Looking to change course - Around TN/CR/BR Post code area's

[Oddsocks]

The green fees down sa'rf would just make me wanna

dont they just

I can Join 3 top courses for less than your one, and still get change

but we get 12 months a year golf, 11 at worst. not 8 or 9

Didn't you get snow too. In any case we only missed 3 weekends up here, enjoy paying out your grand Plus

Son of a ..........

I do agree it seems crazy that we are paying £1000+ for a basic course yet you can join courses inside the top 100 for less than £750

 

[chrisd]

It's worth asking for a curtesy round with a member to check out whether you would want to join. I am sure any good club would oblige

Chris

funny enought ive just requested this with 2 courses, but ive asked for it to be in with their weekly roll up so i can see what the members a like too.

Good for you. You should never be afraid to ask, they need you more than you need them and you wouldn't buy a car without a test drive!


Chris

 

[patricks148]

The green fees down sa'rf would just make me wanna

dont they just

I can Join 3 top courses for less than your one, and still get change

but we get 12 months a year golf, 11 at worst. not 8 or 9

Didn't you get snow too. In any case we only missed 3 weekends up here, enjoy paying out your grand Plus

Son of a ..........

I do agree it seems crazy that we are paying £1000+ for a basic course yet you can join courses inside the top 100 for less than £750

Considerably less, My Nairn Green fee is £200 less than this with £50 bar levy, Royal Dornoch is about the same (for two Courses)

 

[Oddsocks]

chris, for me its not about the course.

I joined a course before (98) and the members were unwelcoming. you could wait around the first tee and 2 balls would go off without so much as an invite, Yet at the previous course i was a juniour at, if you were in the nets the old chaps would drag you out for 9 holes and there was no way out of it. If the members are hard to intergrate with then its pointless moving.

Both courses have agreed that playing in with the roll up as a guest would give me a good chance to see what sort of members that club has, as these would be the guys i played with until i met people within the club.

Patrick, im not listening.... your wasting your time

 

[patricks148]

Patrick, im not listening.... your wasting your time

[/QUOTE]
Have you considered joining a course up here and flying up every weekend?

 

[Leftie]

I'm afraid it is a bit of "you get what you pay for".

Westerham (great course) and Woldingham are owned by Ron N (Altenwood Group) and are therefore hardly member's clubs. If a society wants to pay good money to play at the weekend then that's OK. Members are welcomed for their annual fee but you might struggle to play when you want. This was one of the main reasons for me leaving there 10 years ago. Things may have changed since then - Bratty is your man for that.

Parkwood. Still a relatively new course but now maturing. I know what you mean about some of the holes (1, 11, 12 - 16?). It's reasonably long and a good test of golf though, but as you say does sometimes allow societies at weekends.

Cherry Lodge. Haven't played it in the winter so can't comment on that aspect other than I have played it in Spring and late autumn after a lot of rain and it has been a bit heavy going - but there again, so can most courses in the area. Not a bad course though but they do need to spend money on the changing facilities .

North Downs. An older and more established course but tbh I find it a bit peculiar. It seems that it may have originally been a (say) 12 holer, the piece of land the other side of the road came up for sale, so they bought it and added 6 holes that are a bit "up and down". The holes on the same side of the road as the clubhouse are, how can I put it, "interesting". Friendly bunch though. As it happens we are playing their Vets next Monday at our place.

One thing to bear in mind about the courses on top of the North Downs is that they are very prone to "low flying cloud" or thick mist if you prefer and can be unexpectedly be closed for several hours until the mist/fog clears. Parkwood, North Downs, Broke Hill and I believe Cherry Ladge are prone to this.

Chislehurst is a nice tight course but, due to it's 8 par 3's is only 5119 yds off the whites and par 66. Very good social side I believe and a good young Pro (was assistant at Sundridge Park before taking up the position a year or so ago). Superb clubhouse that is unfortunately a bit of a money sink.

Other clubs in the area worth considering? All members clubs but may have a joining fee....

Shirley Park, already mentioned.
Croham Hurst
Purley Downs
Addington Palace (possibly the toughest front 9 I've ever tried to play)
West Kent
Langley Park (flat, long but a bit up and down and to me, mainly memorable only for it's par 3's)
Farleigh Court.

And, of course, Sundridge Park 2 courses but a mahoosive joining fee.

Confused yet?

HTH

 

[Oddsocks]

Purley downs is on the list but your getting up into the 1400 mark which is getting border line on out of my budget, ive looked at their site and the course looks very nice, its another that has come into the running though. would the £200 extra be worth it instead of park wood... maybe

Addington palace this year is well out of budget, i think there is a joining fee of £1000 and anual rates of £1600 by the time you pay levy's and union fee's. a great course and as you said a punishing front 9, i dont think my golf or wallet are ready for the palace.

Langly park i ruled out pretty quick, far to flat for my liking.

West kent is one i did consider, but again at the moment althought within budget, there is a silly high joining fee which has ruled this out quickly, i think the £1000 mark spring to mind.

Farleight court, now purchased by foxhills has some mega money being spent, figures of £550k on plant, with £1.5mill course improvement have seen fee's raise quickly already with this year going from around £900 to £1200, with next years rumoured to be above £1500. I have family/inlaws that play there, but general opinions are that because it is on the downs and not tree lined in any way, the wind becomes a major issue in the winter, and it generally doesnt dry very well.

Im looking at chistlehurst but 2 things are holding me off, Joining fee and also the fact that in an evening it could take around 45 mins atleast to get there before i hit the course, where as most of the others are all 20 mins max.

Parkwood, Northdowns, Cherry lodge, Westkent would be around 10-12 mins from work, Purley Downs, Shirley Park & Farleigh would be around 15 mins.

 

[Leftie]

Joining fee at West Kent :-

30 and under. No fee
31 - 40. £500
41 and over. £1,000
No charge for your partner if they join at the same time.

 

[USER1999]

Joining fee at West Kent :-

30 and under. No fee
31 - 40. £500
41 and over. £1,000
No charge for your partner if they join at the same time.

That would annoy the heck out of me. Just because I'm over 40, they think I'm loaded. Would cross that one straight off the list.

 

[Oddsocks]

leftie, partner doesnt play so non applicable. and im still stuck on the thought that in this climate joining fee's should be wavered although some may disagree. 6 months ago i could have had no joining fee, but 6 months on in a worse financial market i have to find £500 just to have the pleasure of them giving them another £1200 ish

 

[Snelly]

Crowborough Beacon has a TN postcode.

I would join there. It is a terrific course and a lovely club.

Cheers,


Snelly.

 

[HRC99]

Im looking at chistlehurst but 2 things are holding me off, Joining fee and also the fact that in an evening it could take around 45 mins atleast to get there before i hit the course, where as most of the others are all 20 mins max.

Looking at the Chislehurst website, they do a three month temporary membership if you don't know anyone there. Could be an option,

 

[Leftie]

... and im still stuck on the thought that in this climate joining fee's should be wavered although some may disagree. 6 months ago i could have had no joining fee, but 6 months on in a worse financial market i have to find £500 just to have the pleasure of them giving them another £1200 ish

Supply and demand I'm afraid, and it helps to separate the traditional "member's" clubs from those that are happy to upset their members at weekends by allowing green fees and societies on at inappropriate times. The rights and wrongs of this have been debated several times on here.

I think I'm right in saying that we ran an incentive with our members last year that resulted in about 75 new members joining. Result is that our subs didn't go up this year.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

What's Coulsdon Court like these days. It use to be a decent course

 

[Oddsocks]

coulsdon is real nice at the moment, but unfortunately the course has gone with a more casual approach to its membership which is pretty much inline with my current set up.

Anual sub of about £100
green fee with each round.

 

[Oddsocks]

... and im still stuck on the thought that in this climate joining fee's should be wavered although some may disagree. 6 months ago i could have had no joining fee, but 6 months on in a worse financial market i have to find £500 just to have the pleasure of them giving them another £1200 ish

Supply and demand I'm afraid, and it helps to separate the traditional "member's" clubs from those that are happy to upset their members at weekends by allowing green fees and societies on at inappropriate times. The rights and wrongs of this have been debated several times on here.

I think I'm right in saying that we ran an incentive with our members last year that resulted in about 75 new members joining. Result is that our subs didn't go up this year.

i suppose its a balance thing, are the members of the club happy that there is 75 more members, or would the members rather had paid a small increase to keep less traffic on the course.

Speaking to one of the courses today they have only 230 members in total, and their fee's are less than £1200 with no joining fee, cant see why west kent and such have joining fee's when clubs near by dont.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

The green fees down sa'rf would just make me wanna

dont they just

I can Join 3 top courses for less than your one, and still get change

but we get 12 months a year golf, 11 at worst. not 8 or 9

Didn't you get snow too. In any case we only missed 3 weekends up here, enjoy paying out your grand Plus

Son of a ..........

I do agree it seems crazy that we are paying £1000+ for a basic course yet you can join courses inside the top 100 for less than £750

Considerably less, My Nairn Green fee is £200 less than this with £50 bar levy, Royal Dornoch is about the same (for two Courses)

They're cheap for a reason - they're in Scotland!!! Too many negatives so they off-set them with a cheap membership......

Oddsocks, quite a few courses in North Kent have no joining fee (including mine...... ) but I guess that's a bit far for you - unless you're moving......

 

[Oddsocks]

Aw I was considering looking further a field but the way petrol prices are I think it's a false economy

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Aw I was considering looking further a field but the way petrol prices are I think it's a false economy

Mitcham GC??? £995 a year - not too sure whether there's a joining fee and only a short drive from Croydon.

Don't be fooled by the short distance of the course - it's a nightmare if you're anything but straight. Plus, you've got the 'Mitcham bounce' - middle of the fairway - rock hard fairway - the ball will bounce every which way but straight!!! Greens are something else though. They are normally the envy of every club in the vacinity.

Worth a look pal.

 

[Oddsocks]

Had thought about mitcham but I'm basically in addington which is the opposite side of croydon, it would take around 45 mins atkeast to get there after work which rules it out