Question: What makes a good local golf club?

[belacyrf]

Hello all... Currently I'm part of a local golf affiliate club (no home course) that honestly struggles to get members and it appears the writing is on the wall that it soon will be going the way of the DoDo. This doesn't really break my heart as the club is not really that fun, but I get to play golf once a month, so that's nice I guess.

 

With that said... I've been asked multiple times to help setup a new club, to which I've repeatedly said "No Thanks", however, part of me would like to do it. So I figured I would do some research to see what others think makes a successful/fun golf club?

 

Can I ask any of you that would be willing... can you give me your input as to what features YOU consider to be important?

 

Cost Per Tournament?

Driving Distance to Tournament?

Flights?

Side Pots?

Weekend Tournaments?

or any other detail you might like to provide...

 

Thanks for your input?

[golfgirlrobin]

I've joined a few of these over the years and my problem with them always seems to come down to tee times. I like to play early and it was rare to ever have anything that started before 9:00-10:00. Throw in some time at the end for prize stuff and all of a sudden a round of golf has eaten up the entire day. Lots of people have enough work/family obligations that it's hard to keep that going.

I will say that regardless of what group it was, I always felt badly for whomever had stepped up to run the thing. Seems like an incredibly thankless job.

[mneumann]

I'm in a great affiliate club. Moved out of the area and still drive 2-3 hours one way to play with the guys 3-4 times a year because it's that good.

Number one it's all about the group. If you have a good group it will stay together and run well despite the difficulties. I've never seen one of these work where it wasn't social first because it makes people want to get together and come out.

If you run it you have to be crazy. Lots of work. Everyone will b**** because they didn't have a say in this or that, but they weren't willing to put in the work. I don't b**** because I'm happy I just get to sign up show up and play, but the s*** I've heard from other guys:

-low guys are mad the the sandbaggers win all the time.
-high guys are mad that we cap indexes at 18 and they can't win
-we play short tees because the guy that runs it doesn't hit it far enough to play back and it's not fair
-the directors play for free they are stealing from us (never mind the work they put in)
-the best: every course we play sets up for a draw because the guy that runs in hits a draw it's not fair.

Important factors that make it good besides the group:
-try to play a variety of games. We play a stableford, a net, a gross, a best ball, another partners with high/low guys matched up. It keeps things interesting and more fair for all levels.
-enforce pace of play. These groups often end up running 6 hour rounds and it pisses everyone off, we have penalty systems in place of you finish out of position.
-try to play a variety of courses if possible
- try to keep everything within an hour radius of what you want to consider your base.
- limit fees over and above green fees. Optional pots are good for skins, Kp. A little over and above on the entry fee for the prizes. No one needs trophies. Every one I get pissed my wife off some more. No one wants to pay $40 over the green fee to just go play every tourney.
-we can't flight because we usually only get 30 guys, but my new home club has enough guys to flight things and it cuts down on the handicap bitching a lot
-be very transparent about what cut you are taking as the president or any other directors are taking. Every club I have been in the board plays for free and some they even take a stipend depending on how much work it is. It's never been a point of contention in clubs where the system is laid out in writing, however the ones where its more hush hush there is a lot of bitching

You can make some great golf friends if you do it right and want to work. The good affiliate I am in is going into year 25. They do multiple golf trips a year, have done a couple international trips, and if you want a game outside of tourneys there are always people to call. It's also a great networking opportunity and it can get competitive too. Still I'd never sign up to run one of these especially by myself.