How many rounds?

[Maninblack4612]

This is a poll to compare your club's green fees with annual membership. Take the normal men's annual membership. Divide this by the average of the weekend summer / winter full green fee ( without a member) to give the number of rounds you'd need to play to make it worthwhile, financially, to be a member.

The results should be interesting.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I don't see the fascination with this subject I really don't. Being a member is so much more than the number of rounds you play and clubs charge the fees required to cover the costs. If you're not happy paying the fees, don't pay them.

 

[Smiffy]

Full membership at Cooden is £1050.00.
Green fee during the Summer is £50.00
No "winter rate" is listed but the after 4pm rate is £30.00 so let's work on an average of £40.00
That makes it just under 27 rounds per year to "break even".
Is that what you are looking for?

 

[Maninblack4612]

I don't see the fascination with this subject I reqlly din't. Being a member is so much more than the number of rounds you play and clubs charge the fees required to cover the costs. If you're not happy paying the fees, don't pay them.

Agree with you entirely and that's not the point. What the results will illustrate is how cheap clubs, who are desperate for extra income, are willing to make green fees to attract visitors. The lower they go the more people will prefer to be itinerant to being a member. The very step clubs are taking to offset the effect of falling membership is likely to reduce membership further. I've seen it happen at my club and there are some people who foresee this trend accelerating as clubs make casual golf cheaper & cheaper.

 

[Maninblack4612]

Full membership at Cooden is £1050.00.
Green fee during the Summer is £50.00
No "winter rate" is listed but the after 4pm rate is £30.00 so let's work on an average of £40.00
That makes it just under 27 rounds per year to "break even".
Is that what you are looking for?

Spot on. I wouldn't be surprised if your result turned out to be fairly typical. I know people join clubs for the other benefits membership brings but you can understand why someone who finds him/herself unable to play as much as he/she would like might think twice about renewing his/her membership.

 

[Smiffy]

Spot on. I wouldn't be surprised if your result turned out to be fairly typical. I know people join clubs for the other benefits membership brings but you can understand why someone who finds him/herself unable to play as much as he/she would like might think twice about renewing his/her membership.

But aren't most clubs accepting just this and therefore offering "flexible" membership schemes???
All of the golf clubs in my area are, even long established ones like Crowborough Beacon.
I appreciate that some of the older, more traditional clubs that have a waiting list for membership don't need to.
But times are a changing.
And paying greens fees won't get you a handicap and all of the other benefits that come with being a member.
I love playing in Open competitions.
It's a cheap way to get to play some really wonderful courses and meet other players.
I wouldn't be able to do this if I weren't a member and didn't have an official handicap.
You can't put a price on that can you?

 

[GreiginFife]

At an average of £30 per round on summer/winter rates then 20.5 rounds, effectively half of what I play at minimum.

 

[chellie]

If I've worked it out correctly it would be 13 rounds using summer and winter weekend rates. We get free range balls as well though so it would be less than that.

 

[Coatsy79]

Mine came out at 26 rounds, but, there are often offers etc that mean you can play at certain times for half the usual average green fee

I.e £15 all day Monday and Saturday/Sunday after 12

Actually since I seldom play on a weekend morning it would actually benefit me to not be a member, but as I get handicap/county card etc it might make it worth it

 

[Maninblack4612]

But aren't most clubs accepting just this and therefore offering "flexible" membership schemes???
All of the golf clubs in my area are, even long established ones like Crowborough Beacon.
I appreciate that some of the older, more traditional clubs that have a waiting list for membership don't need to.
But times are a changing.
And paying greens fees won't get you a handicap and all of the other benefits that come with being a member.
I love playing in Open competitions.
It's a cheap way to get to play some really wonderful courses and meet other players.
I wouldn't be able to do this if I weren't a member and didn't have an official handicap.
You can't put a price on that can you?

I agree with all of this. I think it's the way most clubs will have to go. There will always be a core of members. If it becomes possible to obtain & maintain a handicap without membership the trend will accelerate.

 

[davidy233]

I'd get eight rounds on Monifieth Medal for my £605 annual fee

 

[JCW]

Ours at Parkstone is £1405 a year and weekday green fee is £85 and weekend is £95 so you need 16.52 rounds to get your monies back and i have played 79 full rounds this year and counting plus a few more where i only play a few holes . so its worth my annual subs ....................

Subs £1405
WE green fee is £ 95
WD Green fee is £85

Break even is 16.52 rounds

worth every penny as course is in great nick all year :thup:

 

[Maninblack4612]

I'd get eight rounds on Monifieth Medal for my £605 annual fee

Decent value then?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Agree with you entirely and that's not the point. What the results will illustrate is how cheap clubs, who are desperate for extra income, are willing to make green fees to attract visitors. The lower they go the more people will prefer to be itinerant to being a member. The very step clubs are taking to offset the effect of falling membership is likely to reduce membership further. I've seen it happen at my club and there are some people who foresee this trend accelerating as clubs make casual golf cheaper & cheaper.

OK fair enough, well not having been at Blackmoor long I can only go by what the website says which is..."Visitors are very welcome during the week" which makes it sound like they aren't allowed at weekends which doesn't sound right. It also says the green fee is £60 from April first but not mention of a winter green fee.

However, since I like to play early Saturday mornings at a time visitors wouldn't be allowed, my membership is value for money to me as soon as I hit my first tee shot at 8am on a Saturday.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Still don't see what the fascination with rounds v cost is. Membership is about so much more than just how many times you play and the equation is simple. If you can afford it, you enjoy it, it's value for money. For everyone how that's decided is an individual thing and not tied to £'s

 

[JohnF]

My course has different membership ranging from £375 to £1700. My country membership is £950 and with a summer rate of £85 is just over 11 summer rounds.

 

[Maninblack4612]

Still don't see what the fascination with rounds v cost is. Membership is about so much more than just how many times you play and the equation is simple. If you can afford it, you enjoy it, it's value for money. For everyone how that's decided is an individual thing and not tied to £'s

The point I'm trying to make is that as clubs, through competition, reduce their green fees to attract much needed visitors, the more members who don't play a lot will think it may be a good idea to drop out and just pay green fees. I can see it happening. The more members a club loses the more visitors it needs, so it reduces the green fees further, which leads more members to decide it's not worth keeping membership. Yes, there will always be a core of members, like me, who would never give up their membership but, at current levels of green fees, most clubs will struggle to replace lost membership fees with income from visitors.

Rounds v cost is a crude measure of how cheap a club's green fees are compared with membership for a golfer playing a specified number of rounds per year.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The point I'm trying to make is that as clubs, through competition, reduce their green fees to attract much needed visitors, the more members who don't play a lot will think it may be a good idea to drop out and just pay green fees. I can see it happening. The more members a club loses the more visitors it needs, so it reduces the green fees further, which leads more members to decide it's not worth keeping membership. Yes, there will always be a core of members, like me, who would never give up their membership but, at current levels of green fees, most clubs will struggle to replace lost membership fees with income from visitors.

Rounds v cost is a crude measure of how cheap a club's green fees are compared with membership for a golfer playing a specified number of rounds per year.

We haven't reduced green fees and had no problem attracting visitors. Green fees have actually stayed at the same price for several years. We've no issue getting members through the door at the moment either so replacing lost members with green fees isn't a necessisty

 

[Maninblack4612]

We haven't reduced green fees and had no problem attracting visitors. Green fees have actually stayed at the same price for several years. We've no issue getting members through the door at the moment either so replacing lost members with green fees isn't a necessisty

Some of our local clubs are struggling & competing with each other for the nomadic golfers. Looks like you don't have the same problem.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Some of our local clubs are struggling & competing with each other for the nomadic golfers. Looks like you don't have the same problem.

RAGC and a few other clubs (such as Ashford Monor) have benefitted from a mass exodus from Laleham. One clubs troubles have certainly benefitted others. Things wouldn't be quite so Rosy without Laleham's dowfall.

Interestingly, it seems that taking on more pay & play has contributed partly to members leaving Laleham (or so I am told)