Prices in the UK

[tiderider]

our dornoch caddies last week were all members ... 500 pounds a year is what they pay for unlimited golf ... think carnoustie membership is a bit above that, but in the neighborhood of 800, iirc ... wouldn't shock me if troon/berwick/etc paid no more than 1000 pounds a year ... muirfield limits play to t/th, so i imagine they pay quite a bit more, but it's still a nice subsidy ...

[El Gringo]

> @jonnymc44 said:

> > @tiderider said:

> > Much better value in England, I’d think ... next time I’m over, that’s where I’ll go ...

> Generally speaking the Open rota courses will charge up to £250 a round in England, not too dissimilar to Scotland, but the top tier courses won't be in the region of KB or Trump International, much closer to North Berwick and Cruden Bay prices. There will always be that hidden gem you find that costs £50 a round and you could play over and over. But we do have a lot of top courses that are great value for money as well.

> My number 1 course in terms of value and quality is Silloth. I've said it on numerous threads that it won't be beaten. Pick up a cheap membership for £525 a year and you'll keep coming back!

> But definitely come to England. A lot of golf tourists will concentrate on Scotland (and Ireland) and rightly so, but we have a lot of history in England and the courses are just as good, if not better!

 

TideRider

 

England does have some significant advantages over Scotland and Ireland. The first two are partly because England has close to 2X more courses than Scotland and Ireland combined. England is also blessed to have produced some of the best archies that ever lived and their work is scattered about the country in good measure.

 

1. England blows blows Scotland and Ireland away with very high quality 2nd and 3rd tier courses.

2. England has more course variety.

3. You don't tend to get the tour buses rolling through England so there is more of a club experience.

 

Ciao

[Hawkeye77]

> @tiderider said:

> our dornoch caddies last week were all members ... 500 pounds a year is what they pay for unlimited golf ... think carnoustie membership is a bit above that, but in the neighborhood of 800, iirc ... wouldn't shock me if troon/berwick/etc paid no more than 1000 pounds a year ... muirfield limits play to t/th, so i imagine they pay quite a bit more, but it's still a nice subsidy ...

 

Ours were also good players. Lucky enough to play as guests of one of them later in the week for the outrageous price of ------- 20 pounds each for my daughter and myself - according to Alan he was allowed 10 guests per season, so a great deal for anyone the caddies invite to play. I still check their comps every so often to see if any of the guys are playing in them, Alistair (retired policeman) had a nice result in a recent comp there. Hope to get back to Dornoch, maybe in 2021???????????

[scott_Donald]

> @tiderider said:

> our dornoch caddies last week were all members ... 500 pounds a year is what they pay for unlimited golf ... think carnoustie membership is a bit above that, but in the neighborhood of 800, iirc ... wouldn't shock me if troon/berwick/etc paid no more than 1000 pounds a year ... muirfield limits play to t/th, so i imagine they pay quite a bit more, but it's still a nice subsidy ...

 

I remember at a AGM someone said we had too many visitors(old guy) then someone else turned round and said well without visitors the fees will have to more than double, he shut up fast. They are limited though but nothing like Muirfield. I enjoy chatting to the visitors on the putting green, just don't get stuck behind them!

 

> @Hawkeye77 said:

> Ours were also good players. Lucky enough to play as guests of one of them later in the week for the outrageous price of ------- 20 pounds each for my daughter and myself - according to Alan he was allowed 10 guests per season, so a great deal for anyone the caddies invite to play. I still check their comps every so often to see if any of the guys are playing in them, Alistair (retired policeman) had a nice result in a recent comp there. Hope to get back to Dornoch, maybe in 2021???????????

 

I can take a guest on for 25, 15 in winter. its an amazing deal. I am limited to the same person once a month. I normally have a couple guys I take on once a month. My dad is similar for Cruden Bay but he is limited to 10 a year, I normally get there a couple times a year, it's a fun easier round. He does most of his golf at RA so he is fine.

 

Being a member of a Royal, gives you lots of benefits as far as reciprocals but there is not one for us at Royal Dornoch which is annoying!

[tiderider]

> @"El Gringo" said:

> > @jonnymc44 said:

> > > @tiderider said:

> > > Much better value in England, I’d think ... next time I’m over, that’s where I’ll go ...

> > Generally speaking the Open rota courses will charge up to £250 a round in England, not too dissimilar to Scotland, but the top tier courses won't be in the region of KB or Trump International, much closer to North Berwick and Cruden Bay prices. There will always be that hidden gem you find that costs £50 a round and you could play over and over. But we do have a lot of top courses that are great value for money as well.

> > My number 1 course in terms of value and quality is Silloth. I've said it on numerous threads that it won't be beaten. Pick up a cheap membership for £525 a year and you'll keep coming back!

> > But definitely come to England. A lot of golf tourists will concentrate on Scotland (and Ireland) and rightly so, but we have a lot of history in England and the courses are just as good, if not better!

>

> TideRider

>

> England does have some significant advantages over Scotland and Ireland. The first two are partly because England has close to 2X more courses than Scotland and Ireland combined. England is also blessed to have produced some of the best archies that ever lived and their work is scattered about the country in good measure.

>

> 1. England blows blows Scotland and Ireland away with very high quality 2nd and 3rd tier courses.

> 2. England has more course variety.

> 3. You don't tend to get the tour buses rolling through England so there is more of a club experience.

>

> Ciao

 

all good points ... they have those wonderful interior heathland courses, or "heathland like" courses ... if you look at the top100 website, they have only 5 in the top 20 for britain/ireland, but then have 22/50 to scotland's 16/50, with a much bigger discrepancy for the top 100 ... value wise, it's probably not close at all ...

[duffer987]

> @scott_Donald said:

> > @tiderider said:

> > our dornoch caddies last week were all members ... 500 pounds a year is what they pay for unlimited golf ... think carnoustie membership is a bit above that, but in the neighborhood of 800, iirc ... wouldn't shock me if troon/berwick/etc paid no more than 1000 pounds a year ... muirfield limits play to t/th, so i imagine they pay quite a bit more, but it's still a nice subsidy ...

>

> I remember at a AGM someone said we had too many visitors(old guy) then someone else turned round and said well without visitors the fees will have to more than double, he shut up fast. They are limited though but nothing like Muirfield. I enjoy chatting to the visitors on the putting green, just don't get stuck behind them!

>

Pfft. Maybe the ones who typically play cartball from Florida or Texas ;-)

 

[SCalGolfer]

> @ceejay81 said:

> raynorfan1 wrote:

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> davep043 wrote:

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> From everything I've read, those of us lucky enough to visit Scotland pay high fees that subsidize the golf for the local members, and I have no problem with that.

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> I think that's really only true for a tiny fraction of golf courses. The St. Andrews Links; Dornoch; Muirfield; Carnoustie; probably Gullane, Prestwick, North Berwick...and that's about it.

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> The high $$$ resorts (Gleneagles, Turnberry, Kingsbarns, et. al.) are expensive for everybody. The more local courses don't generate the visitor volume (or price) that the well-known courses do.

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> It feels good for the visitor to believe there's some altruistic support going on here, but for the most part, courses in Scotland are maintained on a much lower budget than their American counterparts, and that's why the members' fees are so much lower.

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> Was just able to snag a tee time at Carnoustie for only myself on my July wedding trip. Have to prepay the greens fees, which are 210 GBP. It's about $270 USD and honestly I did not bat an eyelid at that price. Put that course with all of its history in the USA and it's probably $500 plus mandatory lodging fees. Silly, but probably not far off.

>

>

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> So, I'll be playing Carnoustie during the final round of The Open Championship this year. Unfortunately, I'm a year late. /rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rofl:' />

 

I hope you had a great time. I've walked the course. It is sweet, especially the last three holes, but there's no way I'm paying that to play there. I would pay maybe 80 pounds. At least they allow visitor play. That is the bright side.

[scott_Donald]

> @SCalGolfer said:

> > @ceejay81 said:

> > raynorfan1 wrote:

> >

> >

> > davep043 wrote:

> >

> >

> >

> > From everything I've read, those of us lucky enough to visit Scotland pay high fees that subsidize the golf for the local members, and I have no problem with that.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > I think that's really only true for a tiny fraction of golf courses. The St. Andrews Links; Dornoch; Muirfield; Carnoustie; probably Gullane, Prestwick, North Berwick...and that's about it.

> >

> >

> >

> > The high $$$ resorts (Gleneagles, Turnberry, Kingsbarns, et. al.) are expensive for everybody. The more local courses don't generate the visitor volume (or price) that the well-known courses do.

> >

> >

> >

> > It feels good for the visitor to believe there's some altruistic support going on here, but for the most part, courses in Scotland are maintained on a much lower budget than their American counterparts, and that's why the members' fees are so much lower.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Was just able to snag a tee time at Carnoustie for only myself on my July wedding trip. Have to prepay the greens fees, which are 210 GBP. It's about $270 USD and honestly I did not bat an eyelid at that price. Put that course with all of its history in the USA and it's probably $500 plus mandatory lodging fees. Silly, but probably not far off.

> >

> >

> >

> > So, I'll be playing Carnoustie during the final round of The Open Championship this year. Unfortunately, I'm a year late. /rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rofl:' />

>

> I hope you had a great time. I've walked the course. It is sweet, especially the last three holes, but there's no way I'm paying that to play there. I would pay maybe 80 pounds. At least they allow visitor play. That is the bright side.

 

that is far better value than playing at Renaissance, Kingsbarns, Trump Aberdeen. I am paying 325 for Turnberry in a month and to me the 210 for Carnoustie is better value!

[andrue]

Obviously depends on the type of course you want to visit. The typical run-of-the-mill courses are between £25 and £40 a round with most around £35. That's been the typical price for 18 holes for several years now. Of course if you want to visit tour venues or exclusive venues the price will be higher. But if you just want 18 reasonably well maintained holes it'll cost you around £35 pretty much anywhere in the UK.

[Hawkeye77]

Play a comp if there is one in the area!

 

Got the above advice from more than one on here in the past and finally put it to use on our trip.

 

Kilmarnock (Barassie) is normally 75 pounds, played in a Sunday comp for 20 pounds and had a fantastic time!

[jonnymc44]

For those wanting to save some money for courses in Scotland, a caddy at Royal Dornoch advised to become a country member at Tain and receive 3 reciprocal rounds at 26 Scottish courses for no more than £20 a round during summer (only £12 October to March), including Royal Dornoch, and Royal Colombo in Sri Lanka for those travelling a little further afield. The country membership is only £260 a year as well, giving you unlimited golf at Tain if you so wish. There is potentially £1000s of savings.

https://www.tain-golfclub.co.uk/tain-golf-club/membership-2

Open competitions as @Hawkeye77 mentions are also great ways of saving a big chunk from the normal green fees if you don't mind tournament play. Golf Empire is a good site for finding open competitions, which you can search for individual courses, areas, countries in the UK, individuals, seniors, mixed etc.

https://www.golfempire.co.uk/

 

[Pete O'Tube]

https://www.goswicklinksgc.co.uk/

45 minutes from Edinburgh by train plus a taxi, or an hour by car. Goswick is an Open Regional Qualifier. 6650 from the white tees.

Midweek 18 holes £55 Weekend £65 Always easy to book a tee time after 10am.




Championship Golf Tour

Play three championship level golf courses from £150.00

Goswick Golf Club

Dunbar Golf Club

Website: http://www.dunbargolfclub.com

The Roxburghe Golf Club

Website: https://roxburghe-golf.com/en/home

 

 

[Green Man]

I played at Goswick two weeks ago. Great course and much better VFM than the Scottish links courses.

I live in NE England and Goswick is the best in the region.

[Hawkeye77]

I was disappointed we couldn't work Goswick into our schedule, but the day we could have gone the weather was ghastly there (got a report from a guy who had been there the day before I chatted up at a course we were playing) so actually dodged a bullet. Made a drive down and took a ferry to Belfast for the day instead - was worth the trip, and pretty interesting but frankly, I don't feel the need to ever go back to the city. The countryside (which we didn't have time to take in) south and farther north I'd love to see and played in the comp at Barassie with two gents from a club up north who were fantastic company and the home course they play looks amazing.

[El Gringo]

> @"Green Man" said:

> I played at Goswick two weeks ago. Great course

 

+1

 

Goswick also has the added attraction of quite a different winter card with some very different tees. It's just as good as in summer.

 

Happy Hockey

 

 

[Pete O'Tube]

> @"El Gringo" said:

> > @"Green Man" said:

> > I played at Goswick two weeks ago. Great course

>

> +1

>

> Goswick also has the added attraction of quite a different winter card with some very different tees. It's just as good as in summer.

>

> Happy Hockey

>

>

 

This winter, the course will not change from the summer layout. Visitors want the full deal, not an abbreviated version.

 

A bit of background:

 

The winter course was about 6000 yards Par 69 CSS 67. Lots of tees moved forward and way left or right, giving some interesting doglegs. It was a very difficult par 69. This winter the tees will generally be nearer the front than the middle of the teeing ground. The big change is that from December 2nd to March 1st everyone has to play off a mat on all the fairways and semi-rough. The very dry summer of 2018 is still causing a few problems in some places, but generally the course is in great condition with very good greens.

[El Gringo]

> @"Pete O'Tube" said:

> > @"El Gringo" said:

> > > @"Green Man" said:

> > > I played at Goswick two weeks ago. Great course

> >

> > +1

> >

> > Goswick also has the added attraction of quite a different winter card with some very different tees. It's just as good as in summer.

> >

> > Happy Hockey

> >

> >

>

> This winter, the course will not change from the summer layout. Visitors want the full deal, not an abbreviated version.

>

> A bit of background:

>

> The winter course was about 6000 yards Par 69 CSS 67. Lots of tees moved forward and way left or right, giving some interesting doglegs. It was a very difficult par 69. This winter the tees will generally be nearer the front than the middle of the teeing ground. The big change is that from December 2nd to March 1st everyone has to play off a mat on all the fairways and semi-rough. The very dry summer of 2018 is still causing a few problems in some places, but generally the course is in great condition with very good greens.

 

That's a shame.

 

Happy Hockey

[milesgiles]

Was looking at South Wales to play Kyle and pfenfig and Pennard next July.. K and P is around 95 for the day which I understand, it’s an Open qualifier and I hear great things about it. But Pennard is now also over 90 for a day, I’m sure it’s nice but I’m also sure it’s nowhere near a uk top 100, and it was only 50 a few years ago..

Anyway, upshot is I’m off to Normandy. Got a much better deal there, even allowing for the extra cost of eurotunnel.

[tiderider]

> @milesgiles said:

> Was looking at South Wales to play Kyle and pfenfig and Pennard next July.. K and P is around 95 for the day which I understand, it’s an Open qualifier and I hear great things about it. But Pennard is now also over 90 for a day, I’m sure it’s nice but I’m also sure it’s nowhere near a uk top 100, and it was only 50 a few years ago..

> Anyway, upshot is I’m off to Normandy. Got a much better deal there, even allowing for the extra cost of eurotunnel.

 

it's 74th in the uk, according to top100 ... and $100 for all day? ... that's not a bad deal, imo ...

[El Gringo]

There is nearly always a better deal on offer, but there is only one Pennard. Simply put, use rankings as one source for an initial guide. Without question rankings are one of the most fallible publications passed off as authoritative. Simply put two, you have to go where the courses are and there is nothing in Normandy remotely close to the character of Pennard.

[Superbrit]

Scotland caters for the world market, they know how much the rest of the world pays for green fees, especially Americans, and while the world market keeps going in there droves the prices will keep going up.

 

If you want value for money then try somewhere different, there are great places like Devon & Cornwall as an example, places like Saunton and St Enodoch charge roughly £130 for the DAY.

 

 

[TheInfidel]

> @Stall said:

> (Quote)

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> My mate has a membership at Crail and it is buttons...... I was told it is mainly because they get to charge the walk up punter £80 per pop. 0f course its proximity to St Andrews and the history of the course helps.

 

Crail is an excellent club and boasts two fantastic courses, I play regularly with a few members. They are in quite a unique position because they receive £1M+ in green fee revenue per year. This is one of the big reasons their membership fees are fixed from the rate they were some 7-8 years ago. Not all courses sweep in that many high tariff green fees.

 

I'm a member of two clubs in the UK, but one of those is in St Andrews so their lack of need to fully maintain courses reduces their outgoings. For my local club there are several factors which have caused our dues and green fees to go up (by £10) :

 

* Increase in cost of materials;

* Increase in cost of employee wages;

* Increae in costs of third parties who offer services;

* Increase in work on courses due to harsh winters;

* Decrease in overall memberships numbers (UK wide);

* Uplift in competition for green fee prices;

 

Personally I think this needs checked and balanced against the target customer segment, golf is a hobby for amateurs afterall, we can't have every top tier links course being £300+ it's not sustainable.

 

I want as many international golfers and WRX friends to experince what the UK has to offer in terms of golf and more importantly links golf, but I also don't want that prohibited by cost or reserved only for those with high incomes. That's not right or fair.

 

[tiderider]

Was looking at nairn and it’s now 180lbs ... damn

[milesgiles]

> @"El Gringo" said:

> There is nearly always a better deal on offer, but there is only one Pennard. Simply put, use rankings as one source for an initial guide. Without question rankings are one of the most fallible publications passed off as authoritative. Simply put two, you have to go where the courses are and there is nothing in Normandy remotely close to the character of Pennard.

 

Pennard is outside the top 200 on golfshake. Very true about rankings, when it comes to it theirs are more reliable imo than any other publication because they are based on hundreds of reviews. A magazine top 100 is invariably the most expensive 100..

 

In a different league to La Mer? Wimereux? Belle Dune? ..

 

Anyhow, I think 90 is expensive ($120). It’s doubled in price in no time at all. Wages haven’t. I’ve voted with my feet, I won’t be the only one

 

[downforg]

As the greens fees continue to rise at these elite clubs in the UK I am reconsidering where I will be spending my money. Places like Birkdale, and Sunningdale although excellent courses are no longer on my vacation rota if you will. Places like West Lancs, Saunton, Woodhall Spa, North Berwick and Nairn are where I will be going. In general Welsh courses are cheap. A little off topic but to be considered, The best deal going is to be a guest playing with a member its dirt cheap or join a club in the UK or play in a clubs open competition. Almost all of the better clubs offer an overseas membership, some even offer a temporary 1-3 weeks membership privileges like Cruden Bay. Muirfield is not worth 400 sterling, plus 30 quid for lunch plus two rounds of caddie fees. It's a $750 day. One shining light is St Andrews Links Trust they continue to keep the rates low, for nearly 15-20 years they have had basically the same price for the OLD course and their 3 and 5 days passes are a great deal if you play 36 a day. As long as people queue up to pay the increasing rates the free market is alive and well.

[Divot License]

It's worth considering central England, eg Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. A great little circuit is the play the three Ryder Courses in Yorkshire of Ganton, Lindrick and Moortown. After that head down the Lincolnshire and play Woodhall Spa, Seacroft and Lincoln. All in all you'd have yourself a great weeks golf for a decent cost.

[Schley]

Cost is relative and although prices at UK courses maybe rising this is inflation and cost of goods/services which are real. They don't need the large greenkeeper budgets as many are on links land. Tourists will pay for top courses and even the once a year Amercian who goes over is relatively upper middle class, or he wouldn't be going. I just joined a Royal club and will go a couple times a year, which make it a great value still.

[scott_Donald]

@"Schley "

 

which course did you join?

 

I am still paying my full membership in the Uk for this season and plan to get 6 weeks+ golfing if I can.

[duffer987]

That's neat. Indeed do tell. As long as it's not Deal, then I'd be jealous and need to go have a little cry ;-)

Direct flights from KSA to Manchester and Edi? Otherwise the quickest from London would be Deal, Brancaster, and Worlington.

[YouDaHamHider]

Head to South Wales and you can play with me at Clyne Golf club for £25!