-5-13 holes or whatever I have time for without worrying about getting my moneys worth it was a no brainer.

What really sealed the deal was something her uncle said to me. I told him about calculating the green fee vs membership. He said that its golf, not the gym. I go to the gym every morning because I pay. I hate it, but I have to do it. Golf on the other hand has quickly become my favourite past time. He said that he reckons I will play a lot more than I am expecting, because its already paid for and I like playing. And when I think about it I totally agree.

(I have also managed to wrangle the rest of January and Feb for free, and my membership starts in March!!!)

 

[Hobbit]

The biggest pro for me is being able to go down to a club for half an hour+ to iron out niggles in my game without it costing any money. 1/2 hour on the practice green/ground can make a big difference to your game. And then there's the regular comps that help focus the mind.

providing you've joined for the right reasons it can only help improve your game. The only con I see is if you suddenly start spending lots of time at the club instead of home you might just get a load of grief.

 

[SteveW86]

Thanks for all the responses so far, it looks like I will be doing a few visits to all the local courses to get a feel for them over the next few weeks.