What's the best way to play a lot of golf over the summer?

[akasaka_aka]

I'm looking to work on my game this summer. Unfortunately I don't have a membership to a private club and don't think I can afford one in my area. What are some clubs I could work/caddy at this summer that have good facilities and will allow me to play frequently? I'm most able to work somewhere in the Palm Beaches, New England, or in Europe.

[jkody]

If you are just going for maximum time to golf for the lowest amount of money, I wouldn't work at a golf course. I'd get a job working at a restaurant/bartending and join a local semi-private, so you could potentially have every day free until 4-5 pm. There are plenty of courses out there you can get a season pass at for $1500 or less.

[MountainKing]

14 minutes ago, jkody said:

If you are just going for maximum time to golf for the lowest amount of money, I wouldn't work at a golf course. I'd get a job working at a restaurant/bartending and join a local semi-private, so you could potentially have every day free until 4-5 pm. There are plenty of courses out there you can get a season pass at for $1500 or less.

 

This is good advice.  The benefit to working at a course is you get free golf.  The downside, you're often limited to when you can play, and you're often working when you want to play.  If you do want to work at a course for the free golf, some food for thought, when I was working at a course, the guys who had it best were the maintenance guys. They generally started at 4am and were done by noon.  They'd all be teeing off for a round by 1.   Working around the club house you'll be needed during the prime hours, in general we got out for 18 on our days off, but the other days you'd be stuck sneaking out in the evening to play a couple holes. 

[Abh159]

As @jkody mentioned if your goal is to truly play as much golf as possible your best route would be to fid a job working in the evenings (bartender, waiter, etc.) and play golf during the mornings.

 

Most jobs at a golf course (cart staff, pro shop staff, caddy, etc.) are going to require you to work during the bulk of daylight hours aka golf hours. Plus, not every private clubs lets their workers go play golf for free whenever they want. All the ones I've been a member at only allowed staff to play on Mondays when the rest of the course was closed.

 

Even if you can find a club that let's the staff play, it's not really something you'll want to inquire about during a hiring process.

 

Golf Pro: "Hello there. Tell me why you are interested in our cart boy job?"

You: "Because I want to play golf here for free!"

Golf Pro: "Don't call us, we'll call you...."

[MountainKing]

2 hours ago, Abh159 said:

As @jkody mentioned if your goal is to truly play as much golf as possible your best route would be to fid a job working in the evenings (bartender, waiter, etc.) and play golf during the mornings.

 

Most jobs at a golf course (cart staff, pro shop staff, caddy, etc.) are going to require you to work during the bulk of daylight hours aka golf hours. Plus, not every private clubs lets their workers go play golf for free whenever they want. All the ones I've been a member at only allowed staff to play on Mondays when the rest of the course was closed.

 

Even if you can find a club that let's the staff play, it's not really something you'll want to inquire about during a hiring process.

 

Golf Pro: "Hello there. Tell me why you are interested in our cart boy job?"

You: "Because I want to play golf here for free!"

Golf Pro: "Don't call us, we'll call you...."

 

Kind of on those lines - not sure how much has changed since I've been there, but if it's a course where you can get free golf, you can't make tee times so you're playing on standby.   If it's a private club that's closed on the Monday, you're going to be battling the maintenance crew, might be playing 18 while they're top dressing greens ect.  I was told by the head pro at the course I worked at "if you want to get good at golf and play a lot of golf, leave the golf industry".  That's what I did.

[me05501]

Speaking from recent experience, I would say "working from home" is a good way to play a lot of golf in a summer. 

[lefthack]

On 9/21/2021 at 1:17 PM, me05501 said:

Speaking from recent experience, I would say "working from home" is a good way to play a lot of golf in a summer. 

 

I've been doing that since March of last year. I joined a local club for $700/year and have been out there 4+ days a week. I play a round of 9 before most folks are logged in.

[Bonneville85308]

On 9/21/2021 at 1:00 PM, MountainKing said:

 

Kind of on those lines - not sure how much has changed since I've been there, but if it's a course where you can get free golf, you can't make tee times so you're playing on standby.   If it's a private club that's closed on the Monday, you're going to be battling the maintenance crew, might be playing 18 while they're top dressing greens ect.  I was told by the head pro at the course I worked at "if you want to get good at golf and play a lot of golf, leave the golf industry".  That's what I did.

 

Agree. I worked at two private clubs some years ago, employees and caddies could only play on Mondays, and then only noon or later. If there was an outing scheduled, no employee play that day. One pro had a "rule" that if caddies came and gave free labor to help clean out and put away the carts when everyone from the outing shotgun came back in, you could play however many holes you could get in during the hour or two remaining until dark.

 

Pre-COVID I would have advised the OP to just get a season pass at a muni. The last place I lived had one for like $1,200 a year, and pre-COVID, the tee sheet was dead on weekdays you could easily get in 36 holes after the early AM group of retirees teed off and before the evening leagues started.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Bonneville85308

[cristphoto]

Lots of public courses sell annual golf passes. Simply pick a layout you like and see what they have to offer.  

[pcruz]

Get a part time job or volunteer at a course for playing access.