The Flag

https://www.theflag.com/

My facebook has been bombarded with ads for The Flag. What's everyone's thoughts? Jack Nicklaus is involved with it. Looks interesting, but not sure how practical it is. It looks like some kind of golf timeshare.

Actually, I don’t think it’s a timeshare. It looks like when you join, you’ll join multiple courses.

I had not heard of it, but I think it's further evidence of a really interesting trend in what I would call the upper middle class of the golf market. We're continuing to see a pivot towards great golf being an occasional travel experience rather than an everyday country club experience. While middling private clubs fail, resorts like Bandon Dunes are thriving; I think people are subtly reallocating their dollars from everyday club dues to a few big golf trips a year.

Business models like Dormie Network or "The Flag" seem to be really well positioned to exploit the trend. The thing that's hard for me to figure is just how many people are willing to support a model like this.

Raynor don't you think most people joining these networks are members of a home club as well?

> @oneunderbogey said:

> Raynor don't you think most people joining these networks are members of a home club as well?

My impression is that they mostly don't. But I really have no basis for that.

I think that people who are joining the traditional "national" clubs do have a home club, but I think these multi-club models are attracting people who put less value on the "club" experience and more on the "course" experience.

> @raynorfan1 said:

> > @oneunderbogey said:

> > Raynor don't you think most people joining these networks are members of a home club as well?

>

> My impression is that they mostly don't. But I really have no basis for that.

>

> I think that people who are joining the traditional "national" clubs do have a home club, but I think these multi-club models are attracting people who put less value on the "club" experience and more on the "course" experience.

Agreed I would love to join a private club but for me personally all the extra amenities are useless for me as I just want the golf. Being able to play multiple good to great courses under one membership definitely has appeal for me personally.

^True. But I’d need for them to be somewhat close to each other for it to make sense. I like the idea of them concentrating in locations like central/south FL. I’m in Savannah, so if they had 3 or 4 courses within a days drive of me with one being in town I’d strongly consider something like this.

In case anyone is wondering but doesn't want to give their email it's 6500 annually

what's really unclear from their marketing materials is are they building all new courses or folding existing nicklaus owned / affiliated / managed properties into the fold?

> @" bnr204" said:

> what's really unclear from their marketing materials is are they building all new courses or folding existing nicklaus owned / affiliated / managed properties into the fold?

Existing courses.

Why don't they name them then? The marketing is weird

> @oneunderbogey said:

> Why don't they name them then? The marketing is weird

They’re probably still negotiating with the owners of them.

It looks like this plan collapsed under Covid. The website https://www.theflag.com/  is no longer working. Too bad it looked like a really cool member's club that I would have been interested in joining.