I'm going to join a new club and am looking for some advice

[Barto78]

I'm currently a member of a club in Louisiana, but it's about 25-30 minutes away from my house. In the past 3 months my wife and I had our first child and i've come to the realization that getting up to play golf at 6:30 and getting home at around 1 o'clock isn't going to cut it anymore. Also, even just going to the driving range to hit balls has become an issue because by the time i drive to the club and back an hour has already passed.

 

As a result, i've decided that i need to join a club that is closer to my house, but the problem is the 2 courses i have as my choices are not near the same quality of course i currently belong to, but are the same price /month. One course has 2 18 hole courses and a pretty good location relative to my house (about 12 minute drive). The other course is about 7 minutes away and the club is geared heavily towards social and tennis, more so than the golf. However, course #2 is willing to reduce the initiation fee by nearly 50%, which is enticing. One more thing, course #2 is a member owned club, so any course improvements would be assessed to the club members. I think i've decided in my mind which course i want to join, but when i begin the process i'd like to know what questions are considered "fair game" to ask the head pro/director of golf and/or general manager.

1. How many members does the club have
   
2. How many members are under the age of 40?
   
3. How does course #1 pay for club improvements if not through assessments? Dues increases
   
4. What is club's current financial status
   
5. How much does the course budget each year for maintaining the course(s)
   

These are just some of the questions i have off the top of my head. My current club is great and i've been there for 10 years, but the membership is not getting younger and that's a concern i have in addition to being so far from my house. It's going to suck going to a club and not knowing many people, but many of my good golf buddies who are near my age (36) have already left the club and my current golf group consists of guys in their early 50's and 60's. It's not a big problem as of today, but in 5-10 years who knows.

 

Thoughts on whether or not these questions are fair game and do you think the prospective clubs will answer?

[TKD24]

My experience with member owned clubs is that they can become dangerous to their own well being. I've seen numerous area clubs go down because membership would just leave when they were hit with assessments, and the course would then never get the work it needs keep up.

All of your questions seem more than fair for someone who is trying to get your business.

[lowndes]

[quote name='Barto78' timestamp='1395843034' post='8954205']
I'm currently a member of a club in Louisiana, but it's about 25-30 minutes away from my house. In the past 3 months my wife and I had our first child and i've come to the realization that getting up to play golf at 6:30 and getting home at around 1 o'clock isn't going to cut it anymore. Also, even just going to the driving range to hit balls has become an issue because by the time i drive to the club and back an hour has already passed.

As a result, i've decided that i need to join a club that is closer to my house, but the problem is the 2 courses i have as my choices are not near the same quality of course i currently belong to, but are the same price /month. One course has 2 18 hole courses and a pretty good location relative to my house (about 12 minute drive). The other course is about 7 minutes away and the club is geared heavily towards social and tennis, more so than the golf. However, course #2 is willing to reduce the initiation fee by nearly 50%, which is enticing. One more thing, course #2 is a member owned club, so any course improvements would be assessed to the club members. I think i've decided in my mind which course i want to join, but when i begin the process i'd like to know what questions are considered "fair game" to ask the head pro/director of golf and/or general manager.[list=1]
[*]How many members does the club have
[*]How many members are under the age of 40?
[*]How does course #1 pay for club improvements if not through assessments? Dues increases
[*]What is club's current financial status
[*]How much does the course budget each year for maintaining the course(s)
[/list]
These are just some of the questions i have off the top of my head. My current club is great and i've been there for 10 years, but the membership is not getting younger and that's a concern i have in addition to being so far from my house. It's going to suck going to a club and not knowing many people, but many of my good golf buddies who are near my age (36) have already left the club and my current golf group consists of guys in their early 50's and 60's. It's not a big problem as of today, but in 5-10 years who knows.

Thoughts on whether or not these questions are fair game and do you think the prospective clubs will answer?
[/quote]

I think these questions are fair game. In fact, when I joined my current club the owner pretty much told me the answers to all of them without me asking. Also, I would much much rather be a member of a club owned by the members than one owned by a corporation for profit. The differences just lead the club to be run in a completely different format.

[Tee2Green85]

Personally I have been part of a member owned club and would never want to join one again. The course was always in fantastic shape but was never upgraded in anyway for the 6 years I was part of it, I always got the feeling that the committee only wanted to stick to what they new best and never wanted to reach out for new members or upgrade the course/proshop. It was always the same cliques playing the same days every week and doing whatever they wanted to do (playing 6-8 somes on a hole) and clogging up the course.

The lack of tournaments was another issue I had with this particular club, being that it was member owned (pretty much all old guys) they just wanted to keep there Thursday and sunday money games and not try to over traffic the course.
Like someone posted above these types of clubs can only go so far with their budgets, especially if they don't try to recruit new members. Just my personal experience

[TKD24]

[quote name='lowndes' timestamp='1395844715' post='8954415']
I think these questions are fair game. In fact, when I joined my current club the owner pretty much told me the answers to all of them without me asking. Also, I would much much rather be a member of a club owned by the members than one owned by a corporation for profit. The differences just lead the club to be run in a completely different format.
[/quote]

I think it really depends on management. Our club is corporately owned, but we have a members board of directors that have true input in the needs of the club. The corporate ownership really just provides us with the ability to keep our dues and fees at a very competitive price for being one of the top 25 courses in the state.

[quote name='Tee2Green85' timestamp='1395844961' post='8954453']
Personally I have been part of a member owned club and would never want to join one again. The course was always in fantastic shape but was never upgraded in anyway for the 6 years I was part of it, I always got the feeling that the committee only wanted to stick to what they new best and never wanted to reach out for new members or upgrade the course/proshop. It was always the same cliques playing the same days every week and doing whatever they wanted to do (playing 6-8 somes on a hole) and clogging up the course.

The lack of tournaments was another issue I had with this particular club, being that it was member owned (pretty much all old guys) they just wanted to keep there Thursday and sunday money games and not try to over traffic the course.
Like someone posted above these types of clubs can only go so far with their budgets, especially if they don't try to recruit new members. Just my personal experience
[/quote]

^this exactly. Our club is constantly being upgraded. Just this past fall we added an indoor flightscope facility and a brand new putting green at the short game practice area (which was added a few years ago). We're also actively looking for someone to redo our main putting green by the first tee.

[carrera]

Your questions are good, and completely appropriate. For #4 I would add a question about debt...does the club have any long term debt. I would also ask about how many rounds are played each year...that question goes along with your question about the number of members.

You are making a sensible decision to make golf easier from a time standpoint given your family situation.