For those of you who had and walked away from memberships at purely private clubs, why?

[DeeBee30]

For this poll, I'm interested in other players' thoughts on what led to them giving up their membership by choice, aside from having to move away from the area.

Private = full private club, not a semi-private club that offers annual unlimited memberships but also accepts normal public tee times.

[raynorfan1]

We belonged to a club for a while that we really liked in theory, but in practice only made it to once or twice a year. When you start doing the math and you're paying several thousand dollars for each visit...it gets hard to justify.

[vallygolf]

Other: Willing to pay more for an open tee sheet. Resigned due to lack of getting a tee time short notice. Typically a fairly packed tee sheet, pace of play was good, but a 2 hour round or a quick 9 was impossible.

[az2au]

The three I’ve left we’re due to moves. One of them should have been because it sucked but I lived in the community and it was cheap so I kept it for quick occasional round. That was fine because I belonged to another club that was good at the same time.

[golftherapy02]

The price to play at the club became pricey, when you factor in wanting to bring friends who are not members things can add up quickly, where I live it makes more sense to belong to a semi private golf only club or purely play public courses because of the quality that is available

[golftherapy02]

Private clubs also seem to be thinning themselves out lately or combining with other clubs to stay relevant

[DeeBee30]

Appreciate the comments so far. I think I only know two guys who have quit their memberships: one because he had young kids and just wasn't willing to spend the kind of time away from them that would help justify a membership. The other quit due to medical/physical issues and his inability to play golf anymore.

It's interesting to think about how age factors into the equation. I'm 53 with two teenagers and have kicked around the idea of joining for the better part of a decade. I just always kept flashing forward and wondering which of the reason(s) listed in the poll would make me walk away and how long it would take. I'm pretty confident it would happen, it's just a matter of how long it took for those reasons to become loud enough voices in my head.

[Bonneville85308]

I've left four clubs in my life.

#1 - The club had a fun course with a solid architectural pedigree, dirt cheap dues, empty course/fast pace of play, and top notch conditioning, but was 50-60 minutes from home and 35-40 minutes from work (in the opposite direction of home) on an interstate. The drive just became too much of a haul to do multiple times per week. It was also hard to get people I knew to come as guests because of the drive, unless they rode with me so they could drink while at the club. They didn't get much weekend morning play either, couldn't really get into a regular group of folks because they didn't really exist. The club had an extremely high percentage of members who probably played less than 20 rounds per year.

#2- Solid course, great membership, made many long-time friends, very close to home and work. I still miss the 10+ years spent there. After the 2008-2009 economic bomb, the club entered the ongoing financial death spiral of declining membership, increasing dues, cost cutting in noticeable areas, increasing number of non-Monday outside outings, and constant surprise assessments. The BOD tried to turn things around but the local demographics just could not support multiple private clubs anymore, and this was the weakest one. The food was always mediocre at best, went to awful in the last 2 years to the point that my significant other would rather just pay the minimum and eat elsewhere. I don't join a club for the food but I had some embarrassingly bad experiences with the food and service at the club while in the company of guests and family that made my decision to leave a little easier. A group of folks including myself who saw the writing on the wall were courted as a group by #3 below with a "deal" and left. Club #2 still exists but no longer as a member-owned fully private club.

#3 - I relocated out of state, otherwise I'd still be a member.

#4 - Joined on a several month "trial" membership. Good course, great staff, but I didn't really fit in with the membership. It was very much an older, stuffy "doctors and lawyers", "movers and shakers" type crowd that was generally unwelcoming in my experience, and weren't really people I could relate to. My significant other hated the vibe also. I resigned when the trial period was up. They also had numerous rules that effectively made second class citizens of singles/twosomes and walkers who didn't want to take a caddie.

[DeeBee30]

@Bonneville85308 It's great that you've had the opportunity and means to join 4 different clubs. Curious, what's your golf plan now that you've resigned from #4? Are you seeking #5, or have you decided to patronize a set of public (maybe higher end?) tracks in your area?

[adam2883]

My family joined a local private club while I was in college, more of a blue collar rep a and then shortly after college when I got the boot from their membership; I joined myself. In total I was there for 15 years and I really liked it, served on the board for 4yrs. As one person touched on above, the changing finical climate hit the club and people began to leave. Club tried many ideas and programs, assessments, the later of which ended up driving off a large group of members. Cost cutting in certain areas began while continuing to overlooking getting rid of other unsustainable amenities. Eventually the course condition started to show and suffer as a result of the cost cutting and a lot of the better players in the club had left.

It finally reached a point last spring that the condition of the course was just not up to my liking and the club was not invested into supporting the course enough, instead just throwing money at things that are generally supported only because people are members for the course. Another local private club was running a membership drive and I already had several friends there, so myself and the small group(5-6) all resigned and joined the other club. (still have fond memories of the old club and always will, it was on the verge of closing this past summer when someone stepped in at the last minute and bought it and is working on bringing it back)

Really enjoy the new club, has a great course and layout, a 9 hole par 3 course and getting new bunkers and a new pool complex in at the beginning of next year. If I was to ever leave my current club it would most likely be due to costs as its a little more pricey but you definitely get what you pay for. Im lucky to be able to play enough that I get my money's worth and with 2yr old twins, we are looking forward to the new pool complex in the future as they get older.

[BNGL]

We moved, and didn’t really think we’d be coming back to the area anytime soon or enough to warrant keeping it or transitioning to a national membership (no property their, friends are members of the property or other properties so we’ll pay guest rate). Probably join a club when we get to where we’re headed

[farmer]

Every person I know who has quit a club did so because the cost eventually became larger than the benefits. In my area there have been three clubs that closed the doors, although one was bought by the city, became a muni, the other two bought by outside investors and one of them turned into a daily fee club (their words). In all three cases, there were big clubhouse reno's without commensurate money spent on the course. Eventually the debt load lead to multiple, apparently unending assessments, increased minimums, increased dues, and little ticky-tacky fees.

[Bonneville85308]

I'm playing the public courses now. In my current area there are dozens to choose from of all types of price and quality within 30 minutes of home. Where I used to live, this was not the case.

I've looked into a few clubs in the area. They either seem too much like #4 in terms of membership/atmosphere, or the courses are too uninteresting to want to play almost all of my 100+ rounds per year on them. I can and do enjoy playing bland or architecturally unremarkable courses; I just like to hit the ball and have some quiet time outdoors. I'd just rather play 10 different ones 10 times each than the same one 100 times in a year.

There is one club locally that really intrigues me, seems like what I'm looking for on "paper" in terms of their stated culture, etc. but at 35-40 minutes from home I think it's just too far, and I don't know any members to get a sponsor or at least play the course as a guest a half dozen times to see how I like it before plunking down a five figure initiation fee.

My annual spending on the public courses in a calendar year is about what I was spending on private club dues/fees. My cost per round at the private courses was probably lower than most members because I played so many rounds.

[Thewoods]

Years ago the owner sold the course, went through several owners who all wanted a new initiation fees. The last group weren't owners. They were just leasing the course from a bank. What a nightmare. Started playing courses from PA to the Carolinas. Had a lot of fun and played some interesting courses.

[Phreddy]

Five kids. Every weekend, and most week nights, featured basketball, soccer, volleyball, little league, drama clubs and more. It was partly the money with a lack of playing time, but it was also because this is a game I can't play well if I don't practice and play regularly. Fast forward a decade and I decided I wanted to play again. I very nearly went back to the same club, but in the end chose one slightly more inconvenient and with a marginally lesser course. Again, not really a money decision, rather, my former club features a large number of pretty intense people from my industry. I play to put work at bay for a time, and that just wouldn't be possible at this particular club. Where I play now has fewer "players" both from a golf and socio-economic point of view, but it does have a very friendly and welcoming vibe. My home club is in the midwest, ie., four solid months of golf with two marginal months tacked on. Not long ago I joined a second club in Arizona and that allows me to play year round. I think the next club I quit will be the "home" club with the goal of living 8-9 months in Arizona and spending the summer months traveling to visit a far flung cadre of kids while I play some interesting courses.

 

Phred

[Irishman1979]

The club I am a member at which was designed by Arthur Hills has multiple membership options. Such as one that you can play unlimited golf after 4 pm, 7 days per week with cart included which includes a range membership for only $1500 for the year. Starting in September of each year due to the time change it’s everyday after 2 pm.

The greens fee for a non member is $100 with a cart so I only have to play 15 times in one year I get my money back. Each cart is equipped with GPS and club cleaners also. This year I played over 40 rounds. To be able to play on an Arthur Hills designed golf course that is challenging (74.3 rating with 139 slope) for the price they are asking was something I could not pass up. I do not plan on leaving anytime soon and it gives me the budget to play other courses also.

[eugkim]

I used to golf as much as possible. I've been a long-time member at a club that has 60 holes, 12 outdoor/3 indoor tennis courts, squash, 3 pools, etc. I moved to PA because of it, but didn't like my job, so I moved an hour away. I joined a local golf only club that's a great course, probably one of my favorites, and it's about 10 minutes away. I also belong to a course in Florida. Everything was good until the kids got to be a little more work and golf was a very guilty pleasure. I ended up not playing golf at all for about 15 years. In 2008, I couldn't justify keeping the local club - I wasn't playing, and I wasn't using my club minimum, so it was a losing proposition all the way around. I'll probably never leave my main club as long as I'm standing, so I couldn't justify throwing money at 3 clubs at one time. Recently, I've started to play more, so I may rejoin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[caniac6]

My son went to a private HS, so I left to save some money. Also, the club was in financial trouble, and every time I went there, all I heard about was how bad the finances were. I made for a tough atmosphere. The club has since been sold, and made a nice comeback. I would consider rejoining.