Would you buy Life Time membership?

[golfbluecustard]

We all know Golf Clubs like much of the world are going to struggle financially once the current pandemic is over, and they'll need to attract member's to get money through the door, with that in mind if they offered you life time membership would you buy it? And how much would you pay? 5 years subs ? 10 years ? at which point it's the equivalent to an i.e car loan ?

I'd definitely think about it, if the price was right, aged late 40's but it would mean you could i.e never move house etc... and then if they shut down in x many years time your money and membership is gone with them ...

Will wait for the offers from GC's to land in my inbox and then decide but in reality am more likely to see the tooth fairy in Narnia first !

GBC

 

[golfbluecustard]

30 years ago perhaps, not a chance today.

I'm guessing like me you're not soon to be nudging 50 then ....

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Remember it is the lifetime of the club as well as your lifetime.
If the club [assume it is proprietary] are that desperate I would place a large bet on the Club ending first to level out your losses.

 

[fundy]

No, never.

Am pretty nomadic and dont tend to stay in one place often enough, combined with seeing the impact it had on both Mentmore and Brocket Hall and how long term members were treated when it went wrong just not an option I would ever be comfortable with

 

[HomerJSimpson]

No. Certainly not at my current club. Fees are already going up and I'm not 100% cost v value for money will balance out going forward (although I'm hoping this hiatus will have let the club made the course and greens as good as possible) and so tying myself in long term doesn't make sense. Add in lifes lottery as Covid has shown and you never know what is around the corner. I'll stick to annual subs and the opportunity to review my options

 

[Imurg]

My first club offered 10 life memberships
Can't recall how much but it was about 13 or 14 years to be in profit without fee rises which there were every year so in reality about 10 or 11.
All got purchased
The club did close but al life members got more than their money's worth....

I played in a match against Woburn back in 96 or 97 and the guy I played with was a lifer there.
Cost him something like 15-20k back in 76.....if he's still alive he's saved himself an absolute fortune....

I wouldn't buy a life membership now..too many potential hiccups

 

[Lord Tyrion]

No, never. Not sure I'd want to be at the same course for life. In addition there is no guarantee that the club will be solvent forever. My current club had this offer about 10yrs ago. It went pop 4 years ago and the deal was null and void. The lifers have largely left now, bitter that the deal was not upheld, it's a proprietary club.

 

[jim8flog]

There was an offer made at our club some years ago but you had to be over 55. I worked out that you needed to carry on playing for 14-15 years to break even.

 

[chrisd]

At 67 years old mmmmmmm

 

[Blue in Munich]

At 67 years old mmmmmmm

67? That was a tough paper round!!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

At 67 years old mmmmmmm

You'd be better off going onto monthly direct debit

 

[chrisd]

67? That was a tough paper round!!

Especially on Sundays ?

 

[chrisd]

You'd be better off going onto monthly direct debit

Maybe just green fees ?

 

[richart]

67? That was a tough paper round!!

Dyslexic with numbers ?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I’m happy to stay where I am but even so don’t have the reddies available at the mo’.
It’s more likely to go on my wine collection ??

 

[Sats]

No, I'd probably change courses after a period of time, also if the club went bust what then?

 

[chrisd]

Dyslexic with numbers ?

There are members of the forum who are liable to receive letters from my legal team - ageism is illegal you know curly ?‍

 

[richart]

There are members of the forum who are liable to receive letters from my legal team - ageism is illegal you know curly ?‍

So is barnetism.

 

[Grant85]

Personally would be very cynical of lifetime memberships available.

To me this says that a club is struggling and imo, it's not a sustainable way to raise money.

Almost certain that anyone who pays 5 or 10 years subs to a club is a regular player and well committed to that club. So again, almost certain that they are going to keep paying their fees for the next 5 or 10 years at least. So all you're doing is getting some money up front that you'll inevitably spend and then 3 or 4 years later, will be getting into an even bigger hole.

I've been at 2 clubs that had lifetime members in the past, but had stopped offering new ones. It was previously an offer, or in some cases a gift, for people who had 30 years membership (or whatever the criteria was). In both clubs, it caused resentment. Now I guess that's true about a lot of things in golf clubs, but financially I just don't see how it adds up. A club is either sustainable, or it isn't. To think you're suddenly going to get 30 or 40 new members to sustain a struggling club in the next 2 or 3 years is pie in the sky stuff.

 

[Dando]

67? That was a tough paper round!!

that's 67 Diane Abbott years