Cost of Annual Membership at your Club

[timd77]

So on a bit of research this afternoon:

Ravenmeadow
£680 full adult membership
£440 Under 30's

Worcester golf and country club
£1200 full adult
£906 under 35's - £75pm

Sapey Golf and Country club
£880 full adult
£550 31-36
£450 18-30

Worcester is the best and second closest course to me (10 mins in good traffic but through the middle of town that wont happen often)
Sapey is the second best but furthest away (30 mins)
Raven is 3 minutes from my door but the subsidy stops at 30...

Gaudet Luce also an option but no membership fees on their site..

I’m at Kidderminster, £1200 a year and we’ve been open pretty much every day through winter (apart from snow cover), no temp greens and only 4 winter tees.

A lad I played against the other day has just joined from Sapey, I’ve played it a few times and really like it so I asked why he’s moved, and it’s partly due to the condition in the winter. Something to consider. Lovely setting though.

Is bewdley pines too far? Guessing you’re not north of Worcester? Less than a grand for full membership and I’m told it’s playable all year round.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

Well...after annual renewal time...we have dropped from 590 members to 460..thats a 22%drop...that's a tough ask for any club to manage...ill be honest though....its no surprise given the state of the course and the abrasive attitude of some of the staff members...especially across the bar, where what some staff think is banter actually descends into rudeness.

That’s a big drop.

Is that anything to do with price or just the fact the course isn’t up to scratch?

 

[nickjdavis]

That’s a big drop.

Is that anything to do with price or just the fact the course isn’t up to scratch?

Wow...!!!
That is a huge drop
With that sort of drop in revenue, surely the course will suffer further

Not price....we are towards the lower end of the price spectrum in the region.

Some of it will be about the course, however, talking to staff at the club earlier today, a significant number of those who have gone are what you might call short term members who only joined after/as part of the "covid boom" and have been at the club less than two years. Quite a few others are those that "follow deals". The general consensus was that, previously with nearly 600 members (and we've NEVER had close to 600 members in the 20 years I've been there....only in the last couple of years) we were over capacity....the course was very busy and some folks were struggling to get tee times...obviously this also has an effect on wear and tear.

There has also been some proposed redevelopment of certain areas of the course that also hasn't gone down too well which will also have had an effect.

Update: I've just pulled off the list of resigned members since 1st March.....of the 135 names in the list I only recognised 35!!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Not price....we are towards the lower end of the price spectrum in the region.

Some of it will be about the course, however, talking to staff at the club earlier today, a significant number of those who have gone are what you might call short term members who only joined after/as part of the "covid boom" and have been at the club less than two years. Quite a few others are those that "follow deals". The general consensus was that, previously with nearly 600 members (and we've NEVER had close to 600 members in the 20 years I've been there....only in the last couple of years) we were over capacity....the course was very busy and some folks were struggling to get tee times...obviously this also has an effect on wear and tear.

There has also been some proposed redevelopment of certain areas of the course that also hasn't gone down too well which will also have had an effect.

Update: I've just pulled off the list of resigned members since 1st March.....of the 135 names in the list I only recognised 35!!

BIB is why clubs that can have a joining fee..you get a more stable membership. Who’s to know how many more long term committed members your club might have had, had you not taken on a load who have turned out to short-termists…and maybe always were.

 

[nickjdavis]

BIB is why clubs that can have a joining fee..you get a more stable membership. Who’s to know how many more long term committed members your club might have had, had you not taken on a load who have turned out to short-termists…and maybe always were.

Unfortunately, when a golfer walks through your doors waving his credit card, there is nothing written across his forehead that indicates his long term commitment to the club.

If a joining fee was in place then quite probably a significant number of them wouldn't have walked through the doors in the first place.

Swngs. Roundabouts.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Unfortunately, when a golfer walks through your doors waving his credit card, there is nothing written across his forehead that indicates his long term commitment to the club.

If a joining fee was in place then quite probably a significant number of them wouldn't have walked through the doors in the first place.

Swngs. Roundabouts.

Yes indeed, and that’s why a key argument clubs use for joining fees is that it tends to weed out the intended short-termists. But of course the problem is that clubs need members full stop. Difficult.

 

[OntheteeGavin]

Well...after annual renewal time...we have dropped from 590 members to 460..thats a 22%drop...that's a tough ask for any club to manage...ill be honest though....its no surprise given the state of the course and the abrasive attitude of some of the staff members...especially across the bar, where what some staff think is banter actually descends into rudeness.

I heard about the bar staff. What's the latest on it changing to a 9 hole course?

 

[nickjdavis]

I heard about the bar staff. What's the latest on it changing to a 9 hole course?

Despite the planning application still being live and current I personally do not see it happening. My personal opinion is that the club will die as an 18 hole course or will survive as an 18 hole course. It will not change to a nine hole course.

I have no "inside information" to support my view...it is just how I feel.

 

[evemccc]

Life is more ‘precarious’ and short-term than 25/30 years ago, so not all people who leave golf clubs after a couple of years are flaky commitment-phobes that a joining fee would have ‘weeded-out’..


@Bdill93 what did you decide re: new club? In your shoes if you were considering spending £1200 a year on golf and liked your current place that was 3 mins away, I would have joined again at 680, and then committed £520 on playing once a month on £100 a round ‘treat’ courses from May - September —- you get to play some v nice courses and still get next-door golf to practice / play at, a stones throw away

 

[OntheteeGavin]

Despite the planning application still being live and current I personally do not see it happening. My personal opinion is that the club will die as an 18 hole course or will survive as an 18 hole course. It will not change to a nine hole course.

I have no "inside information" to support my view...it is just how I feel.

Thanks for your honest reply.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Looking at the top end (say >£2000) of the subs folks are paying, I’m wondering whether many are clubs that offer pretty much nothing much more than what a traditional golf club would offer, and how many are verging on, or actually, more like a country club.

I use the £2000 break as I know that most of the decent more traditional members clubs in my area (Surrey/Hants/Berks borders) are £2000 or thereabouts.

 

[D-S]

Looking at the top end (say >£2000) of the subs folks are paying, I’m wondering whether many are clubs that offer pretty much nothing much more than what a traditional golf club would offer, and how many are verging on, or actually, more like a country club.

I use the £2000 break as I know that most of the decent more traditional members clubs in my area (Surrey/Hants/Berks borders) are £2000 or thereabouts.

I can’t think of a club anywhere in the South West that charges over £1600.

 

[JayB]

I can’t think of a club anywhere in the South West that charges over £1600.

The Manor House, Castle Combe is £1,995

 

[D-S]

The Manor House, Castle Combe is £1,995

I don’t classify Wiltshire in the South West - to me it is just about everywhere west of Bristol.
Equally I don’t think of Bournemouth as in the South West - there are some pricey clubs there.

 

[IanM]

I don’t classify Wiltshire in the South West - to me it is just about everywhere west of Bristol.

Membury Services!

£2k for Castle Combe? World's gorn maaad

 

[Newnsy]

Living in Surrey you don't really get much of a choice of a cheap membership, I pay about £2.4k for a great course / Club, my closest club where you would be better playing in football boots in the Winter is about £1.6K (I think). Id prefer to pay the extra and enjoy the experience but I'm sure if the course was anywhere else in the UK it would be much cheaper.

 

[Neilds]

I don’t classify Wiltshire in the South West - to me it is just about everywhere west of Bristol.
Equally I don’t think of Bournemouth as in the South West - there are some pricey clubs there.

Agree that Bournemouth isn't SW but Wiltshire certainly is. And Castle Combe is only about 20 miles from the centre of Bristol

 

[r0wly86]

Agree that Bournemouth isn't SW but Wiltshire certainly is. And Castle Combe is only about 20 miles from the centre of Bristol

as a proud Devonian, Wiltshire is definitely not South West

 

[JayB]

Taken from Wikipedia,

"South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and large towns in the region include Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Gloucester, Plymouth and Swindon."

I'll let you argue amongst yourselves on what is and isn't the South West

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Taken from Wikipedia,

"South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and large towns in the region include Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Gloucester, Plymouth and Swindon."

I'll let you argue amongst yourselves on what is and isn't the South West

To be fair, anyone can upload to Wikipedia. The above may well be correct, or it may have been uploaded by Dave from Bolton who has never been south of Birmingham