Perks of a membership?

[Imurg]

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

People pay for things as they can afford them
Not everyone has 1000+ quid sitting around doing nothing when renewals come out.
£100 a month is a good compromise for a lot of people, even if it does cost a bit more...sometimes it doesn't by the way.

#1 for me, when joining a club, is the course. Is it one you'd be happy playing 2,3 or 4 to es a week for at least a year?
Because that's what you're primarily there for.
Quality of everything else is important but if the course is distinctly average you're going to get bored playing it.

 

[Imurg]

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

Your interest rate will probably be higher..

 

[Bdill93]

For me - membership was just such a smart decision.

Green fees at my course - £22 (ranges down to £14 non peak)
Club membership for my age group - £27 a month!!! (£44 full adult) UNLIMITED GOLF.

So, if you play twice a month, its the smarter financial decison to join.

I played every day of the summer holidays (I work in a school) 90+ rounds this year, this never would have happened playing green fees. Ive played a cheeky 4 holes after work some days when the light was fading, sometimes 6. Again it never matters as its unlimited access!

On top of that you get access to the facilities, bar discounts, handicap, comps... no brainer!

 

[Parsaregood]

People pay for things as they can afford them
Not everyone has 1000+ quid sitting around doing nothing when renewals come out.
£100 a month is a good compromise for a lot of people, even if it does cost a bit more...sometimes it doesn't by the way.

#1 for me, when joining a club, is the course. Is it one you'd be happy playing 2,3 or 4 to es a week for at least a year?
Because that's what you're primarily there for.
Quality of everything else is important but if the course is distinctly average you're going to get bored playing it.

£1000 isn’t a huge amount of money, even if you don’t have it to hand you’d be better taking a short loan from the bank and paying back not much more than the original fee. Same with folks leasing cars I laugh at them in amazement, throwing money away. They must have too much ?

 

[Golfnut1957]

As others have already said, the biggest benefit for me is the opportunity to not play full rounds. I love going down early on summer mornings and playing the back, not necessarilly nine, I can happily play the same few holes over and over. Nothing annoys me more than finding I haven't got the whole of the back nine to myself.
Also the ability to nip down anytime and play a few holes mid afternoon, evening, whenever.
All the other aspects are a bonus for me.

 

[sunshine]

£1000 isn’t a huge amount of money, even if you don’t have it to hand you’d be better taking a short loan from the bank and paying back not much more than the original fee. Same with folks leasing cars I laugh at them in amazement, throwing money away. They must have too much ?

Surely this is all about the options available and choosing what is right for you?

What if you want a brand new car every 3 years? Surely leasing makes sense?

If you have a couple of grand sitting in a bank account earning 0% interest and nothing to spend it on, then it makes sense to pay up front if your golf club charges you to pay monthly via a finance agreement. But what if you don't have a couple of grand spare? Is the cost of finance more expensive at a golf club than a bank? I don't know, my club allows us to spread out the subs.

 

[Imurg]

As luck would have it, my bank have just sent me a letter asking if I'd like to borrow money.
A quick trip to their online calculator shows, for a 1k loan, an APR of 29.9%
A quick trip to Fairway Credit shows their APR to be 14.6%

 

[Orikoru]

My situation is probably relevant to the OP. For the last four years I've been a member at a public pay and play, where the yearly membership is £90 and I pay a green fee for each round. I did that because financially it was all I could really afford to begin with. The upside is that obviously you don't feel like you have to play at your home course all the time, you're free to go and play elsewhere on any given weekend. The downside is that whenever there's a scramble, or some other kind of niche competition you still have to pay a full green fee to play in it, and also when you get the summer evenings and so on, the more you fancy playing there the more it costs.

Next year I think I will be moving to a 'proper' members club where it's approx 1200 a year. One part of the reason is that the bar/catering has been shut for two years at my current place, but mostly I just fancy trying a 'proper' membership out. At £100 a month I'll feel like I need to play there at least three times a month on average to get the value - but that should be easily achievable come summer when I can pop down on a Thursday/Friday night after work in addition to weekend rounds. And therein lies the benefit as well, being able to get in extra practise rounds at no further cost. Also at my current public course it's become a struggle to actually get on the course post-Covid as we've had to use online booking alongside members of the public, whereas at the new course we should never struggle to get a round.

 

[Robster59]

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

I pay monthly but it doesn't go via a finance company, it goes straight to the club. It's not "on tick" as we pay a year in advance so at the moment I am paying for the 2021 membership. It helps the club to plan its finances as they know the money coming into the bank and helps to keep members at the club. For many it is easier to pay monthly rather than one lump sum. Horses for courses.

 

[Robster59]

I think all the answer have been covered in the thread but we've had quite a few members joining us this year, some from a club that sadly closed but others were nomads who realised in the current climate that they only way they can guarantee getting a game is to be a member.
But for me, as has been said, membership is more than just playing. It's about the people you meet, the competitions, the camarderie on the course. I've never regretted joining my club and made some good friends there.

 

[sunshine]

To answer the OP:

1. People to play golf with
2. Access to the course whenever you want, e.g. just to play a few holes in the evening
3. Playing in competitions and maintaining a handicap
4. Discounted guest fees to invite your mates
5. Access to premium tee times i.e. weekend mornings
6. Practice facilities (depends on the course)
7. Team golf
8. Convenience of storing gear at the club (e.g. locker and trolley store)
9. Discounted food and drink
10. For a private club: Some influence in how the club is run / satisfaction that it is being run in your interests
11. Access to quality: the better courses usually restrict visitor access or are prohibitively expensive unless you are a member

 

[Slab]

There’s a huge difference between what you can do as a member and what I suspect many end up actually doing

Some will definitely play 3 rounds a week, practice in the evenings and get 9 holes in after work etc etc.
Plenty more will say all this to themselves to justify the membership costs… then play once a week and pack it in altogether Dec-Feb

 

[Parsaregood]

Most clubs as I understand use fairway credit if you would like to pay monthly. The ones that will let you spread the cost directly to them are in the minority. I can only speak from my own experience but I could get a much lower rate from a bank than from a credit company, it may just be the way I am but i never purchase something I can’t really buy outright with only a couple of exceptions. Even if you want a new car every 3 years your still getting ripped off leasing, pay x amount up front, pay x every month and guess what after 3 years give it straight back to us. At least if you own it you can trade it in or sell it and save money. It seems people like to have a monthly figure and run with it rather than think about what they are actually paying long term

 

[sunshine]

At £100 a month I'll feel like I need to play there at least three times a month on average to get the value - but that should be easily achievable come summer when I can pop down on a Thursday/Friday night after work in addition to weekend rounds. And therein lies the benefit as well, being able to get in extra practise rounds at no further cost.

You should be able to get the value in "part rounds", you can just pop down for a few holes in the evening or if you're working from home without it counting as a "green fee". Over the course of a year this adds up.

 

[Parsaregood]

I would add that if I didn’t play at least 3 times a month year round I wouldn’t be a member anywhere. Though you could still make the argument that with various things it might still offer value playing twice a month but probably not enough to offset the cost of your subs are £1000 ++ £1200 in my case

 

[Orikoru]

You should be able to get the value in "part rounds", you can just pop down for a few holes in the evening or if you're working from home without it counting as a "green fee". Over the course of a year this adds up.

Yeah that's what I meant, it would just be more in summer that I'm doing that. My dad is also thinking about joining the same club but on the cheaper 'lifestyle' membership, which will be great as I can meet him for 9 holes and a pint every now and then.

 

[sunshine]

Most clubs as I understand use fairway credit if you would like to pay monthly. The ones that will let you spread the cost directly to them are in the minority. I can only speak from my own experience but I could get a much lower rate from a bank than from a credit company, it may just be the way I am but i never purchase something I can’t really buy outright with only a couple of exceptions. Even if you want a new car every 3 years your still getting ripped off leasing, pay x amount up front, pay x every month and guess what after 3 years give it straight back to us. At least if you own it you can trade it in or sell it and save money. It seems people like to have a monthly figure and run with it rather than think about what they are actually paying long term

I think our consumer society is moving towards a pay as you go lifestyle. Pretty much everything is available to rent on a subscription model these days. Somebody once said to me that he buys things that appreciate and rent things that depreciate - although I disagree I do understand his point. People like shiny new stuff!

 

[sunshine]

I would add that if I didn’t play at least 3 times a month year round I wouldn’t be a member anywhere. Though you could still make the argument that with various things it might still offer value playing twice a month but probably not enough to offset the cost of your subs are £1000 ++ £1200 in my case

Depends on where you are a member. If you are a member at somewhere like Carnoustie you probably only have to play 3 or 4 rounds a year to make it pay off Vs visitors green fees.

 

[Parsaregood]

I think our consumer society is moving towards a pay as you go lifestyle. Pretty much everything is available to rent on a subscription model these days. Somebody once said to me that he buys things that appreciate and rent things that depreciate - although I disagree I do understand his point. People like shiny new stuff!

It’s not a bad way to think, I tend to only buy motorcycles I think will go up in value and never buy a brand new one because it doesn’t make sense financially. Exception with me is golf clubs which almost never rise in value and decrease dramatically over the course of a year. I try to buy smart and look at how long this club or clubs will be in my bag for rather than what it’s worth because with golf clubs most of them will half in value within a year

 

[Beedee]

There’s a huge difference between what you can do as a member and what I suspect many end up actually doing

Some will definitely play 3 rounds a week, practice in the evenings and get 9 holes in after work etc etc.
Plenty more will say all this to themselves to justify the membership costs… then play once a week and pack it in altogether Dec-Feb

The latter is me.

Between illness, covid and being an extreme introvert I definitely haven't had good value for money this year. I should add that the club have been really good, both with giving me a sabbatical due to my illness, and not taking direct debits during lockdowns. But I just haven't played enough to justify the costs. Being such as introvert, I'm not the sort to just turn up and get a game, and the social side of the club means little to me.

Will I rejoin in the spring? Probably, assuming I'm fit enough. I like having a Sunday comp that I can rely on, and I like nipping up in the evenings for a few holes by myself.