Private Golf Clubs

[SammmeBee]

I have to agree with Mike - Queenwood is the only place I know that you cannot get on by just simply booking and paying a green fee (whatever it may be)....I think the vote should be - Do you think the higher priced green fees will have to come down to attract the same level of visitors/revenue......

 

[MikeH]

ref Quenwood as we can't get on to carry out an assessment then they rule themselves out of being featured in the Top 100

they obvioulsy dont need any publicity so probably don't see the need to be involved but it has been mused that another reason why they don't want to be assessed is because they wouldn't rank anywhere near as highly as they would like to and so don't want to expose themselves to the risk

 

[heronsghyll]

99% of private clubs doors are open to pay and play members!

Come to my gaff and you can Pay £25 and play 18 holes!

I completely agree, my club is private but visitors can play 7 days a week for a fee. What's the problem?

 

[heronsghyll]

Dundonald looks amazing has anyone here played it yet

I have played Dundonald Links - I would never play it again. I took a party of 12 golfers to play as part of a Scotland tour. We payed £85 for a single round - no lunch/coffee etc was included.

The greens were absolutely appaling - totally spoiling the day. They had been tined and filled heavily with dressing the day before. We were not told about this before we played, no apology was offered or even accepted when we returned and complained. In fact the management were very rude to me and my fellow golfers on the subject.

I believe at least they should have told us before we played so we could have had the chance to play somewhere else - or offered a reduced green fee.

At least this way they would have had a bunch of guy's who could not complain. As it is I will never play there again nor will any of my friends and we have a very bad opinion of the establishment.

I would advise anyone going (we went in August 2007 by the way) to ask if there is any work being carried out BEFORE you play.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I know Bearwood Lakes was traditionally a members only club and very hard for ordinary golfers to get on without playing with a member but I remember reading that event they are opening up tee times now.

Swinley Forest near Ascot was another that has always prided itself on its exclusivity and I've heard they are planning to allow "commoners" onto the course on a more regular basis.

I think that most clubs are pretty switched on and realise that in current climates there have to be certain measures taken to maintain income and remain in profit. If that means allowing a few tee times to become available I don't see a problem. Indeed once they see the additional revenue it can generate I don't see many going back to old values once the economy picks up. I also think that providing visitors abide by the rules regarding dress code, etc most clubs will offer a friendly welcome. It is after all a meeting point of similar minded folk.

 

[EchtLoon]

Echt, most if not all courses in the top 100 are avaible for us to pay and play even though some of the green fees are high, whats the point in reviewing something we can't try?

Just because you can't play it, doesn't mean it can't be one of the best. In reality, the OP is a bit bizare as has already been pointed out, the number of truly private courses in this country is negligible.

 

[Smiffy]

I know Bearwood Lakes was traditionally a members only club and very hard for ordinary golfers to get on without playing with a member but I remember reading that event they are opening up tee times now.

I am playing at Bearwood Lakes on Sunday 5th (with a member), and really looking forward to it. I think the guests green fee is £45.00 but as far as I understood you could pay something like £85.00 and buy a "member for a day" ticket which gave you access to all parts of the club.
Highwoods is a private club but I have never had a problem just turning up and paying a green fee to play, and it's been the same with every other club I've ever played (and I've played on far too many over the years). As an aside, I've never been asked to produce a handicap certificate anywhere in the UK before either.

 

[SammmeBee]

Bearwood open tout their 'Day Membership' which complies with the terms of the share holding stuff I think - it's a visitor green fee though at the end of the day....

Swinley take Society Days and you can play as a Members Guest but the Member just has to ring up for you and say you're coming and you pay a bit more than if they played with you....if, though, you rang up and ask to play and it was quiet (and it pretty much always is) then they'll probably let you on but the fee is quite high....if you take more than 3 hours to go round they will shoot you....

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think I've heard the guns going off!!!!

 

[USER1999]

Is that 3 hours for the front nine?

 

[Herbie]

Im sure there are one or two private clubs that strictly remain private, but I havent come across them, I have played at one or two and know a number of people who have played at private clubs and the concensus I have come across is that most private clubs welcome visitors under pay and play.

 

[fastmover2]

Our club is now considering taking in Socities. A move in my opinion they should have made long ago. There has been a reluctance to do this due to a certain degree of snobbishness IMHO. Additionally, many of our members are of the opinion that this will restrict their own access to a great degree but I cannot see this. The fact is that at most times our course,the club's main asset, is under-utilised. The extra revenue to be gained from societies would give a welcome boost to our finances and enable much needed work to be carried out without recourse to a large increase in membership fees.

Private/semi-private clubs often seem to suffer from being run by committees that do not best serve all their members' interests and tend to favour,to be polite,certain interest groups within the club. Even a private/semi-private members club needs to be run in a strict business like manner and focus on providing a service to its members at a cost that is affordable.

Clubs are seeing membership fall off and according to the replies to my post elsewhere this is not only due to the recession (a good excuse for lots of things at the moment).
A major reason given is the reactionary attitudes in some clubs that continue to fail to understand that we pay our memberships to ENJOY our leisure, not to be subject to petty rules and whims of the few.

As others state most clubs in UK are open to visitors if you can afford the, often exorbitant, green fee. These fees have been artificially high at the high end venues due IMHO to the spending on corporate entertainment in the last few years. You could not afford to play at e.g Wentworth for nearly 300 quid a round but the corporates certainly (thought!) they could and did for a select few.

Visitors and societies are a revenue stream that cannot be ignored, the more so now.

I sincerely hope that all clubs in the UK, my own included, now start to think along realistic lines and welcome Societies/Visitors on a regular basis and charge a sensible rate for this.

Personally I would not boycott any club that now decided to allow visitors and they should be applauded for "getting real".

 

[SammmeBee]

Is that 3 hours for the front nine?

You would get lapped at that speed (assuming you hag avoided the rifles)....

 

[Adi_Dassler]

The only courses in this neck of the woods I can think of that are really private are Archerfield Links & Renaissance.I think the joining fee for Archerfield is £25,000 and Renaissance is double that!Archerfields annuals is about £2000 + VAT I'm told.
I've not played Renaissance ( one of Tom Doaks creations) but I've played Archerfield quite abit and it's spectacular.Two magnificent courses which are always immaculate, the best club house I've seen anywhere in the world and the staff are very friendly.All you would expect from such a high priced club.Both are adjacent to Muirfield.

If I ever come into money I'll be right down to join Archerfield.

 

[Cernunnos]

Most courses in the UK this includes suposedly Private courses do allow pay & play of one sort oranother, even if you have towrite & ask to play. There are usually ways & means of getting yourself invited to play most places.

My Dad was invited to play Lock Lommand. Now I'd have loved that opertunity, but for me its unlikely to occur.

 

[Farneyman]

Dundonald looks amazing has anyone here played it yet

They are much better now. Bear in mind 2007 it was a brand new course.

 

[heronsghyll]

The only courses in this neck of the woods I can think of that are really private are Archerfield Links & Renaissance.I think the joining fee for Archerfield is £25,000 and Renaissance is double that!Archerfields annuals is about £2000 + VAT I'm told.
I've not played Renaissance ( one of Tom Doaks creations) but I've played Archerfield quite abit and it's spectacular.Two magnificent courses which are always immaculate, the best club house I've seen anywhere in the world and the staff are very friendly.All you would expect from such a high priced club.Both are adjacent to Muirfield.

If I ever come into money I'll be right down to join Archerfield.

I have played both the Renaissance and Archerfield. They are comparable. The R is a fabulous course well worth a game if you can get one, but you need an invite from a member there are no such thing as visitor fees - it is very exclusive.

Archerfield is as you say awesome, I have a very good friend who is a member so I play there quite a bit - half a dozen times a year. It is always a pleasure.

 

[Dodger]

I turned up at Archerfield about 4 months after it opened....I didn't know it was an Exclusive members club as it looked like a peice of turd from the portakabins it had as clubhouses back then,anyhow I got out of my car for a look dressed in dress trousers and a galvin jacket and this guy dressed like a right prick came over to me to ask me 'what I was doing?'.I told him I was passing and thought I would take a look and asked what the green fees where set at....he then looked at me up and down like I was something he had just trod on and told me 'I must warn you it is 20k to join plus 2k a year'.I thanked him and asked if I could have a wander around to which he said 'well not really it is exclusive you know' he then asked me where I played.....after I told him he perked up 'oh wonderful do you know my good friend S##### R##### ?' Now I had just come back from a trip to Royal County Down with his 'friend' so I told him this and the guys attitude changed and couldn't do enough for me to the point he told me to come back up to have a game with him along with his 'friend'!!

Needless to say I never got back to him on the offer......stuck up bastard!Not my type of club I'm afraid.

BTW his and my friend is not in any way the same type of fella as that ***!

 

[Adi_Dassler]

I turned up at Archerfield about 4 months after it opened....I didn't know it was an Exclusive members club as it looked like a peice of turd from the portakabins it had as clubhouses back then,anyhow I got out of my car for a look dressed in dress trousers and a galvin jacket and this guy dressed like a right prick came over to me to ask me 'what I was doing?'.I told him I was passing and thought I would take a look and asked what the green fees where set at....he then looked at me up and down like I was something he had just trod on and told me 'I must warn you it is 20k to join plus 2k a year'.I thanked him and asked if I could have a wander around to which he said 'well not really it is exclusive you know' he then asked me where I played.....after I told him he perked up 'oh wonderful do you know my good friend S##### R##### ?' Now I had just come back from a trip to Royal County Down with his 'friend' so I told him this and the guys attitude changed and couldn't do enough for me to the point he told me to come back up to have a game with him along with his 'friend'!!

Needless to say I never got back to him on the offer......stuck up bastard!Not my type of club I'm afraid.

BTW his and my friend is not in any way the same type of fella as that ***!

Thats a real shame dodger, I can assure you it's not the impression the owner is trying to portray.I know the guy quite well and he would be less than impressed by any staff member acting like that.It is expensive but the attitude is is very welcoming and relaxed...I'm just a normal guy with no-where near enough money to join, but I'm made to feel very welcome everytime I visit.
As for the temporary club house, it's gone and the new one is fantastic.If you get the opportunity, give it a second chance, I'm sure you'd like it.