What makes your golf club special?

[UCBananaboy]

This question is directed to those who belong to a Club.

What about your Club makes it special to you? Is it a certain group of guys? Their tournament calendar? Something else?

I guess I'll provide an answer to start:

Beyond the obvious things (proximity to my house, price) my Club is special to me because of a few things:

We have the freedom to play in 5-somes which eventually evolves into a 16-man eight-team alternate shot shootout by sunset. Our Club doesn't police us from doing things like this which is super important to me since I believe a golf club should be a playground for its members as long as the players aren't impeding others' ability to play, damaging the course, etc.Our regular game is great. It's Wolf + Vegas scoring. We have a rotating cast of maybe 25 guys who play on any given day of the week and the convenience of having a daily game is unrivaled.I've heard of other Clubs doing monthly shootouts, leaderboards, etc so I'm curious to hear what unique things your club might offer that separate it for you among other alternative clubs.

[AThompson_3]

Honestly it’s just the people. There’s nothing special about my club outside of the people. The course is super quirky. The greens and fairways are always in great shape, but it’s sometimes rough around the edges. The clubhouse isn’t really much. The pro shop is kind of useless outside of necessities like balls and gloves. But the people are second to none. Just a genuine, honest group of people who enjoy playing this beautiful game. To me that’s what it’s all about. There are games going on seven days a week, but saturdays and Sunday’s we get decent sized games of 25-30 people. Nothing crazy. Usually 10-20 bucks but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

[hangontight]

Good Topic - Good time to think about what we're grateful for.

No Tee Times - aside from the obvious, its really nice to roll up and roll out. Open to jump on with anybody, but often times (especially in evenings when I golf a lot) you literally are the only one on the course...which is special.Minimal Fringe Amenities - No pool. No expansive dining -Food options are hot dog & beer, a few snacks. Staff is friendly and respectful but not doting over you at every turn. Nothing unnecessary, no pompous stuff, pretty much just great golf. Different Course Conditioning - "In Play" areas are world class - Rough and anything off of FW's/Greens/Tee Boxs is left to elements. Top 100 Golden Age Classic Course so guests are often surprised to not see wall to wall emerald green grass. Membership def on board with "Brown is the new green". Tradition & Priorities - hats off indoors, no phones (texting/email OK), no music.... Stuffy to some, but I appreciate the framework to respect others space. At the same time, most of membership throws shoes on in parking lot and hauls bag up themselves, previously mentioned food options are hot dogs and beer ....... so club doesn't take itself too serious but is conscious of important tradition of the game and puts the GOLF experience first while minimizing all the extra junk.

[BMC]

54 holes. Better than average food. Many female and junior members. Nice, diverse atmosphere. Two of the courses are used for an annual Tour event.

[Roody]

My home course is the first golf course that Robert Trent Jones ever designed. No tee times. Close to homeMembers are pretty down-to-earth for the most partCourse is very walk-able, and always in good condition. The staff is great, they work hard, and are nice peopleLots of events geared towards couples. My wife might enjoy our membership more than I do, which is saying something.

[cristphoto]

Great Senior Mens Group activities.

Excellent layout and conditions.

Fairly easy to walk - no housing

Great food.

Convenient to home (<15 minutes)

They have me as a member?

 

[ryder2015]

Private Fly Fishing water and a Member Jeep you can check out.

[cardoustie]

4 minutes from home

core 100 guys are solid

wed 2pm shotgun 90-120 players is awesome

money games 2 or 3 times a week with 8-20 players

empty on weeknights

good key mgmt

very easy to walk

extremely challenging and scenic course

always pals at range to shoot the breeze when practicing

 

[duffer987]

that it's public, 10mins away, and great valuethat you see all the diversity of folks in the area showing up and playingthat it's walkable and that early groups largely do thatthat it's firm, a great layout, and has big varied greens making it easy to change the holes up on a daily basisthat the proshop and starters know who you arethat it's largely a solid group of guys going out early

[RobertPaulson]

Close to home - 30 mins, which passes for close in greater Chicago

 

Handicap travels well - hard, fair, good test without being overly penal

 

Awesome 18th hole atmosphere - men's grill patio overlooks 18 green, is really close. Hit one good, cheers. Hit one bad, boos.

 

Edit to say good topic. Following

[lefty1978]

Champion bermuda greens that stay perfect all summer.

[okular]

pure golf

walking / caddies encouraged. carts are allowed of course.

setting is as good as it gets for being just outside metropolitan area. only one house on the course and its hidden behind trees

buildings match the vibe, very serene and peaceful.

no pool, tennis courts or anything non golf related.

one of the best course layouts ive ever played, never have gotten tired of it after 7 years and over 1000 rounds. 5-6 tee boxes per hole, allowing for a lot of different looks.

an owner who has put over 20 million into the course / facilities ( completely re-worked practice facility last year ) with more in the pipeline and no assessments

laid back atmosphere - incredible staff. you can bring your dog out with you when not busy.

members are all golf and great people, have only met three pricks in 7 years and they've all been forced out.

used to be no tee times at all, now recommended to call during normal busy hours.

[caniac6]

It's open.

[third-times-a-charm]

its historic for several reasons

it hosts a PGA stop

we have plenty of leagues and games

good pool of young members

great atmosphere

[BNGL]

The people, both where I worked and where I was a member. I’ve been very fortunate and would wager that where I had worked for the past few years in south Florida was one of the best clubs anywhere in the world. There was no expense spared for the benefit of the membership, none. Whether it was on the golf course, at the marina, on the tennis lawns, at the croquet pitch, at the beach club, in any of the cottages, at one of dining facilities, or even our movie theater...it was a truly one of a kind place that was special even amongst the members and guests we catered too. There was a end of year survey every year before we closed and they asked a lot of things what we could better etc but one thing that I always looked at and paid attention to (and drew other senior leadership too) was asking how many clubs and what clubs (if they wanted to share) they belonged too. Our average member was a member at 6 clubs (other than ours) the 6 most common; Augusta National, Seminole, Pine Valley, San Francisco Golf Club, Cypress Point, Olympic Golf Club. That always blew me away, because yeah they’re members there but they choose to live here with us for 6 months a year and play here with us a majority of the time...that’s pretty special to me. We already wanted to provide exceptional conditions, but it a little extra motivation for me to get calls from other guys and say, “what are you doing down there?!? Place is great!” Or my personal favorite, “your greens are much better than Augusta.” Which I heard from time to time particularly after our renovation.

 

Where I was a member, I’d have to say the atmosphere, it’s just golf nothing else. The list of players there was neat...it was always cool seeing Tiger on the range and to play a few holes with some real players and see how good your good is.

[Ereim]

World-Class golf. Member Loren Roberts said it is one of the most well manicured courses he has ever played... Links style course featuring bent grass greens, tees and fairways with Kentucky bluegrass rough. We also have a great little par 3 course on property.

I guess one unique thing is our annual tournament called the Blue-Gray; a tournament, featuring three days of Ryder Cup- style competition with a Civil War theme. Which side a member is permanently allied with depends on the color of marble he picks out of a bag upon acceptance into the club.