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best national membership courses you can actually join


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I have seen a few threads that ask this question but quickly it goes into "cypress, Augusta, Oakmont, PV, etc etc" which are not worth even discussing as you cannot 'easily' join.

My question for discussion is what courses are out there, that are 'available' to join (say less than 20k initiation for national member, maybe need a member or two to sponsor, etc-reasonable to the non hedge fund guy.. haha).

If possible with this group, what clubs would you say are available to join with less than 20k initiation (since all threads eventually go to, what's reasonable to you, cost etc so I'll put a number out there that is really irrelevant), rank high, has outstanding customer service, great national member tourneys, cottages on site or something worthy, etc.

Sorry for the 'let's not get out of hand off the bat' type of questioning. As an example, I would say flint hills is fantastic as a national membership option. It is central, unreal cabins, customer service and dining options in the cabins are so nice, course is fun and in great shape, has caddy program but not required, and very reasonable in terms of initiation and yearly dues. It is also able to be joined if you have a sponsor, and you do not need to be worth 10-100million to be a member.

And as the title says, national member, should mean that the location of the club is essentially--national and therefore, relative terms of location within the USA is not that important--such as sand hills--although I would not think it would fit into this discussion, it may...

Again, I am sorry for how this OP sounds, but I would like to keep it to place that are realistic in terms of joining criteria, ability to be a member, playability, ranking of course, hidden gem??, etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

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There are a lot of National clubs, depending on what you want.

Your question is more broad based - What clubs offer national memberships for under $20K?

Answer - too many to name. You have to narrow your search.

You mention Flint Hills National - a great choice. There are many others. Off the top of my head - East coast would be Dormie Network. Midwest would include Prairie Dunes, Dismal River. West Coast would include Desert Forest, Cal Club (maybe), Aldarra.

Outpost Club and Thousand Greens may also be worth looking into, if you don't have to have lodging.

Good luck w the search.

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They even have a shuttle service to pikc you up and drop you off to from Witchita airport to PD and back. Just expanded for more cottages as well. But as others have said there are dozens of clubs to potentially join. The question is what are you looking for? Is it just to be a member of the highest ranking club possible without knowing a member? Or is it more strategic that will check your boxes (cost, distance, weather etc.). It should be the latter IMO.

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I guess it is the best course you can join without essentially 'begging or having to know someone to know someone' to be a member. It is essentially a national membership for guys/gals that like to play golf. Nothing else. The cost, distance, weather etc is not that big of an issue as you are essentially saying you will have to make a concerted effort to get to the course. Weather--it can't be Alaska but doesn't have to be Bahamas either. 6+ months of golf is sufficient.

I visit the Tetons to fish quite often. Huntsman's springs would fit the bill but I have never inquired about initiation, costs, etc. Driggs is fantastic in the summer. Dream like actually with weather, activities, fishing, golf, views, hiking, etc. during the summer. If you haven't visited, I would recommend it over the second visit to Jackson. Got to do Jackson the first time and then be done with it. Jackson hole golf club is a must do on your visit as well. Just FYI. Spectacular views and not that expensive. Very fun course.

I would say the following is my perspective: Ballyneal, supposedly unreal. I worry that Denver membership would be so high that it may be hard to stay at cabins or play 36 when you do travel to the course from your home. Austin--spanish oaks is incredible. I don't think it gets nearly the credit it deserves. Great course. great amenities. Would consider this but don't know if there is a national membership or just the standard "out of town'' membership that someone 45 miles away pays the same as 400 miles away does. Monterey--bayonet and black horse--great courses. Not MPCC standard at all but you can join them for a reasonable price. However for these, I would say to keep the membership and pay to play as public costs.

Now that I am typing it out, I see that I may be saying "what courses offer NATIONAL memberships, not just local and out of radius memberships". Yes this may be a tough question....

Good points you make for sure about ease of use for PD.

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This is simplistic approach, but it has worked for me often, I email the clubs themselves. I almost always get the information needed as to the details. It works, the clubs that are destinations out of the way places need people to contact them as they don't advertise, have a lot of members in any one particular area. PD has a couple hundred national members IIRC for example. You will get responses from most that aren't super exclusive top 25 clubs.

 

 

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Prairie Dunes is probably the highest rated course with a reasonable national member cost that is most easy to get to. And what Schley said - contact any courses you are interested in getting a national membership at. You'd be surprised as there are many good privates that are offering national memberships that don't advertise it. Many of them are purposely tipping their toes in and don't want a bunch of national members joining at once. i.e. They aren't hurting, but they're not near their cap either and getting some national members can make a big difference in revenue without causing existing members any hassle.

re Ballyneal - It is awesome and if you like links golf, you will have a blast. Pacific Dunes without the ocean and throngs of people. The member cap is 250 and about 70% of the membership is national members, so worrying about a high number of local and Denver members driving out every weekend is not an issue. The only weekends they regularly fill all the rooms is in mid to late September (and the member guest weekend), since the fall is the best time out there with the best conditions. An extremely busy day out there has 60 golfers on site and that's very rare. Most days there won't be more than 40 people playing and often a lot less. They expect everyone to play in 4 hours or less. Most foursome rounds are way under 4 hours. Getting 36 holes in is never an issue as long as a storm doesn't roll in. The only chance of not being able to get a room is if you decide you want to make a last minute weekend trip the week of in September, and even then you can stay in Holyoke 15 minutes away if all the rooms are booked.

There is a 1-2 year waiting list you can make a deposit and get on right now, and they'll let you come out at non busy times while you are on the list. The waiting list is continuing to grow as they are running out of people who got in after the bankruptcy for a negligible initiation and drop because they don't get out enough, so if you are interested in BN, don't wait too long.

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