To golf ..or not to golf?

[billyg]

Hello there GM forum members

Got a bit of a decision to make about my future with golf and wondered if anyone had any words of wisdom to cast on the subject.Sorry for the length of this but I want you to get the full picture.

My wife and I have been members of a nine hole/eighteen tee golf club in the south east for nearly a year. Neither of us has been a member of a formal club before. I have some experience playing 'Muni's' over about the last five years and the Mrs. has no prior experience. We went for a club as I didn't want her to have to cut her golf teeth on courses ten deep with cabbies and little raggamuffins picking their noses and dropping litter in the bunkers on a Saturday morning. I'm sure you know what I mean.

We were initially offered social membership and obliged to go through an interview followed by a series of ten subsidised lessons before we were granted a 5 day membership. Since we both work prettymuch full time this was going to be of little use to us but we were assured that we would be able to play after 4pm at weekends(GMT) and after 3.30pm(BST). Once we had attained a standard of 24 over for me and 36 over for the missus we would be offered unrestricted 7 day membership.

So far so good.

We've found our first year a mixed experience. The nine hole format means that you effectively have twice as many people on the course , all else being equal, at any given time. This leads to either hod-ups or the inevitable sense of eyes booring into ones back from the group behind. Hardly conducive to good concentration or indeed relaxation.

Furthermore, the tee-off time limits on weekend golf mean that using 3hrs.45mins as an average, we only get to play at weekends between early April and the end of August before light levels are too low. That's five months a year which translates into roughly 21 weekends or 42 playing day-opportunities. There about a further 14 weekends where we might just squeeze in nine holes if were lucky.


Here's the poser.....

membership fees will be due within the next month or two and were not sure if were getting the best out of the game. I cannot speak for my wife but I certainly don't feel i'm getting the 'golf feeling' I hoped I would joining a club and committing so much time and frankly disproportionate amounts of money to the pursuit.

We potentially have a range of possible strategies available to us which I outline below

1) Stay where we are and play every chance we get in order to thrash our standards up to that required for 7 day membership.

Comments: tempting as it at least keeps us part of a club and we would obtain a handicap certificate that we could approach other, alternative clubs with the following year and presumably avoid having to jump through so many hoops to get a 7 day membership at whichever club it was. Also, the membership fees are commensurate with a club offering only 9 holes and it would be a relatively cheaper way of coming up to standard. Downsides are that we really aren't enjoying it that much and short of giving up every weekend over our short season we still might struggle to make the required scores.

2) Go 'nomad' as GM describes it and pay and play where we can.

comments: tempting as it widens our field of play but many clubs do not permit visitors at weekends and within that some require a HC cert.(see point 1)

3) Push our financial commitment into four figures(remember, this is the south east were talking about) join a (hopefully less crowded) 18 hole club and start at the bottom again.

4) Try and find a club that will allow us to play weekends from the off. From my initial research this seems unlikely to be honest.

5) Give the whole blinkin' thing up, sell my Ping Raptures and take up tennis instead.

Help!

Regards,

someone that has loved golf from the first time he hit a pure 7 iron at a driving range 14 years ago but is at his wits end.

 

[GB72]

I played much of last year on a 9 hole course that was near where my mate lived. Whilst the course was fine (if a bit short), the crowds really started to get to me. The membership kept increasing and it was not unusual to have 3 or 4 groups on a tee. I got fed up with that after a while so stopped playing there

 

[medwayjon]

Where in the south-east are you? There are a few kent & surrey boys on here.

I would go nomad and join a club where you pay a small membership fee (£99 where I am probably going) to maintain your handicap.

To give up this wonderful game would be insane in my eyes.

 

[Dave3498]

Phew!! You don't mention the Club or how much you are parting with for this un-enjoyable activity, but it does appear to me that the Club rules are a bit discouraging to new members. Considering that it is only a 9 holer, making you take 10 lessons each before you can play on the course is a bit much.

Most Clubs will allow you to play on the course once you have joined, whether or not you have a handicap. There are of course warnings about hacking around and holding up play etc, and encouagement to take lessons or play with experienced members, but you have to get out there in order to gain the expertise for your handicap.

Your option 3 sounds better to me. I'm of the view that it is better to pay more for something you enjoy, than pay less for something you don't.

 

[Ham]

Does not sound like a club that wants to encourage new people to the game. I live in the south (basingstoke), joined a club (£720 a year)last April, this is for full 7 day membership, got a handicap from 3 cards palying with a current member straight away, the pro makes you feel welcome and gives you a free swing check when you join,I would look for somewhere else that is less fussy, you need to learn the game by playing as much as possible, also my course is linked to 4 or 5 other good courses in the area which you can also play without fees which I think is great value

 

[Leftie]

Welcome Billyg

An option often overlooked is council run pay and play courses that have a members section attached. There are for instance several of these in the Bromley and Croydon area that I know about. I'm sure that other councils have them as well.

For a nominal amount you join the attached "members club" and get priority booking over non-members. Green fees are still payable but possibly reduced??. Regular competitions are run, you can get official handicaps, and usually at weekends there are pre-booked (not sure if official or unofficial) club tee times.

I started my golf like this about 12 years ago and enjoyed it a lot. I decided to move on to a private club but several of my friends are still there.

Another option is to find a course that charges a nominal annual fee (say £100 or so) and you then pay a reduced green fee each time you play.

btw. There's nowt wrong with cabbies - it's their wives you have got to look out for! (Only joshing)

 

[viscount17]

An outside alternative may be to play munis and to buy a book of Green Fee Discount Vouchers which will enable you to gain access to other courses, including some decent ones.
There is a way to get your handicap online through the English golf association but I am unsure of the status of these handicaps. My mate does this, I or another playing partner sign his card which he sends off after every round.
This method wouldn't allow you to play competition other than perhaps an open if the handicap was recognised but then I don't think you're after that.

 

[billyg]

Thanks for taking th time to read my over-long thread and thank you for your replies.

I'm afraid to be too specific about our location or indeed our club as I wouldn't like to have the thing blow up in our faces and force our hand with our current club.

Lets just say were based aound the north of London so our potential net is cast around East Bucks. ,Herts. and the West of Essex.

It's true to say that a problem shared is a problem halved and your replies have certainly given me much to digest and many new avenues of enquiry to pursue that I would never have thought of.

Ive started a new thread of Crown Golf simply as this is yet another possibility that I hadn't thought of.

I'm not sure which way well go with things but would hate to give it up.

My little jibe about cabbies was lighthearted, I know many and they're generally a decent bunch.

If anyone has more to add then I'm all ears,

thanks again,

bill