Country Club Members - Do you get bored of the course?

I currently play a muni course 2-3 times a month and my game is pretty consistent to a point where I generally have the same tee club and the same approach shot on most holes. After a couple rounds of this, I find it a bit boring and predictable.

I was thinking of joining the local country club and was wondering if you guys ever get bored playing the same course most of the time?

I'm not a CC member, but I work part-time at my home course.

When I first got the job I was concerned that I would get tired of playing the same course all the time. I was used to playing somewhere different every week.

But here I am almost 8 years later and I still love my course. For me, the great thing about it is its become my home away from home. I know everyone there and I can show up and play anytime and go out with someone I know. I now have a hard time tearing myself away to play anywhere else.

Yes. It does get boring. Hard to get the blood up about playing a course you've played literally 500 times before.

BUT

Being a member at a country club or public course usually affords you membership to a local golf association. Which means you are eligible to participate in things like team matches and association organized events like Amateur, Mid-Am, Open Championhips etc. This will give you an opportunity to go out and play some great local courses both public and private. More often than not, the championships proper are held at pretty high level courses so if you qualify you get a chance to play some great tracks. 2 years ago my associations Am. Championship was held at Aronimink (AT&T National course) and 3 years ago the associations Open Championship was held at Pine Valley, no explanation needed there.

So yes, your home course will get boring after a while, but joining a club really opens up a ton of opportunity's outside of that home base.

Many private clubs have reciprocal agreements with other local clubs.

Yes. But I have elected to trade the routine of a CC course for the ease of getting a tee time and a much much improved pace of play. There are some great muni and public/private courses in my area, and I look forward to a round or two on them every year, but if it is a weekend and you do manage to get on those courses you have committed to a long long day. I save them for the week days when I can ease out the back door of the office early. I chose a club that is convenient to both my home and my work and as a result I play a lot more golf without the gymnastics of trying to figure out where I can get on.

Phred

yes it does, you do tend to hit the same shots over and over again, but there are websites where you can get cheap rounds of golf for next to nothing, and usually a round somewhere else every couple of months sorts that out, and actually makes you realise what a good golf course yours is,

I am not bored of my course, of the 180 rounds I have played over the last two years 150 have been at my home course. Start playing cash games, tournaments and leagues and even mini-golf courses would maintain their appeal.

I don't get bored of my course because there are still holes that mind^#^* me.

However, I win sometimes and the course win sometimes, so it is a challenging course. If a course is getting boring then scoot back a tee or move up a tee. Either way it will put different clubs in your hands.

I am planning to play a round at the country club to try it out. Anything I should keep in mind while playing it? I was thinking of seeing how varied the tee boxes are and if they are at different angles, etc.

Yes. The great thing about golf is it is the only game where the playing field can change so much.

I don't but I'm lucky enough to belong to a course with a good amount of elevation change and changing wind conditions (from day to day). I imagine a more boring course would get old fast.

I've been a member at my current club for 3+ years. I was a member at another club for 5 years before that. I didn't get bored with playing the same course most of the time. I still tried to play a different court at least 1 time every 1-2 months. Most of the time, I preferred my home course over any other that I played. Plus, I like to switch up what tees I play from at my home club.

My best advice is to play the course prior to joining and really try to discern whether it's a nice enough course (both layout wise and upkeep wise) that you think that you'd like to play over and over again. The majority of country club golf course are usually very nice and well kept, however there are a few out there that are not and not worth the price.

Do get bored of the course itself from time to time especially in winter when I sometimes would rather be elsewhere. But that's mainly due the fact my course is flat and the holes look similar. Even if I was a member of Augusta I'd get bored after a while.

If I was a member at somewhere like Crans sur sierre, I doubt I'd ever get bored. There are some views you can never get tired of.

[quote name='daphenom121' timestamp='1425910065' post='11107565']
I am planning to play a round at the country club to try it out. Anything I should keep in mind while playing it? I was thinking of seeing how varied the tee boxes are and if they are at different angles, etc.
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Keep track of several holes and how many ways you could play the hole but still make par?

A course gets boring if it has a lot of holes that 1) don't require any imagination and 2) force you to play the hole in a specific way.

As a quick example - a flat island green par 3 with maybe 150 carry with no wind and no bailouts. You're either on the green with a 2 putt par; or your in the water, hitting 3 from the drop zone. That can get boring quickly.

Compare that to #8 at Pebble Beach. There are a multitude of ways to play that hole.

I belonged to a private club through my company but only played about 30 rounds/year, about half of them at the club. The course is a great Charles Banks course and I never tired of it. Now, when retirement comes I have mixed feelings about joining a club since there are so many great courses in the NJ/NY Metro that you can play during the week for reasonable prices. I like the variety, but even now I have a regular course where I play more than half my rounds. Perhaps for the comraderie, club tournaments, and social activities I would consider a club, but I do not anticipate needing one to have good gold.

[quote name='Emthree' timestamp='1425911527' post='11107673']
Do get bored of the course itself from time to time especially in winter when I sometimes would rather be elsewhere. But that's mainly due the fact my course is flat and the holes look similar. [b]Even if I was a member of Augusta I'd get bored after a while.[/b]

If I was a member at somewhere like Crans sur sierre, I doubt I'd ever get bored. There are some views you can never get tired of.
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There's a good way to invalidate any opinion contained in a response.

I played at a private course for almost 10 years. Did it get boring? Somewhat. But the advantage was that I could go to another one of the private courses in the area and play there for the price of a tee time at a public course. Also, I would just tee it up on a different set of tees or go play using only a 3 wood and no driver or mix things up that way. The one thing I got tired of quickly were some of the more arrogant golfers who would run around like it was their personal course and everyone was lucky to be on the grounds with them. Then I took their money!

I belong to one of the best public courses in the US and there hasnt been a time since I joined back in July where I said to myself "man this course is boring."

It's a tough course, which I think is why I havent been bored.

I play a lot of tournaments during the year at different courses so its always nice to see that my course is better than some of the private courses in the area.

one of the biggest reasons i haven't joined a club is i feel i would get tired pretty quickly playing the same course every weekend. i can see why those who have the means would join a private club, but joining a public club would be expensive compared to what your options would be otherwise.

having the option to play any course in the area is pretty big perk compared to feeling locked in to one course. i say feeling only because if you pay the money to join you'd feel like you were wasting it if you go somewhere else and pay. the biggest benefit to a membership would be getting tee times in the morning on weekends. last year i played over 20 different courses. i can't imagine playing same one all season with maybe a couple others throughout the summer.

it doesn't help that to break even on golf you have to play 50+ rounds at most courses.

I live in Orlando, there's literally hundreds of nice courses and practice areas within an hr or two.

I can't imagine paying to lock myself into one primary location.

I do get bored with mine, thats why I try to play a different course at least once a month. Luckily we have a pretty good money game about 3 times a week that at least keeps you interested. I try to play the black tees a couple times a month just to change it up a bit, but that said, at my course the blues and the tips aren't that much different.

First off, you'll never fully justify private club membership financially. You can get close, but you will still find a way to say you could have played less. I don't look at it as playing the same course as I consider playing the same course as my tradeoff for:

-easy to get on the course. You're a member, with the exception of events, or a ladies league or something, they will find a way to get you on the course.
-Practice. Not just the range, but they will likely have a short game area, and do not discount the ability to go out and play 2-3-4 holes.
-Camraderie. It is cool when you can walk up on a busy range and you know most people and they know you. Plus, if you're looking to play, you're far more likely to get invited to join a less than fourball than you would be at a public course. Most of my friends not at the course don't play golf, so I would either be playing alone or not playing. While it's fine, it's also nice when someone is willing to make a tee time for you.
-Motivation. You've paid your dues for the year. Saturday morning comes along, it's cloudy, a bit windy and there may be a little rain. If I'm heading to a public course and paying a green fee, I'm calling them up, cancelling, and rolling over. Whereas I'm getting out there with my membership. And I'm a better player for it.

Those are the main things I find that outweigh the fact I'm "playing the same course."

[quote name='pierso2' timestamp='1425915075' post='11108031']
I played at a private course for almost 10 years. Did it get boring? Somewhat. But the advantage was that I could go to another one of the private courses in the area and play there for the price of a tee time at a public course. Also, [b]I would just tee it up on a different set of tees or go play using only a 3 wood and no driver or mix things up that way.[/b] The one thing I got tired of quickly were some of the more arrogant golfers who would run around like it was their personal course and everyone was lucky to be on the grounds with them. Then I took their money!
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I was just gonna suggest that, maybe even pair up with some women, play forward and not use any woods maybe just hybrids or long irons.

The OP's question is, in part, why 'most' private club tracks are considerably more difficult that most muni tracks. Difficulty is tied to ongoing learning. In other words, the average private club member is not likely to feel as though he's mastered the track. The other aspect to consider when joining a private club is can you afford to join, pay the freight and not feel guilty playing other tracks, if desired.

I suppose when you play the majority of your rounds at one place it can get a bit redundant. I usually know before I even get to the course what clubs I'm going to hit off certain tees.

But like others have said, all the other factors (pace of play, ease of tee times, the abundant $games, etc) all more than make up for that with me. And like Friday, we were going out for our first round in a while, and first round of the year where they were letting carts out. The guys in the shop went in the storage shed and had my cart out and waiting for me. Little things make a big difference.

We do however vary the tees on occasion to change it up.

i've been on the fence with joining a local private club for a few years now.

similar thinking to what others have posted, it's becoming less about the actual golf, but more about the time management.

As I now have a family, a small child, and a progressing career....my schedule is constantly changing. Some weekends I don't have the luxury of spending 5-6 hours away from home. Sometimes my weekend is not available but I've got 2-3 hours available on a Thursday or Friday afternoon. The ability to show up to a full scope practice range or play 9 and leave is nice. It's something i didn't care about before, but starting to ponder now.

Can't underestimate potential business networking and relationship building either.

Haven't been bored yet. We just had a renovation last summer/fall, so I'm very excited for the snow to melt and get out on our new course. We have tons of reciprocals within an hours drive. I can go play another course for peanuts if I want to.

[quote name='deadsolid...shank' timestamp='1425921390' post='11108729']
I suppose when you play the majority of your rounds at one place it can get a bit redundant. I usually know before I even get to the course what clubs I'm going to hit off certain tees.

But like others have said, all the other factors (pace of play, ease of tee times, the abundant $games, etc) all more than make up for that with me. And like Friday, we were going out for our first round in a while, and first round of the year where they were letting carts out. The guys in the shop went in the storage shed and had my cart out and waiting for me. Little things make a big difference.

We do however vary the tees on occasion to change it up.
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Also reason many clubs are creating 'combo' tees with ratings, and reason members should join Interclub team golf, which takes play to other clubs.

FWIW - even if you join a private club it does NOT mean that you ONLY play at that club.

It's your BEST golf course...but it's NOT your ONLY golf course.

Nope, good to great greens tho. If I catch myself feeling bored I think back to the horror of the public course greens around here.