Deal breakers for joining courses

[HPIMG]

I have been on the waiting list for the past year for another local club. I had kind of forgotten about it and got a email last night saying if I take there winter membership it will guarantee I get in for the start of the season.
My current club is a decent club i enjoy it and love to play myself in the mornings, ill occasionally play with 2/3 other guys and enjoy there company but if I’m honest I hate slow 4 hour rounds of golf but am happy to play a slow round once a week just not everyday. Also current club doesn’t use winter mats we can hit off fairways all year and I love this.
Waiting list clubs course is probably a better course and it’s a fair bit longer meaning I’ll need to up my long game and that’s my main problem and I quite like a challenge. Downside is it’s ment to be really busy in the mornings but I know the pro and he will get me in groups with good people just means probably 4 hour rounds daily and they use winter mats this might be the deal breaker.
Both my current club and away club don’t use them and I don’t know if I want to go back to winter mats.
Thinking I’ll go up this week and play it one last time as I’ll need to make my decision by end of week.
If you were in my situation what would you pick ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Deal breakers
Playing off mats
Poor bunkers/greens
Clubhouse with no atmosphere or lack of members
Issues getting a game
Slow golf (4 hours is average at our place)
Lack of practice facilities

 

[sunshine]

Deal breakers
Playing off mats
Poor bunkers/greens
Clubhouse with no atmosphere or lack of members
Issues getting a game
Slow golf (4 hours is average at our place)
Lack of practice facilities

Similar to Homer. Except I’m not that bothered about the clubhouse atmosphere, I go in with my mates / playing partners and it wouldn’t bother me if we were the only ones there.

 

[LincolnShep]

When choosing my last full membership it came down to a choice of two. Club S was better than Club B in every respect (course, condition, clubhouse etc.) with one exception... the competitions at Club S were "book your own tee times and play with your mates"; at Club B, they were all drawn. I realise that there are pros and cons of both models (and I'm not interested in discussing them!) but, as someone joining on their own without any mates already in the membership, the lack of drawn comps became a deal breaker. I joined the club that was second-best in all other respects, but they had drawn comps which meant I could meet the other members.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

It will always come down to value for money for the course

As long as the course is good standard
There are tee bookings in place
A good mix of social and comp golf


That will do

Not too bothered about mats if it’s a course that needs them

 

[HomerJSimpson]

When choosing my last full membership it came down to a choice of two. Club S was better than Club B in every respect (course, condition, clubhouse etc.) with one exception... the competitions at Club S were "book your own tee times and play with your mates"; at Club B, they were all drawn. I realise that there are pros and cons of both models (and I'm not interested in discussing them!) but, as someone joining on their own without any mates already in the membership, the lack of drawn comps became a deal breaker. I joined the club that was second-best in all other respects, but they had drawn comps which meant I could meet the other members.

I would agree with that being a potential deal breaker and I guess it comes down to accessiblity to play. If its mates only then surely a lot of comps will be hard to access. I think I should also have added course condition, especially at this time of year. If its very wet and muddy or even closed regularly that would be a big issue

 

[Mandofred]

-reasonably friendly, I think they pretty well all are.....but some on here say otherwise.
-practice facility
-course in decent shape
-course not boring
-short drive
-all year playing
-no joining fee or waiting list

Of course I joined a course that has a few bad checkmarks.......25 min drive, no decent practice area. If I'm still playing come April I'm likely to rejoin at my last club and maybe keep my current club. Current club much better during the winter, but the last course is about 7 min drive and has a small practice area.

 

[Backache]

Can't think of any deal breakers. It will always be a combination of factors which include Accessibility (distance), availability of playing times , course quality and condition,cost, friendliness etc. If a course was notoriously poor quality I would be unlikely to join it say but if it was the only course within an hours drive that I could play I probably would but plan on hoping to get quite a few away days.

 

[Golfnut1957]

Strange isn't it, your dealbreaker is fairway mats and yet my only current gripe with the club is they put them on for one day and then took them off. I want them back

With regard to dealbreakers, I don't have any. I have been at my club for 32 years and my only gripe is the closures because of wet conditions, and as the only thing I could do to alleviate this is join one of the local links, Seaton Carew, Hartlepool or Cleveland, I'll be staying put. I'm not a huge fan of links golf, and my club fits me like a glove.

 

[Neilds]

Location is one of the top things for me. Needs to be close enough to pop to for a few holes after work, etc

 

[PJ87]

Deal breakers
Playing off mats
Poor bunkers/greens
Clubhouse with no atmosphere or lack of members
Issues getting a game
Slow golf (4 hours is average at our place)
Lack of practice facilities

All of these we are fine with , with one exception. Clubhouse. No atmosphere. The food is crap tbh and it's not the best place to be but people do still go after a round.

Greens are top notch
No mats
No issues getting a round
Great practice facilities, even got a par 3 course Included
Golf is good pace. I been doing sub 3 hours past 3 rounds

 

[HomerJSimpson]

All of these we are fine with , with one exception. Clubhouse. No atmosphere. The food is crap tbh and it's not the best place to be but people do still go after a round.

Greens are top notch
No mats
No issues getting a round
Great practice facilities, even got a par 3 course Included
Golf is good pace. I been doing sub 3 hours past 3 rounds

Is it I. House caterers or an outside concern. We had outside caterers but have taken food in house and quality has been hugely improved

 

[PJ87]

Is it I. House caterers or an outside concern. We had outside caterers but have taken food in house and quality has been hugely improved

House I believe, it's always got things off the menu, doesn't do ham egg and chips and it's bang average apart from breakfast, because you can't sod that up

They have made it clear they only care about big events so for societies, weddings , conferences etc they will increase the spread (they get ham egg and chips!!) and the food is much better then

 

[HomerJSimpson]

House I believe, it's always got things off the menu, doesn't do ham egg and chips and it's bang average apart from breakfast, because you can't sod that up

They have made it clear they only care about big events so for societies, weddings , conferences etc they will increase the spread (they get ham egg and chips!!) and the food is much better then

Sad when the members get frozen out. Our in house chef caters for the social events as well and so there was fish and chips last Friday for bingo. Lovely batter and big pieces of fish so value for money

 

[PJ87]

Sad when the members get frozen out. Our in house chef caters for the social events as well and so there was fish and chips last Friday for bingo. Lovely batter and big pieces of fish so value for money

Luckily there is a table table right next door if we want a decent meal

But I stick to drinks and eat at home , it's close by

They have made it clear they want a country club feel not a golf club so guess we signed up knowing

Course is worth it

 

[Norrin Radd]

In all my years of playing golf (51years) I have never ever played golf off of a mat.
It would appear I have been very lucky in my choice of courses to play during the wetter months.
Tbh I wouldn't know how to play off of a mat ,I've never seen them used. Do you have to faff about staking it down so it stays in place when you hit? I honestly don't know.

 

[Mandofred]

In all my years of playing golf (51years) I have never ever played golf off of a mat.
It would appear I have been very lucky in my choice of courses to play during the wetter months.
Tbh I wouldn't know how to play off of a mat ,I've never seen them used. Do you have to faff about staking it down so it stays in place when you hit? I honestly don't know.

It's like hitting the ball any other time. The ball is there.....hit it. The mat does not have special powers to do weird things....it's just a mat. Staking it down is a waste of time.....although some people are convinced it is needed.

 

[HPIMG]

I’m trying out the new course again on Thursday to see if I’m joining. They don’t go onto mats until November but I might just play maybe 9 holes to see if I really hate the mats and it’s a deal breaker.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

In all my years of playing golf (51years) I have never ever played golf off of a mat.
It would appear I have been very lucky in my choice of courses to play during the wetter months.
Tbh I wouldn't know how to play off of a mat ,I've never seen them used. Do you have to faff about staking it down so it stays in place when you hit? I honestly don't know.

You just drop me the mat down, line it up if you want, pop your ball on and off you go. No staking down, not necessary.

Where I struggled with them was it felt like the ball was a little high all the time. It was a psychological thing, I would hunch my arms and wouldn't swing freely. My current course doesn't need them, I'm pleased about that.

 

[Bazz]

Can I book a tee time and will it be honoured or will some bloke who doesn't like tee times just turn up and go out without one.