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Should we be EXPECTED to use the clubhouse bar

Should we be EXPECTED to spend money in the clubhouse

  • Yes, you should support your club at all times

    Votes: 19 16.7%

  • No, its your choice, there should be no pressure to do so

    Votes: 93 81.6%

  • Other, please explain

    Votes: 3 2.6%
  • Total voters
    114
HomerJSimpson said:
Again, you make a generalisation. With our 15% discount on the swipe card our prices are significantly cheaper than most local pubs and the food is the same so is it really a token gesture or does it actually represent value for money and economy of scale particularly on food means more can be offered at a competitive rate

The blog does clearly say that if crack of dawn golf is the only way you can get a round and the clubhouse isn't open then fine. Similarly if you have pressing family committments and can't stay for a drink that too is fine. However I am sure there are times when you COULD use the bar or stop. I made it very clear it isn't a one fit suits all problem
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Plenty of times I COULD use the bar,but theirs a difference between COULD & actually wanting to. I pay to play golf,if i fancy a drink after my round then I will. However I wouldn't have a drink just to put money in the till.
 
I may or may not use the clubhouse after my round, if not it's usually because I have prior engagements with friends outside of golf.

Maybe the Blog author and the like don't have that pleasure and the bar at the club is the best it's going to get for them
 
I use the bar as and when it's convenient for me to do so. Most of the time I'll stop for a drink afterwards, sometimes I don't. I don't buy food at the club, the one time I have done was last weekend during a 36 hole event and a Tuna Sandwich cost me £4.25 (that was 2 bits of normal bread, a bit of lettuce, a bit of tuna and about 6 chips). After that little rip off, I won't be buying anything there again - I'm not made of money. I'm all for supporting the club but not at the expense of everything else in my life.

People should do what their lives and finances allow them to do and respect others rights to do the same.
 
bluewolf said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm one of your "Car Park Members". If I want to play golf then I have to get up early. I'm currently working 5-6 nights per week and I usually only get to bed at 5am, so I have to be up at 10 to get to the club for 10:45. This is to ensure that I can tee off at 11. I the have 4 hours of golf that I have paid the club for. At 3pm I have to be at the kids school across the road as they are both young (9 & 5). Then I take them home. Make their Tea. Help with homework etc. If I'm lucky, I get to sit down with my wife for an hour before I have to go to work again.

On my Nights off, I prefer to spend as much time as possible with my family as I don't get any other real quality time with them. Sometimes, rather selfishly, I'll sneak off to the course for a comp or a quick 18. I don't stick around after the round as I know that I'll be missing something special. like Movie night (Kids get to pick a film and we order in a takeaway), or a visit to see friends (who I rarely get to socialize with due to my anti social hours of business). I would rather sell the clubs than miss this family time.

It won't last long. Soon, the kids will be out with their friends and I'll be the Dad Taxi. On call till the wee small hours. Maybe at this point, I'll have more time to sit in a golf club, talking golf to people I only see in passing once or twice a month. More likely, I'll be doing exactly the same thing and spending my precious free time with good friends who I've known for many years. People who don't want to talk about golf, but about Teenagers, BMW's, Holidays in Devon and the best new Police shows on TV.

If, whilst I'm selfishly taking part in this party atmosphere, my club decides it can do away with my £1000 per year, then I would expect a nice phone call from them. A genial conversation about how the economy has upturned so much that they don't need it. Maybe they will find Oil under the practise grounds. They obviously won't need my continued support. My willingness to bring in visitors, who may go on to become members. My lessons with the Pro and my purchases through the Pro shop. What they would obviously prefer is my £5 per month behind the bar, because thats the important thing. None of the other stuff counts.

Just in case I was too subtle, If someone approached me and labelled me as a second class citizen, fit only for the local pay and play, just because I prioritize my family life, I would smile politely, chuckle a little inside and walk away knowing that when Golf dies, this person will be at fault.
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excellent post :thup:
 
I agree with the majority here even though I voted 'other'.

While most of us join a golf cub to play golf and there should be no pressure to have to use the facilities I would add that a golf is a social game (at our level) and having a pint or cup of tea after a game is part of the whole experience. I just think that golf clubs on the whole would be much sadder places and most probably wouldn't be there as there would be far less demand for golf membeships so supporting your club when you can is always a good idea. I do accept though that some can't a lot of the time and some clubs don't exactly help with attitudes and prices.

Without the social side that is on display in clubhouses all across the country the game would be much different than it is now and probably for the worse.
 
bluewolf said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm one of your "Car Park Members". If I want to play golf then I have to get up early. I'm currently working 5-6 nights per week and I usually only get to bed at 5am, so I have to be up at 10 to get to the club for 10:45. This is to ensure that I can tee off at 11. I the have 4 hours of golf that I have paid the club for. At 3pm I have to be at the kids school across the road as they are both young (9 & 5). Then I take them home. Make their Tea. Help with homework etc. If I'm lucky, I get to sit down with my wife for an hour before I have to go to work again.

On my Nights off, I prefer to spend as much time as possible with my family as I don't get any other real quality time with them. Sometimes, rather selfishly, I'll sneak off to the course for a comp or a quick 18. I don't stick around after the round as I know that I'll be missing something special. like Movie night (Kids get to pick a film and we order in a takeaway), or a visit to see friends (who I rarely get to socialize with due to my anti social hours of business). I would rather sell the clubs than miss this family time.

It won't last long. Soon, the kids will be out with their friends and I'll be the Dad Taxi. On call till the wee small hours. Maybe at this point, I'll have more time to sit in a golf club, talking golf to people I only see in passing once or twice a month. More likely, I'll be doing exactly the same thing and spending my precious free time with good friends who I've known for many years. People who don't want to talk about golf, but about Teenagers, BMW's, Holidays in Devon and the best new Police shows on TV.

If, whilst I'm selfishly taking part in this party atmosphere, my club decides it can do away with my £1000 per year, then I would expect a nice phone call from them. A genial conversation about how the economy has upturned so much that they don't need it. Maybe they will find Oil under the practise grounds. They obviously won't need my continued support. My willingness to bring in visitors, who may go on to become members. My lessons with the Pro and my purchases through the Pro shop. What they would obviously prefer is my £5 per month behind the bar, because thats the important thing. None of the other stuff counts.

Just in case I was too subtle, If someone approached me and labelled me as a second class citizen, fit only for the local pay and play, just because I prioritize my family life, I would smile politely, chuckle a little inside and walk away knowing that when Golf dies, this person will be at fault.
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Great post. I think society has changed a lot over the last couple of decades and lots of people, especially those with a young family, don't have the time to spend 4 or so hours playing golf and then a couple of hours in the bar on a regular basis. Great if you have the time and well done, but there's no need to make those who have not to feel like they are not contributing in any way.

As a visitor I have also been in quite a few club bars and a few are great places, good atmosphere, there are actually people in there who are not just 45+ year old males and god forbid I've even seen some children in some. These are somewhere where I'd want to stay and have a drink. But unfortunately quite a few more are places I'd not really want to drink in, they are mostly dead, occupied by a few old blokes and I spend most of my time worrying if my shoes are acceptable or if I have to have a tie on to eat.
 
I have just had a warning as such and been accused of trolling/flaming for the 2 polls recently put up!

Homer has a PUBLIC blog and on Twitter this morning he has linked to that said blog looking to have a discussion on the said subjects whilst openly stating that they would or could be controversial!

How can my interjection of that when he is already linking and discussing the subjects in the public domain then be classed as flaming or trolling on here?

I have been asked (told) not to post like this again, well that's very easy sir

Goodbye
 
Fish said:
I have just had a warning as such and been accused of trolling/flaming for the 2 polls recently put up!

Homer has a PUBLIC blog and on Twitter this morning he has linked to that said blog looking to have a discussion on the said subjects whilst openly stating that they would or could be controversial!

How can my interjection of that when he is already linking and discussing the subjects in the public domain then be classed as flaming or trolling on here?

I have been asked (told) not to post like this again, well that's very easy sir

Goodbye
Click to expand...

This place is getting ridiculous
 
Having a quick pint with your playing partners whilst you dissect the round is all part of golf as far as I’m concerned, but the club has to make you want to have that pint in their bar. They are already ahead of the game in that they have you on their premises!!

If there are people who just want to play and go, that’s fine too – these people can’t then expect to have any say in house & bar stuff, or complain that the bar isn’t open the one time a year that they do want a drink.
 
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