Monthly poll 2 - what's the most important consideration when joining a club?

What is the most important consideration for you when joining a golf club?

  • Cost of annual subscription

    Votes: 27 23.3%

  • The quality of the course

    Votes: 39 33.6%

  • The condition of the course

    Votes: 10 8.6%

  • Proximity to home

    Votes: 12 10.3%

  • You have friends who are members there

    Votes: 3 2.6%

  • The chance to play competitions

    Votes: 5 4.3%

  • The atmosphere/feel of the club

    Votes: 20 17.2%
  • Total voters
    116
It has to be the cost of subscription, with so many financial strains these days Golf is a luxury for many. A thousand pounds can do a lot of good in a household and to have it to spend on a hobby, it has to be spent wisely.
 
duncan mackie said:
you are missing - "access to the course at times that suit you"
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Agreed. My course ticks all the boxes for me. It's close, it's a mile up the road, I can play when I want, it's well kept by the 2 greenkeepers, it's friendly and well priced.
It makes the game so much more fun when you enjoy where you play and have good company from your fellow members.
 
I dont think I can pick 1 particular reason from those above, for me it is a combination of all of them and weigh up the pros & cons.

If I absolutely had to pick one it would be 'quality of the course', having been a member of a course that was pants last year having gone for the annual subscription option, i would never do that again as I never really enjoyed playing there at all.

I've just recently moved clubs and took all of the above into consideration before parting with my cash, incidentaly i'm paying £300 more this year than I was last year but this year I have a much nicer course!
 
Atmosphere and attitude of members etc.

Can't buy a good atmosphere and that's why I love my home track. The members are a credit to the place and despite only being a member now for 2 years I feel like I've been there for years mainly due to the friendly members.
 
In both polls I have gone with cost, golf is such an expensive sport to play. I want to experience nice courses but for me asking £60+ to play 18 holes is a bit ridiculous, don't care how good the course is. As for membership, it's no wonder that golf has a "pompous" image around the world when you see the price of membership at most places, I love golf but I could never afford to join the majority of the courses around the country.
 
Quality of course, again!
I'll spend more time on the course than in the clubhouse but the other factors such as members attitude, regular comps every week and course availability all factor in to it.

However, as we must pick just one then its quality of the course, I have one 2 mins from my house with no entrance fee, good greens etc but the layout would mean leaving half my clubs in the bag, so I choose to drive an hour to another course, but I do miss just popping on for a few holes in the evening
 
Very Hard to single out 1 from the list, they all need considering
A better poll would have been to rate them 1 - 7 .......??
All 7 were considered when I joined current home club, but about 3 stand outs
 
moogie said:
Very Hard to single out 1 from the list, they all need considering
A better poll would have been to rate them 1 - 7 .......??
All 7 were considered when I joined current home club, but about 3 stand outs
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Unfortunately the current poll system won't allow that as far as I can see. I had wanted to give people two options, but again, it seems you can either have just one or as many as you like...
 
I've chosen not to vote in this poll on the basis that I am not a member anywhere. There is one course I would join though given the chance and that is mostly on the basis or proximity and that I have friends there. Given that I know that I'd get bored of playing the same place all the time regardless of how good it is regardless of quality and condition.
 
ATM cost is the all important factor.

When that eventually becomes manageable it's a compromise between 2, 3, and 4.
 
I've gone for quality, but as others have said it's very much a balancing act between a few of them for me.

The one thing not mentioned so far which would outweigh most of the other choices is drawn competitions rather than the roll-up type.
 
I put course condition.
I changed courses last season because the condition of the course had been deteriorating, spoke to greens committee who thought everything was good, they lost a few members at same time I left and from what I've heard a good few since.
New course seems to have a lot more happening to upkeep condition, green staff always visible on course, monthly email advising work to be done.
Living in Scotland means course won't always be at best but if the effort is being made I will be happy.
 
swanny32 said:
As for membership, it's no wonder that golf has a "pompous" image around the world when you see the price of membership at most places.
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What makes an expensive membership 'pompous'? Surely the membership is open to any one who has the funds? There are plenty of trades where the money earned is ridiculous, especially those where the paying of income tax seems to be optional.

Most members clubs are non profit making, the cost of running the club is divied up among the membership and no more. It's not that they chose to charge exorbitant amounts for membership and bank the difference. Obviously there are memberships from clubs that are run for profit, but I would never join one of these, and there are plenty of member run clubs to choose from.
 
murphthemog said:
What makes an expensive membership 'pompous'? Surely the membership is open to any one who has the funds? There are plenty of trades where the money earned is ridiculous, especially those where the paying of income tax seems to be optional.

Most members clubs are non profit making, the cost of running the club is divied up among the membership and no more. It's not that they chose to charge exorbitant amounts for membership and bank the difference. Obviously there are memberships from clubs that are run for profit, but I would never join one of these, and there are plenty of member run clubs to choose from.
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It's the typical stereotype of a golfer isn't it, you're a member at a golf club you must be a posh **** with loads of money, the very image that the sport is trying to shift. I'm certainly not posh and not wealthy at all but even when I tell people I'm a member at a golf club they automatically assume I'm loaded, but it's really no surprise when you have some clubs charging a £1000 pa plus joining fee which is ridiculous.
 
swanny32 said:
it's really no surprise when you have some clubs charging a £1000 pa plus joining fee which is ridiculous.
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Why is this ridiculous? If that is what it costs to run, then that's the price. They don't just make it up? If they halved it to £500, then they would need double the membership, and you'd never be able to get on the course.
 
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