unsure of the point of this membership

[Coreservers]

Been playing for over a year now at Pytchley. and it is very popular. can be tricky to book online.
However a few weeks ago up at the range we noticed a £99 membership, with either 6 x 9 hole or 3 x 18 hole free, and if you hand in your scorecards, they will sort out a handicap. Also free entry to competitions....

I've not taken it up, as i dont see the benefit...
1:- after the free rounds are done, you pay full price for a round.
2:- no chance of booking a weekend round, as they seem to be booked up well in advance (i work weekdays so cant play during the week.)

Is it just me of does this membership "offer" seem a bit of a waste of time.

 

[Bdill93]

Been playing for over a year now at Pytchley. and it is very popular. can be tricky to book online.
However a few weeks ago up at the range we noticed a £99 membership, with either 6 x 9 hole or 3 x 18 hole free, and if you hand in your scorecards, they will sort out a handicap. Also free entry to competitions....

I've not taken it up, as i dont see the benefit...
1:- after the free rounds are done, you pay full price for a round.
2:- no chance of booking a weekend round, as they seem to be booked up well in advance (i work weekdays so cant play during the week.)

Is it just me of does this membership "offer" seem a bit of a waste of time.

The benefit is membership at a club that essentially let you be a nomad - allowing entry into opens that wont allow an igolf app user entering.

3x 18 hole rounds is probably close to £60 in value?

£39 more for affiliation fees and app access is a pretty decent deal being as the app membership alone is £40.

 

[Swango1980]

Been playing for over a year now at Pytchley. and it is very popular. can be tricky to book online.
However a few weeks ago up at the range we noticed a £99 membership, with either 6 x 9 hole or 3 x 18 hole free, and if you hand in your scorecards, they will sort out a handicap. Also free entry to competitions....

I've not taken it up, as i dont see the benefit...
1:- after the free rounds are done, you pay full price for a round.
2:- no chance of booking a weekend round, as they seem to be booked up well in advance (i work weekdays so cant play during the week.)

Is it just me of does this membership "offer" seem a bit of a waste of time.

Sounds like a great deal for a bandit in Opens. Hand over £99, submit 3 rubbish scores to get an official handicap, and never be seen at that course again during the year. Just go and play in Opens and shoot great scores

 

[Coreservers]

Not sure about the App thing. all they have said is that they will send your scores to Golf England for a handicap. Im not fully sure how that works. No mention of Igolf?

 

[Bdill93]

Not sure about the App thing. all they have said is that they will send your scores to Golf England for a handicap. Im not fully sure how that works. No mention of Igolf?

They don't need to mention it! The people who came up with this offer know what they're doing and its grabbing hold of nomads and offering club affiliation so they can enter opens.

You only need igolf if you dont have membership somewhere. If you have membership, you get an EG login included.

 

[Coreservers]

ah i see. comparing to others it does seem cheap. The two of us would struggle to use the free rounds tho, as you just cant get on. So effectively we're saying its not a proper golf club membership. just a way to grab nomads, give them an affiliation, to enter comps elsewhere. im unlikely to play in opens elsewhere really so i'll pass. I just wondered how it could be so cheap. But great explanations.

 

[D-S]

Seems like good deal, you get a proper Handicap i.e. not iGolf, so this allows unrestricted entry to Opens, also you get the EG insurance plus the possibility of either buying a County Card or getting it free dependent on the County's offer.

 

[fundy]

Sounds like a great deal for a bandit in Opens. Hand over £99, submit 3 rubbish scores to get an official handicap, and never be seen at that course again during the year. Just go and play in Opens and shoot great scores

Come on, club members dont do things like that, its only those using igolf who would do such a thing surely

 

[Coreservers]

Come on, club members dont do things like that, its only those using igolf who would do such a thing surely

does anyone just play golf for fun

 

[Bdill93]

ah i see. comparing to others it does seem cheap. The two of us would struggle to use the free rounds tho, as you just cant get on. So effectively we're saying its not a proper golf club membership. just a way to grab nomads, give them an affiliation, to enter comps elsewhere. im unlikely to play in opens elsewhere really so i'll pass. I just wondered how it could be so cheap. But great explanations.

Yeah quite literally giving you 3 rounds of play (or 6 9's) which is the minimum qualifying criteria for a WHS handicap - and then the handicap afterwards to take and play wherever you like.

Clever business if your club wants a few more pounds in the bank.

 

[nickjdavis]

Sounds like a great deal for a bandit in Opens. Hand over £99, submit 3 rubbish scores to get an official handicap, and never be seen at that course again during the year. Just go and play in Opens and shoot great scores

Clever business if your club wants a few more pounds in the bank.

But not clever business, if folks do as Swango suggests they might, as it would sully the name of the club and potentially tarnish all members with a reputation that they dont deserve.

 

[Coreservers]

But not clever business, if folks do as Swango suggests they might, as it would sully the name of the club and potentially tarnish all members with a reputation that they dont deserve.

Yeah thats what i dont understand, they aint struggling, they have or had a 3 year waiting list for membership, always busy, american gold and trackman range on site. i dont know their financial state but seems a bit strange

 

[Bdill93]

Yeah thats what i dont understand, they aint struggling, they have or had a 3 year waiting list for membership, always busy, american gold and trackman range on site. i dont know their financial state but seems a bit strange

Its still money in the coffers for very little additional work from the club!

 

[Coreservers]

For me i think its a no-no. i dont play in or want to play in opens etc. just play casual golf. so even at the price seems a bit of a waste. also it doesnt benefit you in the tee booking stakes either, So personally not a starter really. But onwards and downwards back to the range Now i do love Trackman, when it works

 

[jim8flog]

They wouldn't get in to our Opens.

We require 5 scores on a players record to enter.

Depending on the club though it would give them the opportunity to buy a county card then it is half price weekday golf at lots of clubs.

 

[Swango1980]

But not clever business, if folks do as Swango suggests they might, as it would sully the name of the club and potentially tarnish all members with a reputation that they dont deserve.

It depends on the club I guess. For example, there are one or 2 "scruffy" courses local to me that wouldn't care one bit what their reputation is. They are not trying to attract experienced golfers who really love to buy into the idea of being at a lovely, well run course. They are very cheap to join and primarily attract beginner golfers, or those that just love the fact it is cheap compared to the more prestigious courses. I actually think they do OK business wise with that model, and I definitely know that for one of them, the Owner doesn't really need the money, and 100% does not care about a bad reputation judging by history

 

[sunshine]

If you get a county card as well this offer becomes even better value. On some of the top end courses the county card rate can be £50 less than standard green fee.

 

[Sports_Fanatic]

They wouldn't get in to our Opens.

We require 5 scores on a players record to enter.

Depending on the club though it would give them the opportunity to buy a county card then it is half price weekday golf at lots of clubs.

But they can use those three and then a couple of other singles opens where they've played to have a handicap. Not a massive leap from the points membership i had when kids were little which effectively gave 10 rounds for £250. Allowed me to maintain a handicap, play St Andrews who did request a certificate as well as some of the team opens. Handicap was always reflective of ability but just allowed me to keep close to normal golf when I couldn't really warrant a £1k plus membership.

 

[Bdill93]

It depends on the club I guess. For example, there are one or 2 "scruffy" courses local to me that wouldn't care one bit what their reputation is. They are not trying to attract experienced golfers who really love to buy into the idea of being at a lovely, well run course. They are very cheap to join and primarily attract beginner golfers, or those that just love the fact it is cheap compared to the more prestigious courses. I actually think they do OK business wise with that model, and I definitely know that for one of them, the Owner doesn't really need the money, and 100% does not care about a bad reputation judging by history

My club in a nutshell