Joining the R&A

shivas irons

shivas irons

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Whilst in St Andrews this year I got talking to a fella who told me he was a member to one of the clubs affiliated to the old course,he went on the say as a St Andrews local his subs to play the home of golf was £200 per year :eek:.
Not that I want to join :) but am just curious does anybody know how much it is to join and the yearly subs for the R&A?
 
shivas irons said:
Whilst in St Andrews this year I got talking to a fella who told me he was a member to one of the clubs affiliated to the old course,he went on the say as a St Andrews local his subs to play the home of golf was £200 per year :eek:.
Not that I want to join :) but am just curious does anybody know how much it is to join and the yearly subs for the R&A?
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with the Links ticket they are very cheap in you live in the town, you also have to join on of the clubs. Jimeroid and Golfcitydeweller on here are both members of one of them (2) member ship of the club on top of that links ticket charge.

a couple of guys i know are members of the R&A, one is on the rules committee, so ref's R&A events and does the Scottish Open.

its takes a while to get in i think you need X number of current members to forward propose you. Another guy i know had made the final leg this year and it had taken him 15 years+ , he's an ex club captain has his own business etc.

I don't think you get much in the way of playing rights. The have a couple of meets a year, spring and Autumn on the old course and you get to go in the short term ballot and points for the other courses i think.

I'll ask Robin tomorrow how much it is and how long it took him, been a member for 20.
 
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st.andrews links ticket
we have many types of ticket available, but the 3 main ones are resident , north east fife , country
resident ticket applies to people residing within the `town` boundary approx 205 pounds
north east fife ticket is for those who live outside the boundary but within north east fife 410
country for everyone else 820
waiting list applies only to N E F and COUNTRY tickets

we have R@A , ST.ANDREWS GC , THISTLE GC NEW GOLF CLUB 1 LADIES CLUB AND LADIES SOCIETY , NINETEETH HOLE GC
you can`t apply to join the r@a only invitation with 15 letters of introduction approx 5-7 years process
all others clubs you can apply to join

that is the basic set-up here in st.andrews , hope this helps
 
I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.
 
drive4show said:
I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.
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So nowt but an overpriced muni then? I'll not bother playing it. ;)
 
drive4show said:
I don't think the price structure is very well balanced. Resident ticket holders can get unlimited golf on all courses for a year for basically the same price that a visitor pays for 1 round on the Old course. By all means give residents a discount but I really think the current pricing is vastly unfair for what is a public facility.
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Why do you think its unfair??

surely the town owns the land and runs the links trust, so why should t be geared towards providing cheap golf to residents of the town, its there land after all?
 
patricks148 said:
Why do you think its unfair??

surely the town owns the land and runs the links trust, so why should t be geared towards providing cheap golf to residents of the town, its there land after all?
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Fair enough but in that case why do NE Fife residents get discount as well. Following your logic either give discount to nobody outside the town or ALL of Fife or ALL of Scotland.

Like I said, I don't have an issue with giving locals a discount I just think the numbers are not right. Maybe £500 for a links ticket (still superb value) and £100 a round for TOC?
 
drive4show said:
Fair enough but in that case why do NE Fife residents get discount as well. Following your logic either give discount to nobody outside the town or ALL of Fife or ALL of Scotland.

Like I said, I don't have an issue with giving locals a discount I just think the numbers are not right. Maybe £500 for a links ticket (still superb value) and £100 a round for TOC?
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Maybe Fife council have some interest, I don't know maybe GCD or Jim know. The links ticket fee, makes it look cheap, but you still have to join one of the clubs don't you? which adds to the cost.

Lets face it though, St Andrews is off the beaten track and is a University town if you forgot about the golf courses.
 
patricks148 said:
Maybe Fife council have some interest, I don't know maybe GCD or Jim know. The links ticket fee, makes it look cheap, but you still have to join one of the clubs don't you? which adds to the cost.

Lets face it though, St Andrews is off the beaten track and is a University town if you forgot about the golf courses.
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Lets face it though the old course as a one off is not overly expensive when you consider what Trumps wants for his places or what Wentworth charge
 
patricks148 said:
Lets face it though the old course as a one off is not overly expensive when you consider what Trumps wants for his places or what Wentworth charge
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No that is true but it is still a public course not a private business.
 
drive4show said:
No that is true but it is still a public course not a private business.
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yes buts lets face it, the old course is subsidising the other 5 courses and pretty much must fund the links trust the rest must get invested in the courses and up keep.

The cost has gone up though, when i went there in 2006 it was only £120 for the old course, luckily i played ad a guest of an R&A member and it was free;)
 
An out of town ticket inc club membership is around £800 or so. Tee times on TOC are scarce I believe but clubs do get them, the Castle I believe also has restriction so in essence you get 4, 18 hole courses for your ticket and I may be wrong but I believe most members tend to play New and Jubilee through choice.
 
patricks148 said:
yes buts lets face it, the old course is subsidising the other 5 courses and pretty much must fund the links trust the rest must get invested in the courses and up keep.

The cost has gone up though, when i went there in 2006 it was only £120 for the old course, luckily i played ad a guest of an R&A member and it was free;)
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£55 increase in 10 years. Compare that to other courses of similar stature and you'll find that increase pretty modest. Kingsbarns I believe has risen by over £150 in 10 years, then we can talk Turnberry, Wentworth etc.
 
Thanks for the info guys that was very informative and what a great deal you get in St Andrews to play your golf.
I seem to remember a story in the past regarding membership of the R&A that the American owner of the Old Course hotel and Hamilton hall was refused membership to the R&A on many occasions,apparently at one time his sponsors were no less than Tim Fenchem and Pete Dye! I'm from Suffolk where golf fee's are reasonable but it never fails to amaze me the fee's the guys in Surrey pay to play golf on very mediocre golf courses.
Anyway I think its time to relocate to St Andrews :)
 
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I would imagine that price is also a driver for controlling demand.
Just imagine how over stretched their admin staff would be if it were £50 a round.

Links Trust do a good job. Fife Council is part of the set up of a three tier trust.
Top two tiers are rarely involved in the decision making process, just there for clout.
 
As someone who is on the list for a Links ticket i will be about £800 which includes my club memership, i stay in Dundee which is just across the water from a few guys who stay in Tayport and pay roughly £550 there classed as North East Fife, but in my eyes its a bargain and just the way it works, as Euan says he stay in the town boundaries so why shouldn't he get the benefits of it.
 
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