Joining Fees

[Deleted member 1740]

I spoke to the manager at a local course with regards to joining and was quoted £950 joining fees plus £915 for a 6 day membership.

I also needed to be proposed and seconded to join.

Now i wasn't expecting to pay £1800+ but am wondering what you guys are paying and if these prices are the norm.

 

[MVP]

Joining fees tke the piss mate i wouldnt pay over 300 pound and in a lot of cases they are negotiable

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We are paying c£1200 but we had the AGM (I couldn't attend) so I'm exoecting a rise in April. Not sure where we stand on joining fees now. Some members I've played with recently joined and had to cough up a fee (not sure exactly how much) and others seem to have got membership without it.

I know we have seven day memberships available if anyone wants to join a really friendly club (no need to book - just roll up, loads of comps, maturing and developing tricky parkland course and a great banter in the 19th) or wants to play it and try it out (PM me). We are still very competitive compared with out neighbours (Mill Ride, Swinly, Wentworth, The Berkshire etc)

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Joining fees tke the piss mate i wouldnt pay over 300 pound and in a lot of cases they are negotiable

The fella was adammant that the joining fee was non negotiable, i was expecting it to be about £300

 

[HTL]

Second what Homer said, Ascot is a great knock, shame its just too far for me otherwise I would e very interested.

No joining fee at my club and its cheap as chips at £350 for the year, just got to put up with a load of grumpy OAPs.

 

[MVP]

Joining fees tke the piss mate i wouldnt pay over 300 pound and in a lot of cases they are negotiable

The fella was adammant that the joining fee was non negotiable, i was expecting it to be about £300

thats a shame mate. theres no need to pay over the odds, the are plenty of decent courses out there for sensible money!

 

[medwayjon]

I can understand why clubs have joining fees, they believe they attract the "right" type of members and of course if people have paid a substantial JF they will be reluctant to leave after 1/2 years hence potecting the loyalty of the membership.

On the downside they do deter potential members. A few clubs I have looked at charge joining fees. Some were prepared to waive them for me due to my persuasive nature whereas others were very rigid on them.

I wont pay a JF out of my own pig-headed principles, just cos I may be able to afford it doesnt mean I want to lay out what I see as "dead money" ultimately.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Homer i'm in liverpool mate so wouldn't be able to play down south.

Medway theres a couple more local courses that dont have JFs but they arent very playable in winter as they waterlog quite a bit. i can afford the JF i'm just not prepared to be blatantly ripped off

 

[medwayjon]

You are the same as me then mate, I view it as a bit of a rip-off although I can empathise with the point of them to an extent.

 

[SammmeBee]

Ah - so you want to play the 'good' courses but you don't want to pay the money for it....it's bit like expecting to get a latest edition driver (say RRP £299) for £100 isn't it?

Some clubs don't 'need' Members and so if you're willing to pay a JF they'll let you in, other places 'need' members to keep the numbers up (for lots of reasons but the not that playable in the winter is a good example) and so will let people in at a cheaper rate.....

As in life, in golf you get what you pay for.....if you thinking of keeping the membership up for a good while then fork out if not, then keep paying the green fees or join somewhere you can afford.....

 

[Parmo]

Most courses are not worth the JF, there is one near me thats £730 subs + £450 jf, the course is boring and will take about 5-10 years to mature and its always windy, with that in mind its not a club but more of a pub with a golf course, they are also ridgid about the JF. Another course Moortown is £1200 JF + £1200 subs, but the course work is split between the members, for example the other year they paid about £200 subs each!! yet they had a new club house built and the next years subs each where £10,000 and its not an option to leave, in the contract you have to pay the set amount!!

Most clubs I have seen are offering no JF to get the members, the ones that insist tend to be the clubs you wouldnt want to play at anyway.

 

[Twire]

We have a £1000 joining fee at our club and the subs are about £600 so the first year was expensive. The club is in a position of having a five year waiting list to get in, so they can get away with this without any trouble. There view is if you want to be a member you have to pay it, if not go somewhere else.....you also have to put £100 non refundable deposit down, just to put your name on the waiting list.

 

[OldWindy]

Aberdovey is £150 joining fee and £470 annual sub for full membership. God knows what it would be if it was closer to civilisation.

 

[vig]

I only joined mine when they dropped the £800 joining fee.
It is on my doorstep and playable all year (generally) but as has been stated it would have been dead money.
Another exclusive course close by has always had a waiting list(around 5 years) and a joining fee, not playable all year and opened membership up last year so I think they may be struggling for members now. I will wait and see. The only better thing than current course is a cracking practice ground

 

[Herbie]

In some cases I can have little sympathy with people when some of these clubs are almost guilty of extortion. Most of the high costs of membership are nothing to do with quality of course/facilities/rates/running costs etc, it is simply down to location and advantage taking with a view to elitism in some areas. In areas where there is a lot of money you will find very expensive golf, even at some clubs that are not a patch on cheaper clubs in other areas. It also has little to do with supply and demand, often some of these clubs are located in predominently wealthy areas knowing there is a significant number of wealthy golfers to swell their membership so sod everyone else. I feel sorry for those people who are not that wealthy who live in such areas who wish to play golf. I would rather live in a better area than the often greedy south and commute to and from work as many do these days.

 

[Smiffy]

The joining fee at Crowborough was (if I remember correctly) the same as the yearly subscription...at the time I joined it was something like £675.00 for the year. So the first year was expensive.
When I left (in 2000) due to moving house, the secretary said that if I ever wanted to re-join, she would waive the joining fee which I thought was very good of her.
Still live too far away unfortunately, otherwise I would be back there like a shot
Rob

 

[Herbie]

It should be only a modest joining fee at any club and a reasonable membership fee. Some of these clubs are raking in half to three quaters of a million or more in fees alone and that to me is abuse of members. Clubs make money from sponsorships, pro shops,the club house visitors and comps to mention a few areas. By all means charge more to visitors but dont sting your membership.It does not cost 1/2m to maintain golf courses and that is what most people join for, to play golf.

 

[theeaglehunter]

It does not cost 1/2m to maintain golf courses and that is what most people join for, to play golf.

I bet it does to maintain a top quality 18 hole track! There are a lot of costs that people would never think of. I would say in my case (two 18 hole lay outs) my club shells out more than that in maintenance. Surely your club is non profit making in which case the money pooled from memberships etc is distributed around various improvement projects across the club. From better kept greens through to more toilets in the clubhouse! Membership fees correlate to better courses because they mean the course has more money to spend, it is no coincidence.

I agree many joining fees are over the top though. But in order to maintain a high quality track you do need a hell of a lot of money brought in from yearly subs!

 

[thecraw]

I paid £1k joining fee last year and £700 annual fees to move course, however I do agree that it is disgusting to pay that sort of money. Golf is my only real hobby/vice I rarely drink, dont smoke or gamble so golf is my only form of "relaxation" (tell me that after I finish double, double for the buffer!!). I took the hit and bit the bullet as I really like my course and know its the best in the area as well as in safe financial hands unlike numerous clubs up and down the country!

 

[big_russ]

The club i m set to join charges £250 JF, £799 Subs which i think is a fair price. Having spoken to the course manager he said the only reason they have a JF is as some kind of commitment to the club and to try and stop people moving back and forth from club to club. He also pointed out that the JF had been reduced by 50% over the past couple of years.
One thing that impressed me about this club was that over the last 5 years they have spent around £660k on course improvements. All the greens and bunkers have been re designed and rebuilt, tee boxes have been rebuilt and fairway drainage has been upgraded.
The club is run very much for the members and they have few society days (12-15 yearly). They are also very rarely closed due to the weather with no more than 10 playing days per year lost during the last 2 years.
If this carries on over the next few years and i can play as and when i want then the JF will have been worth every penny to me.