Perks of a membership?

[eddie_1878]

Looking at becoming a member somewhere in the new year. I’ve got my eye on a couple of courses with one being £135 p/m and the other £90 for the full membership.

The former offers reciprocal partnerships with 4-5 other local courses meaning I wouldn’t have to play green fees at those courses, which is definitely a perk.

My question is what other benefits do you get from being a member? I’d like to think I’d get out enough for it to pay for itself, but was wondering if on balance over the year would it potentially be cheaper to pay per game...obviously any benefits would help decide if it’s worth while.

Cheers.

 

[Parsaregood]

I think if your looking for value from a membership purely in the form a price per game you are looking at the wrong thing. Membership to me is much more than how much it costs to play when you break it down. Firstly make sure you enjoy the course and clubhouse as regardless of cheapness or expense if it’s not enjoyable it’s a waste of time. Do you use practice facilities? How good are they ? What’s the competition situation like at the club ? Do you know anybody there ? Are there any restrictions on days when you might play? Perhaps ladies etc might have block bookings on certain days. You will be joining a club and being a member of a club is more than just turning up and jumping on to the first tee regardless of what some folk might tell you. Play at places you think are viable and join the one you enjoy the most, forget about the cost within reason because you will just end up at the one you enjoy more at some point anyway

 

[Doodle]

Lots of benefits to being a member.
1. A current H/C
2. Organised comps
3. Team golf (if that's your thing)
4. The social scene.
5. A ready available pro
6. Practice facilities
7. Meet people (make new friends)

I think the biggest caveat is you have to have enough spare time to make full use of it & justify the cost.
If you can do that, then membership of a club is brilliant.

 

[BubbaP]

Posts above have covered.
For the two courses, might be worth trying to find out membership sizes, how the tee bookings work, etc.
Also for reciprocals there not always as easy as they first seem to take advantage of.

 

[drewster]

Being able to play "prime time" golf on Saturday and Sunday mornings on a decent course.

 

[eddie_1878]

Thanks guys, some good stuff there. Practise facilities are a big plus for me, especially for the short game. It’s something I don’t have access to at the moment. Will probably play at all the decent local courses to recce the facilities before committing.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

One of the big factors of being a member for me is being able to walk into the clubhouse and there is always someone I know that I can sit and have a good natter with over a tea/coffee/pint.

 

[IanM]

In addition to those mention, Discount in the bar is another if the club runs that sort of scheme

 

[richart]

One of the big factors of being a member for me is being able to walk into the clubhouse and there is always someone I know that I can sit and have a good natter with over a tea/coffee/pint.

Unless they see you first.

 

[TigerBear]

A bit off topic but I played at a friend's golf club in the south side of Glasgow (that has a very high opinion of itself) recently and although it is wonderfully set up for this time of year and a really great course, the practice facilities were pretty poor considering the standing of the club.

Very surprising for such an esteemed and well known golf club. For a modern day club you'd expect at least a half decent set up!

 

[Smiffy]

The biggest attraction for me is getting my mitts on an official handicap.
I really enjoy playing in Open competitions. Gives you the chance to play some lovely courses at often reduced rates, with a bit of healthy competition thrown in for good measure.
I've missed that.
I'm not playing enough to justify full membership at the moment, but am seriously looking at rejoining Cooden again next year on their "flexible" membership scheme.

 

[Captainron]

The biggest attraction for me is getting my mitts on an official handicap.
I really enjoy playing in Open competitions. Gives you the chance to play some lovely courses at often reduced rates, with a bit of healthy competition thrown in for good measure.
I've missed that.
I'm not playing enough to justify full membership at the moment, but am seriously looking at rejoining Cooden again next year on their "flexible" membership scheme.

Good lad. Fishing doesn’t cut it when it comes to a handicap though does it.

 

[Smiffy]

Good lad. Fishing doesn’t cut it when it comes to a handicap though does it.

Been missing the banter Geezer.....

 

[Ross61]

A big plus of membership for me is The ability to play just a few holes when you are pushed for time in the evening or when family commitments prevent you from playing a whole round. I also don’t worry if I think it is going to rain as I can walk in if it gets unpleasant without feeling that I have wasted a green fee.

 

[Sports_Fanatic]

On the reciprocals, you may find that it's not as huge an incentive as others mentioned they can be harder to get on. In addition, by joining a club you'll likely get a county card giving cheap green fees at other clubs mid-week or as you'll have a handicap you can play opens at other courses so a competitive element (but still just a bit of fun) with food. I expect the £45 a month difference would cover the extra rounds elsewhere.

 

[need_my_wedge]

I think if your looking for value from a membership purely in the form a price per game you are looking at the wrong thing.

This does have merit too though. I've played pretty much every day between the two lockdowns, I certainly couldn't have done that if I was on pay as you play course. Even under "normal" conditions i.e. pre-covid, I normally play both days at the weekend, and two evenings each week, if I was paying per round, I'd be paying almost twice as much as my membership fee.

As mentioned in other posts, I also like the flexibility of being able to play a few holes if time permits, 4, 6 or 9, whatever the evening allows. That's not so easy post-covid as the course is now pretty much rammed, making it impossible to jump holes late in the day on a full course. Reciprocals are a great benefit too, being able to go and play a few different courses each year at no additional cost.

 

[Biggleswade Blue]

For me, a former nomad and now a newish member:

1. Ease of going to play just a few holes as time permits
2. Practice facilities
3. By playing more often, I now have rounds which really are just for fun - where I can work on new skills, drop a ball where I like, or just enjoy the walk and the game without a scorecard. When I was playing less often it felt like every round mattered (which of course it didn't, but you know what I mean)
4. Playing with better players showing different ways to play (often far removed from my ability)

My club is very close to my home, which helps with 1 and 2 especially.

 

[timd77]

I first joined a club last year, my motivation being that I wanted to play in comps regularly, as well as getting a handicap and improving it over time. I wanted to be able to play every week to get my money’s worth too.

After a few months at that first club, I quickly realised that I actually wanted more than that - some decent, friendly people to play golf with, and a decent course. I had neither at that first course, and so I left to join another course which costs an extra £20 a month. I bloody love it. Course is great, members are great (aside from the odd slow play warrior, or is that worrier?), comps are really good.

I’d definitely prioritise a good course and welcoming members over anything else.

 

[Parsaregood]

Does nobody pay fees yearly anymore ? All I hear is per month, you pay more paying monthly, sometimes a good chunk. Pay it yearly and it won’t be as expensive, don’t line finance companies pockets. This is one of my major gripes with people today, they have everything on tick but don’t see the bigger picture and they have little cash in the bank

 

[Orikoru]

Does nobody pay fees yearly anymore ? All I hear is per month, you pay more paying monthly, sometimes a good chunk. Pay it yearly and it won’t be as expensive, don’t line finance companies pockets. This is one of my major gripes with people today, they have everything on tick but don’t see the bigger picture and they have little cash in the bank

If I did that it would be on credit card anyway so what's the difference?