Joining fees creeping back ?

[Jaco]

Creeping back? They never left. If a club is worth joining then they can afford to do it, indeed you could argue they would be daft not to; it means that those joining intend to commit to the club long term, providing a regular revenue stream & more security of budget planning for ongoing schemes & maintenance. I looked at mine as a 20 year investment, meaning I'm paying less than a tenner a month over that time for the membership. Most of the clubs that have dropped joint fees do well out of it for that year but a large number of those new joiners tend to gravitate to the next cheap offer is the experience round here.

Well they did leave didn't they, because I said that three clubs close to me didn't have them two years ago and now do.......and I'm sorry, but the idea of clubs expecting people 'to commit to the club long term' is such and old fashioned idea. That belongs back in the days when you doffed your cap to the colonel in the clubhouse. These days people expect the club to work hard to keep THEM..

 

[Jaco]

I joined my local club in November. I paid just £50 joining fee as she said they were doing a deal. It’s a relatively cheap club and the clubhouse is a little tired. We do have a floodlit driving range and I really like the course, it’s great for the money. Plenty of challenging holes all very different And plenty of space in between them. To be honest I find it ridiculously cheap to be a 7 day member in this day and age.

It can realistically be argued that fifty quid is an admin fee to sort out the new member paperwork, and I'd have no qualms with that. £ 500 plus is just opportunism though and it leaves a sour taste. Also, I have to say I feel differently about clubs that have ALWAYS had joining fees. Its the ones that dip in and out of them, that look a bit spiv-like.

 

[Jaco]

Very few leave the club where Ken and I play, other than those who sadly pass away, we generally only take in around 20 or so a year and with a rumoured 300 or so currently on the waiting list it's looking like around a 15 year wait, we have always had a joining fee as far as I'm aware, it cost me £40 subs and £40 joining fee when I joined in 1982, we have a quality product that people want to play and plans for a new clubhouse, practice range, 9 hole short course etc, I don't see any issue with having a joining fee in our circumstances and it evidently isn't deterring folk from joining the waiting list, I appreciate that other clubs will be different

I have no issues with clubs that have always had them. It must be a good club to be able to sustain a permanent joining fee. I just see no justification for having them, then not having them, as suits the club. It would make me feel aggrieved if someone joined when there was no JF, and I'd shelled out hundreds on one the year before. It looks unprofessional and profiteering.

 

[IanM]

Well they did leave didn't they, because I said that three clubs close to me didn't have them two years ago and now do.......and I'm sorry, but the idea of clubs expecting people 'to commit to the club long term' is such and old fashioned idea. That belongs back in the days when you doffed your cap to the colonel in the clubhouse. These days people expect the club to work hard to keep THEM..

Depends on the club. I am effectively a co owner so have a stake in the future. If I'm unhappy, I try and do something.

At a proprietary club, I'm only a customer. If I'm not happy with the deal, I walk.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We

Personally I think a lot of clubs introducing joining fees will be dropping them very soon, and a lot of waiting lists will empty quickly. Combine the average energy bill increase and the NI rise both due in April, and you get the annual membership fee at an awful lot of clubs. It looks to me like too many clubs are desperate to kill the golden goose.

Well where I live in the London commuter belt a lot of folks will be commuting less and the saving they make on train fares will be very significant and will cover the cost of a joining fee for most clubs in the area.

 

[Swango1980]

Well they did leave didn't they, because I said that three clubs close to me didn't have them two years ago and now do.......and I'm sorry, but the idea of clubs expecting people 'to commit to the club long term' is such and old fashioned idea. That belongs back in the days when you doffed your cap to the colonel in the clubhouse. These days people expect the club to work hard to keep THEM..

Why? A club with a joining fee is probably not struggling for members. They could close the doors completely, but acknowledge they can cope with a small demand of new members. So, a joining fee is set so that it limits the amount of people wanting to join, but is most likely limited to people who are serious about joining for the longer term. Rather than a one season wonder. It also generates more income for the club.

I'm not sure how that is old fashioned? Makes good business sense to me.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I have no issues with clubs that have always had them. It must be a good club to be able to sustain a permanent joining fee. I just see no justification for having them, then not having them, as suits the club. It would make me feel aggrieved if someone joined when there was no JF, and I'd shelled out hundreds on one the year before. It looks unprofessional and profiteering.

I have to suggest that if you are happy to pay a joining fee then that's your decision. If the club subsequently decides to reduce or scrap the joining fee then lucky old new joiners...but as you were happy with what you paid when you joined then I'd just go with it. Things and circumstances change.

 

[AAC]

Depends on the club. I am effectively a co owner so have a stake in the future. If I'm unhappy, I try and do something.

At a proprietary club, I'm only a customer. If I'm not happy with the deal, I walk.

Agreed, as others have said golf club membership hopefully should be seen as a long term investment, I have been a member at my club for 28 years so see the £1,500.00 joining fee I paid back then as a great investment. I think its a pity that people seem to think that a club should work to keep them rather than the member working to stay a member & looking to help in improving it. We have seen transient members who are after a deal and like so many clubs we have allowed them in, on the whole the do little to benefit the club and usually look to go where the next deal is.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Good. The more measures put in place to keep the riffraff out the better.

Am I doing this right?

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Agreed, as others have said golf club membership hopefully should be seen as a long term investment, I have been a member at my club for 28 years so see the £1,500.00 joining fee I paid back then as a great investment. I think its a pity that people seem to think that a club should work to keep them rather than the member working to stay a member & looking to help in improving it. We have seen transient members who are after a deal and like so many clubs we have allowed them in, on the whole the do little to benefit the club and usually look to go where the next deal is.

Indeed, typical of current entitlement culture

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have a joining fee and a waiting list. I can see some merit in it to try and keep the new members attached to the club rather than joining and then moving on to the next best deal. I am not 100% sure but think the large majority of neighbouring clubs (with the exception of Mill Ride) have a joining fee so we aren't alone

 

[GB72]

A joining fee would be enought to stop me coming back to the game. As someone who works all week at most I get to play twice a week. Annual costs are hitting the £1000.00 mark and I cannot justify that for one or two rounds a week (espcially when you think about how many weeks I cannot play due to weather, holidays, other commitments etc). I have chosen my works carefully as it is not a case of cannot afford, it it one of being able to justify it, to see decent value in what I am spending and it is currently not there. Add another grand or so on to that (my old club advised everyone who left during covid that they would have to pay a joining fee of about that if they wanted to come back after) and there really is no value in a membership for me at that price. Will play the odd game as a guest with mates but that is now about it.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Been done twice with joining fees, with clubs afterwards taking on to many members. Learnt my lesson now, left both clubs as a result. I as such, don't mind showing commitment and paying, but a shame some clubs do not show the same commitment to existing members.

Would have to be a very special club, for me to pay a larger joining fee now.

 

[IanM]

Good. The more measures put in place to keep the riffraff out the better.

Am I doing this right?

Not really... it doesn't keep out wealthy riff-raff does it?

Surely you need to invite them to eat and see if they can manage cutlery, ask which school they went to, what regiment they served in etc etc

How's that? ☺☺

 

[Tashyboy]

I fully understand why clubs have joining fees and there’s loads of reasons why. We have many threads about courses closing thorough lack of membership etc. if a club has a joining fee because it has a waiting list. It tells me they are doing something right. Bottom line, if you don’t like a joining fee, don’t join.

 

[Deleted member 30853]

Can see why the top top courses have them but wouldn't consider joining a middling club with a joining fee. Like to switch round which courses I'm a member at as I would get bored playing the same course all the time.
Plus what happens if the course goes downhill quickly? You are tied to it

 

[Deleted member 15344]

No issues with joining fee

Paid one when I joined the club because I wasn’t intending on leaving at any point

 

[patricks148]

We have one for full membership and always have. I think if you have one people are more likely they are to invest time and stay at the club. Without them you get people chopping and changing chasing lower fees, devaluing you product imo. There isn't one for under 35, we have had a big influx of under 35, but pretty much as soon as reach 36 they are gone.

 

[Boomy]

Our joining fee is £300. We do now have a waiting list, however, the joining fee has been consistent even in the days without a waiting list.
But, for the joining fee not only do you get the pleasure of membership, you also get £100 credit on your bar card, 6 x free guest passes and 1 x 1 hour lesson with the pro.

 

[SammmeBee]

Well they did leave didn't they, because I said that three clubs close to me didn't have them two years ago and now do.......and I'm sorry, but the idea of clubs expecting people 'to commit to the club long term' is such and old fashioned idea. That belongs back in the days when you doffed your cap to the colonel in the clubhouse. These days people expect the club to work hard to keep THEM..

Why didn’t you join 2 years ago then?