How far away is the course you belong to?

I live just north of Boston and there's not a lot of options for memberships at nice (I'll qualify that in a bit) courses, which are reasonably priced, and aren't a haul to get to.

Im obsessed with golf and love playing. I've been toying with the idea of getting a membership for a while now. I don't make a ton of money so I can't afford to spend more than a few grand on the membership. Most of the courses in my area that are in my price range aren't very enticing. They're somewhat lackluster layouts and not in great shape.

What I'd love to have is a course that has a fun and challenging layout. I'd hate to get bored with it. It'd be great to have it close to home and the office, but this is where my dilemma is.

There's nothing close to my house except either boring courses or super expensive/exclusive ones. Now there are some west of my home, but they're about 45 mins to an hour from both my home and office.

So...long-winded way to ask, what's the longest you travel to your course? Any suggestions/comments on experience you folks have had with different distances to your home course? What's manageable and worth it? I'd really like to play all the time but feel that a long ride to and from the course could make things difficult.

8 minutes door to door....9 if traffic is bad.

When sitting in my living room with my golf gps on it shows I'm 148 yards from the middle of the 17th green.

i have a very challenging but poor conditioned course 15 mins away and a great condition all-weather modern course about 1.5 hrs away to choose from....

...if i want to be challenged i choose the near course...if i want a pleasant relatively stress-free round i go to the other one..

20 min. Now there are at least 15 places closer and the majority are private but I gladly drive the 20.

well 40 minutes in average

45 minutes. It's a solid course that's worth the drive. There are closer clubs, but they are either have atmospheres I don't like ("high society" types with mandatory caddies if you want to walk, etc.), or too expensive in general. I used to be a member of one but the costs got out of control due to declining membership. I only play about half of my rounds at my current club, but even with the gas and greens fees on public courses for the other rounds, it's still cheaper than my old club.

5 minutes. I get invites to some really nice clubs and usually say no thanks. Hate driving.

About ten mins away. I wouldn't advise buying a membership 45 mins away, as you'll get tired of the drive, but feel guilty not going more often because you already plunked down the cash.

Are you talking about a private club, or just an annual pass at a public course?

I was playing with a guy at his club last week and he said the best country club is the one closest to your house. He lived a mile from the club and said he had walked home on occasion when need be. Didn't hurt that the club is one of the better ones in Illinois, but I understood his point. As much as you plan to be there, I wouldn't join a club more than 10-15 minutes away.

Twenty minutes and I live on a golf course. Was a member at the home course for the first ten years it was open but got tired of never being able to play due to all the tournaments and leagues. Actually prefer the course where I live as that was one of the biggest reasons for moving here but what good is it if you can never play? I understand making money and that tournaments bring in considerable revenue and have been told by management that tournaments are what allow them to keep the membership prices "affordable". Heck, I don't pay Augusta National a penny and I can't play there either so I guess it's actually a better deal! A significant percentage of members have moved on but apparently they're not missed and the tournaments keep growing in numbers. Oh well. Twenty minutes ain't that big a deal.

Less than 15 mins for me. It's actually the closest course to my house time wise and happens to be one of the nicest near me. Also got a good rate. It is semi-private and has a good amount of public play and tourneys but it hasn't affected the times I can play too much.

45 minutes door-to-door. I also have a golf course 3 miles away which I belonged to for about 20 years. I chose the farther away course which is in much better condition and has a very friendly membership. It has helped my game by playing the better-conditioned course. The drive is manageable and it keeps my beer intake to a bear minimum.

I could probably hit a 4 iron to the clubhouse on the fly. A hard PW if I bounce it across the parking lot.

2 miles from my office and 5 miles from my house. My club is completely private and middle of the road in terms of cost and condition. For people like me with Monday to Friday day jobs, if the course isn't close enough to get to through traffic during the week (in addition to weekends) then that is a problem. In my case, my club has reciprocal agreements with a half dozen other really good courses around Metro Atlanta where I can play for an enhanced cart fee, so it all works out.

I know a fair number of people that can play only on weekends. For me, that would be a tough way to go.

Across the street. Great to just jump on after work to walk a 6 hole loop around our neighborhood.

Less than 3 miles, three stop lights on the way, I can make it door to door in about 6 minutes or so if I hit a light or two on time....

Before I moved to where I live now, I joined a club that was around 20-25 minutes from home, about 10 minutes from work. A half hour was the max for me as far as being too far....

15 minutes from home, 10 minutes from office.

To be honest most other members live much closer and find it strange I live so far away

One is 45 minutes from home, 10 from the office. The other is 2 hours from either.

27 minutes from home to course. From work to course 6 minutes. Great course, former PGA Tour stop, and membership includes some touring pros, great practice facility.

5 minutes, depending on traffic. I saw a tip in Golf Digest once that said when picking a club or course and deciding how far is too far, try this. Drive to the club, turn around and drive home because you forgot something, then drive back. If that's too far to drive, the course is too far away.

15-20 minutes and worth the drive.

[quote name='Edaw68' timestamp='1404834553' post='9659643']
I saw a tip in Golf Digest once that said when picking a club or course and deciding how far is too far, try this. Drive to the club, turn around and drive home because you forgot something, then drive back. If that's too far to drive, the course is too far away.
[/quote]


Or have a locker, that works as well

6 minutes across town. Jackson Country Club, Jackson TN

The muni where I have my season pass is 15 mins away. I also live on a nine hole muni that I play regularly enough.

Six miles as the crow flies. Twenty minutes drive time.


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My club is 5 minutes away door-to-door.

Back when I joined, I only considered options within a15-20 minute drive, local roads. We have a lot of pretty decent options for a variety of price ranges in the Philly suburbs.

10 minutes from the home, 20 min from the office, [i]but still on the way home.[/i]
Consider the last part carefully as you will be leaving late from the club to get home "in time".
DMC

15min... 20 with traffic.

My opinion is that you will eventually lose interest if you live too far away. If it's gonna take me more than an hour round trip, I will definitely not go every other day.

When I lived in Texas, I was 1/2 mile from the 10th tee of my home club. Played every day after work. Got in a horrible rut because I played the same holes over and over and over..... Now that I'm in the NE and travel for work. I instead look for a good practice facility and play when I'm traveling. I let a buddy talk me into joining a club nearby last year. Cost me $4800 and I got to play 6 times due to travel. Worst choice I ever made. When I'm home I practice a lot at the New England Golf Learning Center at 123 and 495 (near Norton) and play occasionally wherever I want. Pinehills, Red Tail, The International, Shaker Hills, Newport national, etc.

For $5k a year, I can play a lot of really nice courses and practice almost every day.

BT