• Thank you all very much for sharing your time with us in 2025. We hope you all have a safe and happy 2026!

Why Force A Bar Tab Credit

£50 at my club but can only be used at the bar for drinks and not food. Waste of money for me as I always have the car with me so stick with soft drinks on the rare occasion I go into the bar. Usually loose a few quid on it.

Do you not buy your m8's a drink with it? Even if they want a pint?
 
You would be amazed at the number of members who don't use the clubhouse at all. The bar card system will provide this information. The bar levy is a way of levelling the playing field. Good members who use the clubhouse, support social functions, attend prize presentations etc are subsidising the club and the course for those who don't support the club.
 
Yes you are missing something. You are joining a golf CLUB, not a golf COURSE. If you just want to play golf then go home without any of the benefits of joining a club than that's fine. But if you join a club I think people should make the effort to integrate with other members by having a drink after their game, attend social functions etc.

The levy at most clubs is about £50, it's only a pound a week. Surely you are going to spend that much during the course of the year?
Well said.

The levy only ultimately costs those that don't spend in the bar. The car park cowboys who just want to play the course and not contribute anything to the Club. We don't have a levy, but would certainly not object if one was introduced. £50 a year seems a reasonable figure.
 
£100 pa at ours - bar and food only - and I top mine up several times a year.
I've never played a Saturday comp without my opponents and I having a quick one in the Spikes Bar after the game and after the two social turnouts I try to attend in the week we shower, change and go up to the main bar for 40mins or so for some chat and banter.
In the recent hot spell I've popped up to the practice area for 30/60 mins then sat outside a while with a drink and a newspaper, or sat with another member, watching the incoming 18th holers and outgoing 1st holers.
Add to that several social functions with partners - we're always a table of 10 - and the club card is well used.
As a relatively new member socialising is how I got to meet other members, apart from three or four friends, and integrate myself into the club.
 
£50 a year is reasonable. Ours is only £20 but we easily spend more than that as the food is very good. Other than tee pegs I've never bought anything from the shop as the selection is very small and I'd rather buy my clothes from M&S or somewhere for less than half the price.
 
I am absolutely astonished that anyone manages to spend less than £50 per year in the clubhouse. My Brother in Law is tighter than a pair of wag's jeans but even he spends more than that. Assuming you get value from your club (i.e. over 30 rounds per year) then even an orange juice and bag of nuts after a round will more than cover that amount.
 
At my Uncle in laws place in Canada he has to spend $300 a month at the pro shop/club, if he doesn't they just charge him the money

He has a lot of polo shirts and balls :D
 
When people apply to join our club one of the questions asked is whether they intend to use the facilities as we arnt looking for "car park members" they all say yes! So, there isn't any real argument against putting money on their club card at the start of every year. At the end of the year there are only a few who don't use up their money. I rarely choose to play with anyone who I know will not have a social drink after the game, and in my case I also never drink and drive so its a mug of tea or a soft drink and, more often than not, a sandwich.
 
We have a £100 levy, personally I don't have a problem with it, we get a 15% discount on bar prices + we can use it at the halfway house. Mine is always depleted by around march so I just keep topping it up. I do hear of people not using it by December but surely if your a club member you can spend £100 on drink or food over the course of a year, it's about one cup of coffee a week.
 
We don't have a levy a ours, it wouldn't bother me if we did as I spend quite a bit in the clubhouse. Like a lot of clubs we have lots of car park members too.
 
We have a levy of £50. I think the is perfectly reasonable. I will definitely be topping this up as I go through the year. £50 doesn't go very far these days on food and drink. Even those 'car park' members should get through this if they go in and have a soft drink after their round. Most of us belong to 'Golf Clubs' and being part of a club is taking part. I don't agree with anyone's argument against a reasonable levy to encourage you to stay on after the round.
 
We are about to introduce a 100 pound levy from January. I'm not keen on the idea, but then it wasn't my decision. I dread to think how much I spend in the club house, probably £30 a weekend or more, and then a round during the week after an evening's golf. It will soon disappear, but putting it on top of the £1300 membership makes it capital, not cash flow.

Since the money goes on the bar card, it's non transferable for those who don't stay, so can't be sold on.

Whether the club want car park members or not, they do exist, and if that's what they want from their membership, then why not? Every one wants something different. Some want to play 5 times a week, others can only play once. Surely the ones who only play once are subsidising the golf of those who play more regularly?
 
one of the relevant issues for some clubs that hasn't been mentioned specifically is the covering of staff costs ie the basic provision of having someone there regardless of how many drinks are purchased.

the actual mechanism will be in place at different clubs in different ways for different reasons but the smaller the contribution from visitors/societies on a regular basis the more clubs will have a levy structure if they set out to provide catering across the day/week. The practical alternative is to replace them with a coffee machine for increasingly more of the day(s) until, as raised above, you become a member of a golf course rather than a club!

proprietry clubs are more likely to have a card system for administration, increasingly access and member discounts (reason to join) with or without a levy.
 
You would be amazed at the number of members who don't use the clubhouse at all. The bar card system will provide this information. The bar levy is a way of levelling the playing field. Good members who use the clubhouse, support social functions, attend prize presentations etc are subsidising the club and the course for those who don't support the club.

This...

You see them every year trying to spend the £50 bar levy before it runs out. You don't see them in the clubhouse at any other time.

I drive to the club but i try and have a soft drink with my playing partners after most games.

I try and support the club as much as i can, maybe if every member at least tried, as many would not be in trouble.
 
£50 at my club. Can be used on drinks and food from the bar and you get a 20% discount as a card holding member so you effectively get £60 of credit.

I like it personally. It helps out the club, gives me a tasty discount on food/drinks and means I don't have to worry about taking cash with me when going to play golf.

Also, if I finish a round and suddenly realise I'm ravenous I can just head up to the clubhouse and have a bacon sandwich with my buddies!
 
This...

You see them every year trying to spend the £50 bar levy before it runs out. You don't see them in the clubhouse at any other time.

I drive to the club but i try and have a soft drink with my playing partners after most games.

I try and support the club as much as i can, maybe if every member at least tried, as many would not be in trouble.

Or, in December, at ours, turning up to buy half a dozen bottles of wine and heading off home.
 
£100 in my club as well.

I'm all for it as it encourages members to use the club house which improves the social nature of the club.

Unfortunately our bar doesnt open until 12 on Saturdays and I play early so am usually done by 11.30.

We usually arrange an end of season bash where my mates and I will all play in the morning then stayat the club for lunch and give our cards a good hammering all afternoon.

If there is anything left at the end of the year I buy a few bottles of wine.
 
Top