Free Golf at private Clubs when you travel

[bubbaleon]

Has anyone tried the ClubCorp Travel program? $50 per month, 1 yr agreement, free golf at all of the country clubs, I think there are like 200, every month. Must travel outside 100 miles from your home. Previously you had to be a member of a country club. Apparently now you can just sign up online?

 

http://www.clubcorp.com/Clubs/ClubCorpTravel/About-ClubCorp-Travel

[ClarkGrswld4]

if true, a pretty good deal if you already travel a ton anyway and have the free time to play. Not so much if you start spending $400 on flights to play a free course

[bubbaleon]

if true, a pretty good deal if you already travel a ton anyway and have the free time to play. Not so much if you start spending $400 on flights to play a free course

 

Haha yea..true. I travel a lot for work. They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

[slprince67]

That could all change soon since ClubCorp sold to a private equity group today.....

[theebdk]

This is a good idea for Clubcorp to raise additional revenue from folks in certain markets. For golf you must play during the week or on weekend afternoons. There are plenty of unused tee times at private courses during those times. I think they require you pay a cart fee and then who doesn't stop for a drink or food, after all your golf was free. Oh and you will probably buy a logo ball or a shirt. For the city clubs, the four course meal is a good deal. But then you are likely to buy alcohol which is not included. And finally you have access to the affiliated benefits like ship sticks and the like which does not cost them a dime. In fact they may get a fee for members that use the services.

 

I travel a lot for work and the fee would be worth it for those meals and the occasional round of golf. But my country club is being sold, possibly to clubcorp or another owner with reciprocity benefits. We shall see but will keep this in the back of my noodle.

[teejaywhy]

 

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

[IsleOfMan]

I signed up recently. I used my parents' address in KY so I can still use the benefits in my local area. The dining benefits are well worth the price and they present a full receipts, so if you're traveling for work you can use that for expense report purposes as well. Also, the ClubCorp owned/operated courses offer free rental clubs as well, so you can save the need to ship/fly your clubs in some cases.

 

Some of the cart fees are a bit high (paid $29 today at Largo Mar, greens waived fee was $34) but still probably not much more than you'd pay to play the local muni that may not be quite as good. Others have more reasonable cart fees in the $12-$18 range.

 

As for the affiliated public courses (like Pinehurst #9 and PGA National), you're still getting to play for only cart fees, so anywhere from 50-75% off depending on how they break it down. I was tempted to play PGA National today but the drive up from FLL was a bit more than I wanted to to hike, so I did Largo Mar instead. In hindsight, I'll make the drive next time instead.

 

The membership level you show up at is "Signature Gold Unlimited" with your home course as "Travel", so it's the same travel priveledges a $2500+ club membership. If you have a lot of courses in your local area and have friend/family more than 100 miles away whose address you can use for the signup, it would also be well worth it. Also, addresses in a handful of states (UT, IA, MN, MO, ND, SD, WY) get the membership for only $25/month, so if you know someone with an address in one of those states it's even more worthwhile.

[rblmp32]

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

And it's just #9 at Pinehurst. Which is the newest course. It's supposedly very nice, a Nicklaus design. Personally, looking at the list it's nothing too impressive in the areas I'm familiar with (NC, SC, CT, etc). Perhaps in other states there's some good courses, but it's mostly just regular old private clubs in NC. Nothing special at all.

[IsleOfMan]

It's very market dependent... there are nearly ~20 clubs in the Atlanta area and they're all clubs I'd happily play, and a few I really like (like Bear's Best). In Miami/FLL, it's just Lago Mar unless you want to drive up to Palm Springs for PGA National. Dallas is another market with plenty of options (makes sense, it's where ClubCorp's headquarters is located) but Chicago, for example, only has 2 options.

 

I got excited when I read they added Medina... but it's Medina Country Club in Minnesota, not Medinah Country Club outside Chicago of Ryder Cup / PGA Championship / US Open fame.

[bubbaleon]

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

Technically, they are resorts. Pinehurst you can play as a non-hotel guest but you can only make your tee times a day or two out. Otherwise, you have to be a hotel guest spending several hundred dollars on a room in addition to the green fees. PGA National is the same story though public tee times are more accessible than Pinehurst. They do have a designated member's course every day as well as PGA National members Club.

[Jungleland]

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

And it's just #9 at Pinehurst. Which is the newest course. It's supposedly very nice, a Nicklaus design. Personally, looking at the list it's nothing too impressive in the areas I'm familiar with (NC, SC, CT, etc). Perhaps in other states there's some good courses, but it's mostly just regular old private clubs in NC. Nothing special at all.

 

#9 used to be called The National, Pinehurst bought it several years ago. It's a nice course but not in the flavor of a #2, #4, #7, or #8

[masamitsu]

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

But as a ClubCorp member I can play them for cart fees.

[bubbaleon]

...They have Pinehurst and PGA National on this list!

 

Those are public courses.

 

But as a ClubCorp member I can play them for cart fees.

 

Yea.. that's pretty special!

[bubbaleon]

here's a list of clubs and course you can play fopr cart fee. there is also a free dining program included at business clubs: http://clubcorp.uberflip.com/i/706860-aci-clubcorptravel-networkguides-0617

 

free golf list starts on page 14

[flushem]

What about guest(s)? Do they pay the normal green fee?

[IsleOfMan]

Until the end of August, you can take a guest for just cart fee, but this is a promo they've run during July and August the last few years and not the case year round. Normally, guests pay full greens fees & cart fees.

[gotaholen1]

The courses in Chicago look pretty weak sauce.

[bubbaleon]

The courses in Chicago look pretty weak sauce.

 

I've been to both. In a land of amazing golf and club name recognition i.e anything on the Gold Coast, Rolling Green and Ravinia Green don't hold as much weight. But truly those two courses are fantastic. Real good test and were in great condition when I was up there last summer. Go play 'em before you judge them. I also want to play White Eagle up there in Naperville. Just had a buddy become the GM of North Shore CC so hoping he can let me out next time I'm in town.

[bubbaleon]

What about guest(s)? Do they pay the normal green fee?

 

Yea, club's guest rate.

[IsleOfMan]

For the rest of August 1 guest is free (greens fees) if reserved at booking... the last few years they've run this as a promo during July and August. Normally guests pay both guest greens fee and cart fee (or the normal published rate if its a semi-private or public course).

[kidcloudkicker]

I signed up recently. I used my parents' address in KY so I can still use the benefits in my local area. The dining benefits are well worth the price and they present a full receipts, so if you're traveling for work you can use that for expense report purposes as well. Also, the ClubCorp owned/operated courses offer free rental clubs as well, so you can save the need to ship/fly your clubs in some cases.

 

Some of the cart fees are a bit high (paid $29 today at Largo Mar, greens waived fee was $34) but still probably not much more than you'd pay to play the local muni that may not be quite as good. Others have more reasonable cart fees in the $12-$18 range.

 

As for the affiliated public courses (like Pinehurst #9 and PGA National), you're still getting to play for only greens fees, so anywhere from 50-75% off depending on how they break it down. I was tempted to play PGA National today but the drive up from FLL was a bit more than I wanted to to hike, so I did Largo Mar instead. In hindsight, I'll make the drive next time instead.

 

The membership level you show up at is "Signature Gold Unlimited" with your home course as "Travel", so it's the same travel priveledges a $2500+ club membership. If you have a lot of courses in your local area and have friend/family more than 100 miles away whose address you can use for the signup, it would also be well worth it. Also, addresses in a handful of states (UT, IA, MN, MO, ND, SD, WY) get the membership for only $25/month, so if you know someone with an address in one of those states it's even more worthwhile.

 

When you use the courses in your local area do the courses check some sort of ID?

[IsleOfMan]

They haven't yet the dozen or so times I've used it.

[dhc1]

They haven't yet the dozen or so times I've used it.

 

do you have any qualms about putting down your parent's address as your primary and skirting their intended rules wrt travel/home? Do you play by the rules of golf?

 

Just curious and not trying to start a war.

[IsleOfMan]

No. Yes.

[puttnforthe8]

signed up....I will get use out of it in a few places

[jshel]

I signed up a little more than a year ago. I live in MN, so it's only $25/month.

 

My parents live in AZ, so I use it some there. The courses are fine, but not amazing, but for a $20 cart fee they are great. I'm playing all three - Gainey Ranch, Anthem CC and Seville - in a little more than a week and then I'm paying the guest fee at a really good private club where I know a member.

 

I've used it some other places when I have traveled for work.There are a couple of good places within driving distance that I want to get to this year. For me it doesn't take much to get to $300 worth of golf to make it worthwhile.

[IsleOfMan]

I'm coming up on a year with ClubCorp Travel and it's something I've extracted a HUGE amount of value out of. Even in the colder months when I wasn't golfing as much, even when traveling, I got well more than my money's worth out of the dining privileges. Even based purely on the intended travel-only I get much more than my money's worth. I now own a second home back in KY, so I know have the account addressed there instead of my parents', and continue to use the benefits in my home area making this an even more incredible value, including weekly dinners at the nearby social clubs.

 

It's getting to the point that I'm considering dropping my home club membership (also ClubCorp, but not a full ONE membership). With plenty of courses within a 45-min drive (including my current home courses all within 5-20 min drive), my home membership price increasing, and on-course events (corporate scrambles, travel groups, etc) increasingly limiting member play, the convenience of playing my home courses 3-4 times a week vs. traveling a bit wider seems to be diminishing. I'm thinking I'll be just as happy playing one of my home courses once or twice a week and one of the much nicer courses elsewhere in the Atlanta area on the weekend.

 

Currently, in an average warm month, I'm paying $50 for the membership, ~$15 each for 4-8 4-course meals, and ~$20 each for 1-4 rounds of golf... so total around $200/month in addition to ~$150/month at my home club after F&B min and range fees, plus a lot of $5 twilight cart fees, so total around $400/month. By dropping my home membership I'll be paying the same $50 for the membership and ~$15 each for the meals, but golf use would increase to ~8-10 rounds/month... so somewhere between $300-$350/month, i.e. a moderate savings and notable hit to convenience but a big boost in the variety and quality of courses played, plus much more of the total is tied to actual use and, in turn, will drop to more like $150/month in the colder months. I haven't made a decision yet, but I'm leaning towards going this route.

[tjblue]

My year ends in July.

 

Will clubcorp renew at the same rate and will it be month to month or a full year? Thanks.

[IsleOfMan]

My year ends in July.

 

Will clubcorp renew at the same rate and will it be month to month or a full year? Thanks.

Honestly, I'm waiting to see the answer to this in June before making the decision whether to drop my home club membership.

[tjblue]

My year ends in July.

 

Will clubcorp renew at the same rate and will it be month to month or a full year? Thanks.

 

Honestly, I'm waiting to see the answer to this in June before making the decision whether to drop my home club membership.

 

I figured with a home membership you'd know already.