Inflation of Greens Fees for the Top UK Courses

[Golfnut1957]

Southerness is certainly on the list of brutally tough courses ?

Played Southerness years ago, other than we also suffered horizontal rain off the Irish Sea, my best memory is of my mate hitting a huge slice over some dunes and trudging off alone to look for it. When he didn't re-appear I went to look for him and found him stood on a beach covered in white pebbles. Left him to it.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I'm hoping to get down to Australia this winter covid permitting as the Melbourne sandbelt courses have been at the top of my bucket list for as long as I can remember. If you think the green fees at our top courses are bad you would cry at what they charge down under! Royal Melbourne is $750 Oz plus $160 for compulsory caddie which at current exchange rates is £510! Then there is Metropolitan, Huntingdale, Commonwealth and Yarra Yarra to add to the list.

How much can you sell a kidney for these days?

 

[KenL]

I'm hoping to get down to Australia this winter covid permitting as the Melbourne sandbelt courses have been at the top of my bucket list for as long as I can remember. If you think the green fees at our top courses are bad you would cry at what they charge down under! Royal Melbourne is $750 Oz plus $160 for compulsory caddie which at current exchange rates is £510! Then there is Metropolitan, Huntingdale, Commonwealth and Yarra Yarra to add to the list.

How much can you sell a kidney for these days?

That's a pity. Members at my club have a reciprocal at 3 clubs. Would love to get down there.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Care to elaborate?

No thanks, I'm good.

Suffice to say that I've played all the courses mentioned and paid anything from top rate, or for free.

 

[Liverbirdie]

Hey cheeky you said one question before

For this club here some figures [will round to nearest 1k], I dont show the VAT rebate years, as clearly mega excesses :-

1994 28,000 profit
1995 28,000 profit
1999 -5,000 loss
2000 6,000 profit
2004 71,000 profit
2005 20,000 profit
2010 27,000 profit
2012 -36,000 loss
2013 47,000 profit
2014 69,000 profit
2015 34,000 profit
2017 1,000 profit
2018 -23,000 loss
2019 21,000 profit

I will leave you to judge, if you think the profits/losses made are excessive or above average at this club, green fees are about £80, they take county card & reciprocals at less and the bulk of their income is membership income and course is busy when I have played there and not top notch or excess employees when compared to the top flight clubs.

As I say a bog standard top 100 members club. So generally better off than a standard members average club and much lower running costs than a top flight club. I have seen alot worse results btw(and better), at other top 100 england clubs, not far from you, that you would not expect.

BTW It would be wrong to expect the figures to be zero or near zero, as any proper business(even not for profit based ones) need to make profits to fund the future and inflation changes. Many golf clubs tend to have positive cash flow, which helps as well and they then can keep profit requirements fairly low, unless they want to invest big in course changes/equipment/clubhouse (ie. by positive cashflow I mean they get the money first/now/in advance to spend afterwards to run the club for the year)

More answers begat more questions.

How come there are gaps? At least they offer county card, I'll say that for them.

Silloth?

 

[Deleted member 3432]

More answers begat more questions.

How come there are gaps? At least they offer county card, I'll say that for them.

Silloth?

It's not Silloth.

 

[Blue in Munich]

More answers begat more questions.

How come there are gaps? At least they offer county card, I'll say that for them.

Silloth?

It's not Silloth.

Come on LB, only 99 more guesses at worst...

 

[Captainron]

I don’t have an issue with clubs charging what they feel they are worth. After all, you as the consumer have the option to choose whether you pay for the use of their facility.

The list is obviously influenced by world rankings and the appetite of foreign visitors who are expecting to pay top dollar for the privilege.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

I don’t have an issue with clubs charging what they feel they are worth. After all, you as the consumer have the option to choose whether you pay for the use of their facility.

The list is obviously influenced by world rankings and the appetite of foreign visitors who are expecting to pay top dollar for the privilege.

Totally agree.

If you don’t like the green fees you don’t have to play it. No one is forcing you. Plenty of other courses out there to be played.

I don’t agree with Kingsbarns been £328 so I won’t be handling over that amount but good luck to the people that do and thoroughly enjoy it.

 

[evemccc]

Totally agree.

If you don’t like the green fees you don’t have to play it. No one is forcing you. Plenty of other courses out there to be played.

I don’t agree with Kingsbarns been £328 so I won’t be handling over that amount but good luck to the people that do and thoroughly enjoy it.

Yes.


But, it’s still a large section of land / coastline, that’s owned by private equity and marketed almost exclusively to wealthy Americans. You just have to see the website to see that.

Few of these stay in local BnBs or local cafes/businesses, most will be spending top dollar to stay in multinational hotel chains and the richest will be helicoptering in and out, like at Dornoch..

V little of this business filters down to the community and independent businesses

Another reason why I’m glad Coul Links got jettisoned

 

[Jimaroid]

But, it’s still a large section of land / coastline, that’s owned by private equity and marketed almost exclusively to wealthy Americans. You just have to see the website to see that.

Well Kingsbarns golf links are an American company after all. Worth considering they don’t own the land or coastline either, it’s leased from the very well to do local estate for a very large yearly sum.

So the green fees are partly due to the good old British upper class wealth system in action.

And to be fair a lot of that money seems to goes back into heritage projects around the wider estate from which the local population has benefitted greatly.

So you’re wrong to say there’s no benefit to the community.

 

[evemccc]

Well Kingsbarns golf links are an American company after all. Worth considering they don’t own the land or coastline either, it’s leased from the very well to do local estate for a very large yearly sum.

So the green fees are partly due to the good old British upper class wealth system in action.

And to be fair a lot of that money seems to goes back into heritage projects around the wider estate from which the local population has benefitted greatly.

So you’re wrong to say there’s no benefit to the community.

Okay, willing to be corrected

 

[KenL]

Yes.


But, it’s still a large section of land / coastline, that’s owned by private equity and marketed almost exclusively to wealthy Americans. You just have to see the website to see that.

Few of these stay in local BnBs or local cafes/businesses, most will be spending top dollar to stay in multinational hotel chains and the richest will be helicoptering in and out, like at Dornoch..

V little of this business filters down to the community and independent businesses

Another reason why I’m glad Coul Links got jettisoned

Agree 100% about Coull. Environmental aspect was massive for me but Scotland does not need another golf course that our residents can't afford to play.

 

[Captainron]

Agree 100% about Coull. Environmental aspect was massive for me but Scotland does not need another golf course that our residents can't afford to play.

Plenty of people can afford to play the courses. They choose not to because it doesn’t represent value for money. Massive difference.

 

[KenL]

Plenty of people can afford to play the courses. They choose not to because it doesn’t represent value for money. Massive difference.

Aye, whatever. ?

 

[sunshine]

No thanks, I'm good.

Suffice to say that I've played all the courses mentioned and paid anything from top rate, or for free.

so basically I was completely correct

 

[Liverbirdie]

so basically I was completely correct

Nope, not really.

 

[sunshine]

Nope, not really.

When that's the best you can come up with, you know I am 100% correct.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

More answers begat more questions.

How come there are gaps? At least they offer county card, I'll say that for them.

Silloth?

I do hate to imagine the money that the likes of Muirfield is making even on limited tee times(old courses, where the course was built years ago and millions haven't been spent recently via borrowed funds). I know from another open venue that their profits and green fees are up alot over that period, eye watering increases.

Hence why I say I think from a business sense that those kind of courses the green fees could probably be 25-40% lower from a business point of view. But as people are willing to pay it, why reduce.......

The green fees are just to high for me to visit now, may do one now and then. Also given my playing partner could be playing the worst links course and she wouldn't realise or care, I will have to wait for invites to play any of the other £250+ green fee courses (wont happen).

Or will have to hope my lucky stars align and become a GM marker

 

[patricks148]

Another reason why I’m glad Coul Links got jettisoned

its not dead yet, will be down to the next Scottish Election, i'd imagine if the SNP get a big Maj and don't need the greens any longer that might just sneak through