Membership or Play Variety of Courses?

In the past I've gotten a membership to a course. I like to play early mornings, and having a membership basically lets me walk on without even really checking in to the clubhouse. I would often beat the clubhouse staff to the course. Also, if I only get 4-6 holes in before work I don't feel like I've wasted my money. Note that I typically can play 9 holes in about 45 minutes (solo, walking, minimalist approach).

This year I'll be playing much less thanks to busy work and family schedules. Probably won't be able to play weekday mornings, but could play at lunch sometimes. I'm considering not getting a membership and picking a different course to play pretty much once a week. I'm lucky to have over a dozen courses within 20 minutes, so I think I'd definitely get some variety in.

Also considering a membership to the driving range to really get my swing sharp. I could hit the range basically whenever I had a free half hour or so.

I'm tempted to get the course membership again just for flexibility's sake. What do you think?

If I had a course where I could go and play a couple of holes I would join it. There is a course in y neighborhood and I wish I belonged as I literally walk by the fifth tee every morning as I walk the dog. But at 100 K initiation that is too much.

Both. I'm a full member at Cherwell Edge and a points member at Rye Hill (both UK of course). The latter saves me money but I'm not eligible for prizes unless it's an 'all members invite' competition. The Cherwell Edge membership (£985 + £22 union fees this year, which I'm going to pay sometime this week) just about saves me money but only because I play three or four times a week during the summer, plus a week or two on 'stacation'.

But my buddy and I also tour the various other courses in our area, picking one at random every weekend to keep things interesting.

Ive thought long and hard about this myself, my issue was that i can only really play Saturday and Sunday mornings, being a member means this is quite easy, but trying to get tee times at other courses at their busiest times is difficult and i wouldnt always be able to get the time i want

I'd hate to be tied to one course all the time but what about something like ClubCorp ONE where membership at one club allows you to play at all the affiliated clubs as well? I haven't done it but that maybe sounded like the way to go to me.

Member all day, nothing beats being able to show up play in less than 4 hours and get home at a decent hour on a weekend. You will get to know people at the club and it will easy to play with anyone. You dont have to make a tee time in advance and you dont have to worry about who you will get paired up with. The events are awesome.

It’s not even close to me...membership is the way to go. I love playing one course a lot, and I can also occasionally play a local public course or join a friend who’s a member at another place for some variety every now and then. But anytime I play a public course, I’m reminded why joining a private course is the way to go. It just makes things so much easier and saves so much time for a whole host of reasons...allows for a lot of flexibility. You pay for that privilege of course, but it’s worth it if you love golf.

Joining a private club 2 years ago was the best golf decision I ever made. I still play other public courses sometimes but I will always have a membership at a private club from now on. The flexibility and pace of play alone make it worth the cost.

Yep

Purely public play courses for me.

I've got a great selection to choose from in my area (Denver) and I can generally get a favorable tee time without much hassle, all within a reasonable drive. I love the variety of different courses and I think it makes me a better player to constantly be playing different courses.

I've taken a look at a couple of local private clubs, but the costs would be prohibitive given my frequency of play. I've got zero interest in the non-golf activities at these clubs, and less-than-zero interest in regularyly paying for food in the clubhouse. Sure, it'd be nice to sneak in 4/5 holes whenever it was convenient and not worry about paying a full fee, but frankly, I'd probably not do that enough to make it worth my time/money. If I lived in a place where private courses were more the norm (e.g. Florida), then the decision may be different.

A lot of factors are involved.

First you have to survey what's around and how much they generally cost. Many private clubs will be out of the question immediately when you look at the money involved.

And then there are subtle things like location. A public course that's on the way home from work or conveniently located just 5 minutes from your home can be an amazing luxury if the private alternative is 25 minutes away and involves getting into big traffic. If you have a place to practice on the regular, maybe you don't need a private membership?

Generally speaking a private course is a bigger commitment, too. You'll have to consider whether it's worth it to pay a big up-front initiation. Then again, sometimes they'll let you get around it--especially the lesser expensive private clubs where the initiation is <$5k.

Private often delivers better conditions and pace of play. It's generally for the folks who don't mind paying a little more to get a better golfing experience. The players are all invested so there's no one out there goofing off of just drinking with their buddies taking their sweet time.

If you're a range rat you'll want to consider the practice facilities of the private clubs you're looking at. Some have really elaborate short game areas. Some have luxurious ranges.

Then again, sometimes a private membership just has you paying for the course designers name instead of practical things.

This is pretty much me. I live within 15 minutes of literally 6 different public courses that are all pretty good and I never have trouble getting a tee time. Most Sundays you can even walk on with little to no wait if you want. The closest muni has a wonderful practice range with 2 bent grass greens including a white sand practice bunker that is free to use any time minus range balls of course. I think I would really enjoy belonging to a club but when I can play anywhere any time for $50 vs a $25,000 initiation fee plus another $800 a month it's hard to justify the cost, especially when like you said, I have absolutely no interest in the dining room, the tennis courts or any of the social functions. On top of that my buddies would still be playing the public courses so that would kind of take the fun out of it. You know what I might pay for? A locker and a prepaid pass at any of the local public courses. There's only one by me that does that and it's a great deal, my only concern is getting locked into feeling I always have to play that same course. Part of the fun when we play is deciding where we want to go because we can go anywhere, and it's always a lot of fun to try someplace new or someplace you haven't played in a few years.

I'm 10 minutes from my club and its sister club that we can play for free (Silverstone, UK). Within an hour's drive we have nearly a dozen clubs all of which welcome guests and we've never had a problem finding a tee time. But as we've noted before clubs and membership are different in the UK. The vast majority of golf clubs are privately owned but are little more than a golf course with a pub attached. There are a few 'hotel golf and spa' places but even those are generally low cost ventures and designed more for visitors than members. Our two cheapest local courses (Staverton and Hellidon Lakes) are both such venues and are both well maintained. True 'country club' type courses are uncommon in the UK.

Joining most clubs here is simply a matter of handing over some money and signing a form. No interview. No funny handshakes. Most places around here charge around £1,000 for a year with visitor green fees around £30 at the weekend. People choose to be members either because it saves money on green fees or because it's a requirement for holding an official handicap. If you don't want a handicap and can't play more than once a week there's simply no need to be a member of a club. Anyone who just plays once a month can easily find a tee time at any number of reasonably well maintained courses.

I’m down below Columbia in the Mid-lands of SC, and for me I like the variety of different courses, of which there are about 12-15 within 45 minutes of my house, most are very nice, and all of which I can play at a cost of $25-35. Santee, SC has three good courses within 30 minutes and are not that crowded most times. The expense of the membership at the only club in town, $200/month and your cart fee, if riding, is cost prohibitive for me. I know guys that won’t go to other courses because they are paying their money to the club, so they’re stuck playing the same course all the time, that’s a no-go for me. If I had the extra money I might join for the social aspects, but that’s not an option now. Remember, variety is the spice of life.

My wife and I joined our first private club a couple years ago. Best decision we've made. She went from playing maybe 2-3 times per year to about 50 rounds last year. We also use the club for a ton of social events, dinners.

When I played public courses, there would be many weekends where I couldn't get my other friends to play. So that was a struggle. But since joining the private club there is ALWAYS a group to play with. In fact, I would say in the First Worldest of First World Problems, I almost have TOO many people to play with now.

I do both, but the cost to join a semi-private club near me is relatively small. $1200 annually. This gives me the opportunity to play in club tournaments, weekend sweeps and the men's league which I enjoy.

I also play about 40 state golf association events each year which costs me far more than my membership, but gets me on golf courses all over the state.

I do the same just about -- cept my semi club cost me $$2600 or so a year for unlimited golf and advance Tee Times over the public. and I play in the men's club events there about 2 weekends a month. Plus belong to 4 other clubs so get lots of competitive play each week. Being retired I am a Professional Amateur Golfer playing 150 so rounds a year. So an expensive private club is out for me.

I'm struggling with the same question.

I have been a member at low key private club in the past, but got in w/ no initiation and low monthly dues. I still found myself playing the 2 other nearby courses at least 2 times per month.

But, living in Tucson with an abundance of courses and the least expensive private being at the top of my budget, I'm apt to forego the private route as I'd feel like I had to play all my rounds there to make it financially worthwhile.

There are a few lesser semi private courses nearby that offer yearly membership deals from 2500-3500 plus cart fee depending on course, but during high season (Nov-March) they are pretty busy and the rounds are still 4.5 hrs, even weekday mornings.

Also, I found that while playing the same course a lot is great fun, it seems to stagnate my game, and artificially keeps my handicap lower than when I play a variety of courses.

I have 2-3 weekdays off from work each week and I like checking out new tracks each week. There are about 20-30 courses with in 1.5 hrs of my house and I have a great track 5 minutes from my house in Arizona National, which other than the limited flight balls, also has a good practice facility.

Maybe after another year or two I might join something, but for now, variety is the spice of my golfing life.........

Cheers!

If I had a private course nearby, I’d definitely join. But alas, I’m just jumping around until we move to the burbs...