Playing in your own Open?

[IanM]

Senior Open at ours today. Full field all day.

£30 members, £40 visitors. Lots of members playing.

I'm thinking, why pay £30 to play your own course? Maybe they fancy the prizes with their local knowledge.

I've never even considered it. Do you play your home course Open?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I certainly wouldn't pay £30 to play my home course. My previous club tried to get members to pay full rate and no one bit, lots of holes in the booking sheet. They dropped it to £5 for members, close to what you would pay on a normal comp day. I did play then, as did other members.

It's my current clubs open this Saturday. I'm away but received an email last week advising entrance for members has also been dropped to £5 so I suspect they found the same.

 

[D-S]

If members are paying £30 and visitors £40 then there is, theoretically, a £10 ‘green fee’ element and the £30 that you pay must be for food and prizes. Unless the food and prize pot is worth the £30 I wouldn’t be playing.
If this is not the case and a significant proportion of the £30 is club profit I would be asking questions. The purpose of Opens is not to make a profit from members.

 

[Deleted member 31467]

How much is a coffee/bacon roll and a 2 course(?) meal at your club? Add in a contribution towards a prize table which is often worth £500+ at some opens and £40 for a member sounds like a realistic deal to me.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Loads of people play opens at their home course. It gives people a chance to test themselves against visiting golfers.

I certainly wouldn't pay £30 to play my home course. My previous club tried to get members to pay full rate and no one bit, lots of holes in the booking sheet. They dropped it to £5 for members, close to what you would pay on a normal comp day. I did play then, as did other members.

It's my current clubs open this Saturday. I'm away but received an email last week advising entrance for members has also been dropped to £5 so I suspect they found the same.

So I guess the members playing in the Open aren’t having any of the food or playing for any of the prizes on offer

 

[Old Colner]

I fully agree with OP, not something I have or are likely to do would much prefer to pay the money to play somewhere else, we quiet often get emails encouraging members to take up the spaces in our opens as if its our responsibility to fill the start sheet.

 

[Old Colner]

Why are people presuming there is food included in the entry fee for the opens mentioned, I have read the first two posts over and over and nobody mentions food.

 

[Maninblack4612]

I do it, but it's only £25. Trouble is, if you charge members a lot less the field gets filled with members to the exclusion of visitors. In fact, since our summer opens aren't supported as well as the winter ones, the September open is being converted to an invitation, where members play for free but pay for their guest.

 

[Slab]

Why are people presuming there is food included in the entry fee for the opens mentioned, I have read the first two posts over and over and nobody mentions food.

Maybe different in UK but every Open I’ve played has had food as part of the day
(I took it for granted the club want to increase takings over the bar on these kind of days too and it’s a good way to get people to hang around for a couple of hours after their round)

 

[Kennysarmy]

No Opens here that I can enter - I'm neither a junior nor a lady nor a senior - but I'd not be being more than £15 to enter if I could...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Loads of people play opens at their home course. It gives people a chance to test themselves against visiting golfers.



So I guess the members playing in the Open aren’t having any of the food or playing for any of the prizes on offer

Food isn't part of any Open I play in the NE of England so that is out of the equation.

If it then comes down to prize money, reduce the prizes accordingly. Only bandits are attracted by big prizes. Most people up here that I've come across use opens as a chance to play a course at a reduced rate, have a nice day out. Nothing more.

When I play Opens away from home I don't expect members to be paying the same rate as me. After all, they have already paid their fee via membership. They just need a token to throw in the prize pot.

 

[Old Colner]

Maybe different in UK but every Open I’ve played has had food as part of the day
(I took it for granted the club want to increase takings over the bar on these kind of days too and it’s a good way to get people to hang around for a couple of hours after their round)

North West England here, and very rarely open cost include food, only one I have played is a winter open which included coffee & bacon bap prior to tee off and it was a winter open.

Agree about the club increasing takings and always stay for at least a drink and chat with playing partners after the game it all depends on what time I finish if I have food or not.

 

[patricks148]

I've always played our open, which was a handicap restricted event and off the very back tees. Not played it since covid and now it is an elite amateur event with world ranking points. But since becoming a senior I've played that open since. It's on a friday a usual day I play its £20 for members and £40 for non members, but that's a bargain as now the visitors GF is £200. These are individual strokeplay comps with no food.

 

[jim8flog]

For members

Our Seniors Open is £19 including coffee and a 1 course meal

Our club Open is £23.50 just for the golf comp.

I play in the former but not the latter.

 

[Voyager EMH]

We don't have any singles opens at ours. Only betterballs and AmAms. These are usually £12 for members and £20 for guests. This might be going up this year.

In a few weeks time we have an invitational charity AmAm - £25 a head for members and/or guests - includes halfway-house snacks and a meal after.
Invitational means the comp is not open to teams of 4 non-members.
Looking at the start sheet - most teams are 4 members, but I will be accompanied by @full_throttle, @GG26 and @Crow.

 

[louise_a]

Ladies opens tend to be a mix, some dont allow home players some do but restrict the number in a team or make sure there is a visitors only prize. Fees tend to be the same but ladies opens as a rule are cheaper than men's
With regard to food there seems to be no hard and fast rule and it doesnt same ot be area dependant, Recently I playing in ones at two "quality" course in the West midlands, Beau Desert charged £35 including a one course meal, Enville was £25 with no food.
My favourite area to go for opens is Yorkshire because they seem to try to out do each other with fabulous half way houses

 

[full_throttle]

Invitation Open at Bulwell Forest £10 members £20 guests, I had a guest but there was lots of pairs made up of members

Copsewood Grange last year was more expensive than previous years, but included bacon roll/coffee and a buffet after the golf, great value and all my guests enjoyed both the course and the food

 

[Billysboots]

Our Open is £7.50 for members so only 50% more than a normal comp so, yes, I have played it before. But I always play with a guest, who I also pay for. The combined cost is slightly less than the OP’s members’ price, and as such I’m happy to pay it.

Would I pay a green fee of £30 to play my own course in an Open? No chance.

 

[clubchamp98]

Our is full price for members no concession.
it was £35 last year but prices have gone up .
I agree full price to play your own course ,I would rather go elsewhere on a reciprocal.

 

[2blue]

All Opens have a Prize Pot so I don't see why their Club Members should expect to make a lesser contribution to it especially as they will have a greater chance of winning on their Home course. Many Clubs ban their members from entering as it can lead to visitors' entry being less likely, which is certainly the case for me unless it is particularly a course I want to play.