Golf boom 2020–20??

[Oddsocks]

Wouldn't say it's all that expensive. You could get everything you needed, clubs, shoes, clothes for less than 100 quid easily. When a pint of beer or a coffee is the best part of a fiver I don't think golf is too bad.

100%. Golf is only as expensive as you want it to be providing you can control the temptation of new shiny stuff, or you’re left handed. Jesus that stuff holds it’s money.

 

[GB72]

Wouldn't say it's all that expensive. You could get everything you needed, clubs, shoes, clothes for less than 100 quid easily. When a pint of beer or a coffee is the best part of a fiver I don't think golf is too bad.

I guess much of it depends on what you have nearby as much as anything. You can pick up th basic kit cheap but you then need to learn to use it well enough to play a round and that costs. That is always a hurdle with golf in that you have to put in a decent amount of effort just to reach basic levels of proficiency. Then you need to get on a course to play. 3 out of 4 around me are private members with no access to guests at weekends and then you have Belton Woods that is massively busy at weekends in the summer. We do have a great 9 hole course that is affordable but few have that. Then you have what the original question was about, membership. That was about £650 a year not long ago around my way, now about to go over a grand at my old club (that was also looking at joining fees again). That is what will be the factor to me, that £100 going out every month regardless of how often you play, that may send a few back to pay and play or even to give up the game.

 

[r0wly86]

Wouldn't say it's all that expensive. You could get everything you needed, clubs, shoes, clothes for less than 100 quid easily. When a pint of beer or a coffee is the best part of a fiver I don't think golf is too bad.

You can get clubs and shoes fairly cheap. Fiver per round, soon adds up, also not including gloves, balls, tees etc

However you can get stuff for a hundred but where are you going to play. Membership is going to set you back a minimum of several hundred per year, not including any potential joining fee. Or green fees which are going to be at least £20 per round. Plus presumably if you are just taking up the sport you will need some lessons etc

Yes you can spend almost infinite amounts of money on golf if you want, but even if done cheap it is still expensive when compared to other hobbies. For instance I played rugby for several years, annual subs were £150 per year and then another £100 for match fees, that would cover training and matches, with food thrown in. That would also include new shorts and socks every year and training top and didn't need to pay for playing shirts. I would need to get new boots every 2-3 years for £80 or so and a new mouthguard every season.

With everything getting more expensive and generally people having less spare cash left over, spending several hundred pounds on a new hobby probably isn't going to happen

 

[clubchamp98]

You can get clubs and shoes fairly cheap. Fiver per round, soon adds up, also not including gloves, balls, tees etc

However you can get stuff for a hundred but where are you going to play. Membership is going to set you back a minimum of several hundred per year, not including any potential joining fee. Or green fees which are going to be at least £20 per round. Plus presumably if you are just taking up the sport you will need some lessons etc

Yes you can spend almost infinite amounts of money on golf if you want, but even if done cheap it is still expensive when compared to other hobbies. For instance I played rugby for several years, annual subs were £150 per year and then another £100 for match fees, that would cover training and matches, with food thrown in. That would also include new shorts and socks every year and training top and didn't need to pay for playing shirts. I would need to get new boots every 2-3 years for £80 or so and a new mouthguard every season.

With everything getting more expensive and generally people having less spare cash left over, spending several hundred pounds on a new hobby probably isn't going to happen

While I agree with the most of what you say.
It needs to go back to learning the game before you splash out joining a club.
Muni golf used to be very affordable but I am not sure of the cost now.
That’s the way to do it imo.
Learn about the game ,make sure you like it long term before splashing out.