Would you join a "goat track" just to get your handicap????

[Smiffy]

Surely must be something better close to you ? Where are you based ?

East Sussex.
Have you seen the cost of membership down this way???

 

[JustOne]

Smiffy you are such a journey man, how many times would you actually WANT to play your own course?

With you?

Never

xxx

Thank God! If you think I'm queueing for an hour just to play as a 4-ball (and even then having to tee off the 10th!!) you got another thing coming!

PS. I'm free next Sunday, 7th...... fancy a round at your place?

 

[ADB]

[/QUOTE]East Sussex.
Have you seen the cost of membership down this way???


[/QUOTE]

I was looking yesterday, £1,710 for East Sussex National ...think I would camping out in the halfway house to get my moneys worth. They don't charge a joining fee though

 

[Golfman]

I used to play on a course that was a bit of goat track and moved to a much nicer course about 5 years ago.

The course is playable and in good shape all year and is much less busy. The higher cost is, to me at least, well worth it as I'd rather not spend my precious time away from work playing in a bog and taking 4.5 hours plus to get round.

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Smiffy, have you looked at Chartham Park??? Is that too far from you???

I played there last year and they won't leave me alone now!!! I get mail shots, text messages - they even phoned me asking whether I'd like to join!!! I was going to write that they're desperate for members but that sounds a bit rude.......

I reckon you could get a brilliant deal there.......golf plus gym remember.

 

[stevek1969]

This year i'm paying £530 to play a goat track , no problems getting a game play as many times as i want ,us Jocks have got it sussed,i don't no how you guys put up with that Smiffy £550 and you only get to 25 times,my arse. Goat track to keep the handicap then be a tart and play every where else.

Not sure about down south but up here there's Open's every week where you pay max £20 a round of the back pegs to play them.You could play some amount of them of the £520 you would have left.

 

[funkyfred]

Smiffy, have you looked at Chartham Park??? Is that too far from you???

I played there last year and they won't leave me alone now!!! I get mail shots, text messages - they even phoned me asking whether I'd like to join!!! I was going to write that they're desperate for members but that sounds a bit rude.......

I reckon you could get a brilliant deal there.......golf
plus gym remember.

Smiffy

Only just up the road from Chartham Park is the Kent & Surrey Country Golf Club in Edenbridge, a good test for anyone, and at the moment they have a membership price of £600 pa

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Smiffy, have you looked at Chartham Park??? Is that too far from you???

I played there last year and they won't leave me alone now!!! I get mail shots, text messages - they even phoned me asking whether I'd like to join!!! I was going to write that they're desperate for members but that sounds a bit rude.......

I reckon you could get a brilliant deal there.......golf
plus gym remember.

Smiffy

Only just up the road from Chartham Park is the Kent & Surrey Country Golf Club in Edenbridge, a good test for anyone, and at the moment they have a membership price of £600 pa

I played this as well last year - a cracking track. Nice club house as well. I considered joining there but too far unfortunately.

 

[john0]

Theres a simple solution for you Smiffy - move up North!!
Not only can you play as much golf as you want for £550, but you also get to enjoy the delicasy of Parmo's

 

[funkyfred]

Smiffy, have you looked at Chartham Park??? Is that too far from you???

I played there last year and they won't leave me alone now!!! I get mail shots, text messages - they even phoned me asking whether I'd like to join!!! I was going to write that they're desperate for members but that sounds a bit rude.......

I reckon you could get a brilliant deal there.......golf
plus gym remember.

Smiffy

Only just up the road from Chartham Park is the Kent & Surrey Country Golf Club in Edenbridge, a good test for anyone, and at the moment they have a membership price of £600 pa

I played this as well last year - a cracking track. Nice club house as well. I considered joining there but too far unfortunately.

I joined last March and during the summer all the locals told me that the course was the best it had been for 10 years or more.

The land owner has sold the course to the guy who had the lease but has kept some of the course unfortunately to himself (the landowner) which has meant we have lost out 1st and 2nd tee's, which in turn has meant an alteration to the course which is currently on going.

The new owners seem to really want to improve things and during last year there was something new being done to the course each week. No it's not perfect but improvements are being done, and we all know that these things take time and money.

Personally I was really pleased I became a member, the locals are friendly and have welcomed me to the club, and as you say it has a nice club house with a nice and relax feel to it, plus they do cracking food.

 

[Smiffy]

Smiffy, have you looked at Chartham Park??? Is that too far from you???

Unfortunately it is. I've played Chartham many a time, used to hold our Spring meeting their when I was secretary of a big society. It's a nice course and one I usually play well around. But it's a good 80 mile round trip for me, as is Kent & East Surrey. I used to live in Edenbridge so know the course reasonably well but I just feel that £30.00 a year to keep my handicap is about what I want at the moment. As James said early thread, I'm very much a "journeyman" and enjoy playing different courses. It's always been a weakness of mine and I can't see it getting any better. Plus I have a good bunch of mates I play regularly with and they all like "awaydays"

 

[Smiffy]

What are the "add ons" Rob??
To keep that h'cap active you need at least 3 cards each year, do you have to pay for each time you play at the goat track too??

The £30.00 fee that you pay up front is for their Loyalty Card. For this you get a reduction in the standard green fee, entry into competitions, an official handicap and a county card, which gives you discounted green fees at all other courses in Sussex.
The green fee that you then pay is £11.00 for 9 holes or £14.00 for 18.
I don't intend playing a lot of golf around there, just maybe the three qualifying comps required to keep my handicap active.
It's still a round trip of about 60 miles to get there and back but as I'll only be doing it maybe 3 or 4 times in the year it's not too much of a hardship.

 

[JustOne]

The £30.00 fee that you pay up front is for their Loyalty Card. For this you get a reduction in the standard green fee, entry into competitions, an official handicap and a county card, which gives you discounted green fees at all other courses in Sussex.
The green fee that you then pay is £11.00 for 9 holes or £14.00 for 18.
I don't intend playing a lot of golf around there, just maybe the three qualifying comps required to keep my handicap active.
It's still a round trip of about 60 miles to get there and back but as I'll only be doing it maybe 3 or 4 times in the year it's not too much of a hardship.

Sounds like you might aswell do it. If you realise that you made a mistake you could always simply rejoin Highwoods. Do they offer membership at Highwoods pro rata?

 

[Smiffy]

Do they offer membership at Highwoods pro rata?

Don't think they do James.
I was having a chat with Ray & Khalid last night, they are both members at the course in question.
They have stated that whilst the course is a little "Mickey Mouse" in places, it still has to be played and the condition of it isn't too bad at all.
2 x par 3's, a par 5 and 6 par 4's so plays to a par of 70 with SSS being the same.

 

[JustOne]

2 x par 3's, a par 5 and 6 par 4's so plays to a par of 70 with SSS being the same.

Cool. That means once you get to know it you might break 90

 

[painterboy]

Smiffy,

One course is very restrictive, the other no better than a goat track.
Is that the only options you have within reasonable driving distance from home.
As one poster mentioned,what about a muni? I started my golfing on one and paid about £30 per year (which included the registration fee to the English union) which allowed me to play in comps and get a handicap. All you pay is a green fee for the round.Plus getting a reserved tee time on a Sunday

 

[RGDave]

Membership renewal time and a dilema.....
£550.00 to be a member of a decent course where you are not embarrassed to invite anyone to visit but hardly ever play there.
Or £30.00 a year to join a "goat track" of a 9 holer just to retain your "official" handicap but it's the kind of place where you wouldn't invite your worst enemy?
What would you do?

Why not join somewhere that isn't a 9 hole "hole". Depending where you live you might be able to maintain a h'cap somewhere where you might enjoy playing enough for the h'cap to actually mean something.

You could join the local muni, pay £30/40 and £10/round 12 times a year and not find the course so utterly depressing, you'd rather not even play.

Just a thought.

 

[Farneyman]

you get two goats per player, one to saddle your clubs with and the other to ride

Surely thats not legal...

 

[Region3]

I think you've answered your own question Smiffy.

£550 for 10-15 rounds a year plus the fees at your awaydays isn't good value.

Mine is just under £600 for unlimited golf, but I enjoy playing the same course most of the time, with only a few outings to other places.

In your situation I wouldn't rejoin, although as someone else mentioned I'd look for a nice muni close by or something like that rather than join a not so good 9-holer that isn't very close.

 

[CrapHacker]

What 'Goat Track' are you on about ?