Minimum handicap index to join a country club

[NJBigFish22]

Only handicaps I have seen are lack of greenbacks.

[Jack Pearsall]

No handicap requirements but new members have to play nine with one of the pros, no doubt to inform the newbie...and to see some knowledge of golf etiquette and its rules. 

No interviews but 3 members have to vouch for you during the ‘honeymoon’ period...

 

[lefthack]

Clubs here tend to require you to have a handicap or establish one, but no minimum or maximum.

[burnsniper]

No handicap is generally required.  However, if you are a good player or have a history of competing in tournaments (especially if successful at state level opens or usgs qualifications) it can help you get your foot in the door of many more exclusive golf clubs.

 

Keep in mind that the US has more than 18 million millionaires and less than 180,000 people with handicaps <5.

[CoachCraigie]

More of a comment than an opinion here, but me and 2 friends of mine all shot 100+ over 18 in less than 3.5 hours on Friday. Course is on the short side but it was wide open in front of us. Ready golf when it's the right time, aware of how good we(and our partners) are playing & what's behind us are so important. Teeing off at 8am and being home by Noon is amazing on a Friday!

 

If I'm behind crap slow players or good slow players, what's the difference, right?

[golfortennis]

On 9/30/2021 at 1:29 PM, 2bGood said:

We have several really lovely golfers over 90 who are not able to golf very well. They are smart about when they come out and play, pick up the ball when they need to move along and might only hit a few shots a hole. They just love still being able to be out and I am happy to play behind them or with them. 

 

There was a fellow who my regular group knew pretty well, but I never played with him until last season.  He was 80 and his health was failing(and passed away last winter.)  Anyway, while I don't care what guys do with their ball unless it's a match or money game, I will point egregious errors or answer the question if someone asks me what the rule is.   Anyway, when the older fellow would miss the fairway, because our rough was really thick, one of the guys would put his ball in the fairway for him.  After the round, I said to him, "Nice to see him playing by the rules."  He looked at me quizzically, given I tend to stick to the book if I can.  I replied "I thought the rule book for 80 and up was do whatever the hell you want!"  Just nice he was able to be out there.

[Phreddy]

Most clubs I that I am familiar with have an unpublished "vibe."  There was a local club that was the money game club with decent coin changing hands.  You needed to be comfortable with that to be part of the main stream.  Another club is the Blue Blood club.  Socially, financially connected or you won't be invited to apply.  Another has a serious down stroke and a difficult course.  It is a "players" club.  That reputation in and of itself sent many beginners to other venues.  There is another in the area that is apply, interview, play rounds with an existing member yada yada yada.  They will check your handicap.  If you are not a legit 12 or better you won't be invited to join.  If you are on the course more than 3 1/2 hours the pro is instructed to go out and bring you in to the club house.  Or so I am told.  The above are exceptions, but they exist.  Every club has a vibe or a reputation or genre and like tends to attract like.

 

Phred

[ShortGolfer]

The rules have changed to speed up the game.  If you need to, just drop the ball back out of bunker and take two penalty points.

 

What slows down the game is looking for lost balls.  If you can afford to join a country club you can afford to lose a couple balls every round of play.

Edited October 3, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[Bonneville85308]

I've been a member of numerous clubs over the years, but none prestigious or financially strong enough to discriminate against people in the membership application process based on golf handicap or ability. If your check didn't bounce and you passed a basic criminal background check, you got in whether you shoot 70 or 170. Still, you would have to follow the club's pace of play rules or you would get reprimanded, or suspended if you violated them repeatedly. 

[Mudguard]

I'm always amused when ability and club eligibility come up. If the average handicap is still eighteen after all these years, what club could sustain itself on single figure handicaps?

I'd argue there's almost a correlation between handicap and income. The lower your handicap, the more you neglect work. The higher your handicap, the more work you do!

I jest. But at my home course, all the strokeplay events are won by the young range rats and pramatuers. No one who works full time places in the top five. 

 

So good luck running a club without high handicappers! 

[cristphoto]

8 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

There was a fellow who my regular group knew pretty well, but I never played with him until last season.  He was 80 and his health was failing(and passed away last winter.)  Anyway, while I don't care what guys do with their ball unless it's a match or money game, I will point egregious errors or answer the question if someone asks me what the rule is.   Anyway, when the older fellow would miss the fairway, because our rough was really thick, one of the guys would put his ball in the fairway for him.  After the round, I said to him, "Nice to see him playing by the rules."  He looked at me quizzically, given I tend to stick to the book if I can.  I replied "I thought the rule book for 80 and up was do whatever the hell you want!"  Just nice he was able to be out there.

 

And how do you feel about your action?  

[Voltore]

I was a social member of our club for a few years and two years ago decided I had worked hard for a good chunk of life and decided at 55 to get back into golf after a 33 yr gap!! I had no handicap, effectively starting again. Had some lessons and upped my membership. I play in the weekday evening league, usually come last in Gross (not in Net though lol) and I play to a 24 HC. As long as play fast and fair, I have no issues. 

 

I always have to remind myself that I've only been playing 2 years, about once a week or so. Most of my age have been playing 20+ years. I won't be their equals yet. 

 

As has been said, as long as the check cashes. 

[BNGL]

11 hours ago, ShortGolfer said:

The rules have changed to speed up the game.  If you need to, just drop the ball back out of bunker and take two penalty points.

 

What slows down the game is looking for lost balls.  If you can afford to join a country club you can afford to lose a couple balls every round of play.

Oddly enough I never found more range balls on the course than when I was working an elite private in Jupiter area. They were ProVs, and labeled PRACTICE on the sides but the members would still use them out on the course. 
 

[golfortennis]

14 hours ago, cristphoto said:

 

And how do you feel about your action?  

 

Just fine.  I was just glad he was able to be out playing.  The man was 80 years old and could barely get a ball out of the rough.  He had the handicap flag on his cart so he could take it almost anywhere.  If I got to his ball first I would have done it myself.  Why do you ask?

[oneunderbogey]

Champions in Houston is the only club I am aware of with a handicap requirement (not saying there aren't others) it used to be 8 or below, then it was 12. Before covid it was 12ish (they were pretty flexible from what I heard due to needing to add some members).  Its probably back to being a hard 12 again since I am sure they have plenty of members again.   

 

 

[cristphoto]

7 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

Just fine.  I was just glad he was able to be out playing.  The man was 80 years old and could barely get a ball out of the rough.  He had the handicap flag on his cart so he could take it almost anywhere.  If I got to his ball first I would have done it myself.  Why do you ask?

 

There were a couple prior posts about elderly fitness to play on courses due to their skill level. It sounded like you were critical of the man for not playing by the rules.  Its possible he knew he was near death and wanted to get in a couple last easy-going rounds. If I interpreted this wrong please ignore.  

[golfortennis]

5 minutes ago, cristphoto said:

 

There were a couple prior posts about elderly fitness to play on courses due to their skill level. It sounded like you were critical of the man for not playing by the rules.  Its possible he knew he was near death and wanted to get in a couple last easy-going rounds. If I interpreted this wrong please ignore.  

 

No, I was actually messing with my buddy.  As I said, the rule book 80 and up in my mind is do whatever you want.  I was glad he could just be out there.  

[CDM]

6 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

No, I was actually messing with my buddy.  As I said, the rule book 80 and up in my mind is do whatever you want.  I was glad he could just be out there.  

 

I know I want to still be playing at 80..!!! 😃 

[ssf301]

I've never heard of a handicap restricted club.  I've seen restrictions on the allowance to play certain tees by handicap and I've seen tournaments restricted by handicap, but never club membership.

 

I will agree with several others that pace of play is WAAAY more important than handicap.  There is a group of young men (early 20's) at my club that are low single digit handicaps and think they are tour players.  They line up their one foot putts and consult their yardage books just like DeChamdouche.  They routinely play in 4:30-4:45 in carts on a course that should be played in 3:45 in carts.  Of course they are useless children of other members and don't even pay for their membership. 

 

Give me a higher handicap that keeps the pace of play any day.

 

 

[jol]

I don’t know of any clubs that have a minimum handicap as a prerequisite to joining. However, I know of several exclusive clubs that as part of the admission process have the applicant play a round with several members. The best way to get to know if the applicant would fit in is to spend 4 hours on a golf course with the person. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by jol

[NoCalHack]

At Winged Foot, I believe you have to play with members who observe how well you play and your golfing etiquette.

 

That's certainly the exception though.  I haven't heard of any other courses that do that.

 

 

[CCTxGolf]

One of the NLU videos where they play in Germany they talk about needed to take some sort of course or pass a test to of some sort to make a tee time in Germany.

[erichake]

What clubs need to do is hold mandatory introduction classes so new member know how things work (charging to account, tee times...) as well as golf ettiquette, best practices on course.  Such as

 

• Pace of play
• Ready golf
• Where to stand when others are hitting a shot
• how to fix a ballmark, divot, rake bunkers
• Cart ettiquette
• Proper use of practice range (taking divot strips or a circular area, NOT random divots all over
• etc.

[smashdn]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:35 AM, Phreddy said:

Every club has a vibe or a reputation or genre and like tends to attract like.

 

Phred

 

And that fact there is why I get a kick out of people (typically non-golf people or those not familiar with private golf/country clubs or private clubs in general) who seem to think that a club's member make-up should somehow mirror the makeup of the community in which it is in.  

 

When you try to be all things to all people you lose your identity and often drive off the people who were there in the first place.

 

If you are a family club, be a family club.  If you are a true "golf club," be a golf club and put your resources towards the course and matches.  If you are a social club, put on your social events.

[bobfoster]

I've been a member of various clubs in various places over the years. My experience:

 

1. None has ever required a member to even have a handicap (not every golfer rushes to enter his scores after every round), let alone meet a certain level. Not everyone that joins a country club is a golf fanatic. Some just like to have fun, and like the social atmosphere.

 

2. The elderly have never been a problem. Some of them take up golf because their doctors encourage it - A six mile walk on soft grass is very good for old bodies. And - in my view - they tend to be the most courteous golfers on the course. They usually play in off peak hours, and are almost universally good about letting people play through. They wouldn't want to feel like they were slowing you down any more than you'd want to be slowed down. 

 

3. As several have mentioned, PoP is just not really related to handicap. IMO, the single biggest variable (by far) in PoP is course management. Almost every course, public or private, has signs up about PoP, but some courses, through their marshals, establish an atmosphere that says they mean business - that it isn't just words. Any course that wants PoP to matter simply uses polite, but firm and persistent marshals. Without that, it doesn't matter if the whole club is filled with young, scratch golfers, you are still going to have PoP problems.

 

4. Dude, its golf. If I saw two 80 year olds taking lessons I wouldn't be groaning, I'd be grinning. I'd probably go up and introduce myself, give them a big thumbs up and welcome them warmly to the sport. Golf is about way more than just hitting a ball and making it through a round in 3.5 hours.