Nashville Private Club Availability

[pearcebarr]

Let's say that you live in the area and are a member of the club for 15 years. If you are paying ~$800 in monthly fees, you'll spend just under $250,000 over those years. 

 

Think of all of the golf you could play around the world with $16,000 a year. I know country clubs offer more than just golf, but I just don't get it. I know for most of these people the money doesn't matter, but it just seems like such a waste. The golf is not that good at these places.   

[me05501]

1 hour ago, pearcebarr said:

Let's say that you live in the area and are a member of the club for 15 years. If you are paying ~$800 in monthly fees, you'll spend just under $250,000 over those years. 

 

Think of all of the golf you could play around the world with $16,000 a year. I know country clubs offer more than just golf, but I just don't get it. I know for most of these people the money doesn't matter, but it just seems like such a waste. The golf is not that good at these places.   

 

This is true. However, in a hot area like Nashville the club only needs to find about 1,000-1,200 people who consider that money well spent...and it doesn't necessarily have to be the same 1,200 people over that 15 years. 

 

When you have a lot of wealthy-ish people moving to an area where they don't know a soul you'll see a lot of them joining a club to create a social network. Churches are probably seeing an influx of members too for the same reason. 

[Minarets]

What I’d like to know is the percentage of clubs that have held original dues (since they didn’t get the inflated initiations) since the boom?

 

I have to imagine most have raised and raised and raised and raised on their existing members.  And then, how many have said enough and bounced? Allowing the long wait lists to move rather quickly? 

[pearcebarr]

Do we have any reports from members on whether or not the clubs have gotten significantly better over the past 2 years? Wonder if they're using their buckets of money to actually improve things... 

[Abh159]

2 hours ago, pearcebarr said:

Let's say that you live in the area and are a member of the club for 15 years. If you are paying ~$800 in monthly fees, you'll spend just under $250,000 over those years. 

 

Think of all of the golf you could play around the world with $16,000 a year. I know country clubs offer more than just golf, but I just don't get it. I know for most of these people the money doesn't matter, but it just seems like such a waste. The golf is not that good at these places.   

 

If you're looking to justify a private club membership purely from a financial standpoint then you're going about it the wrong way. Rarely are you going to finish the year in the black. I can 100% say that I'm "losing" money each year with my club, but that isn't an issue for me because the other benefits outweigh the cost.

 

I have 24/7 access to the course, the range, the short game area, and all of the other non-golf amenities. I can almost always just show up and walk straight to the first tee without needing to make a tee time. I also thoroughly enjoy our member only events like the Member-Member, Member-Guest, Club Championships, and so on...

 

You have to view it just like any other non-necessary expense. If you would enjoy it (and you can afford it) then by all means spend the money on a membership. I'm going on a nice vacation to the Caribbean in two months, and I know there won't be any ROI on the $5,000+ spent. Does that mean I shouldn't go?

 

[pearcebarr]

18 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

 

If you're looking to justify a private club membership purely from a financial standpoint then you're going about it the wrong way. Rarely are you going to finish the year in the black. I can 100% say that I'm "losing" money each year with my club, but that isn't an issue for me because the other benefits outweigh the cost.

 

I have 24/7 access to the course, the range, the short game area, and all of the other non-golf amenities. I can almost always just show up and walk straight to the first tee without needing to make a tee time. I also thoroughly enjoy our member only events like the Member-Member, Member-Guest, Club Championships, and so on...

 

You have to view it just like any other non-necessary expense. If you would enjoy it (and you can afford it) then by all means spend the money on a membership. I'm going on a nice vacation to the Caribbean in two months, and I know there won't be any ROI on the $5,000+ spent. Does that mean I shouldn't go?

 

I am not viewing it from a purely financial standpoint, because it doesn't make any sense to throw away $100,000 for a country club.

 

I am saying that when you look at it like you have, as a non-necessary extravagance, how on earth is it worth it? Spending $250,000 for 15 years of preferred tee times, access to amenities whenever you want, and the ability to play in events on a course that isn't even nationally regarded is absurd to me.

 

There are very few golf courses in the country that are worth charging those sorts of rates, and they certainly aren't in Nashville. I get it - its what you have to pay if you want the experience here, but, in my opinion the experience ain't worth it. It isn't even close.

[me05501]

3 minutes ago, pearcebarr said:

I am not viewing it from a purely financial standpoint, because it doesn't make any sense to throw away $100,000 for a country club.

 

I am saying that when you look at it like you have, as a non-necessary extravagance, how on earth is it worth it? Spending $250,000 for 15 years of preferred tee times, access to amenities whenever you want, and the ability to play in events on a course that isn't even nationally regarded is absurd to me.

 

There are very few golf courses in the country that are worth charging those sorts of rates, and they certainly aren't in Nashville. I get it - its what you have to pay if you want the experience here, but, in my opinion the experience ain't worth it. It isn't even close.

 

Yes. And increasingly, one can make the same argument against spending $250,000 on a bachelor's degree. 

[me05501]

37 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

 

If you're looking to justify a private club membership purely from a financial standpoint then you're going about it the wrong way. Rarely are you going to finish the year in the black. I can 100% say that I'm "losing" money each year with my club, but that isn't an issue for me because the other benefits outweigh the cost.

 

I have 24/7 access to the course, the range, the short game area, and all of the other non-golf amenities. I can almost always just show up and walk straight to the first tee without needing to make a tee time. I also thoroughly enjoy our member only events like the Member-Member, Member-Guest, Club Championships, and so on...

 

You have to view it just like any other non-necessary expense. If you would enjoy it (and you can afford it) then by all means spend the money on a membership. I'm going on a nice vacation to the Caribbean in two months, and I know there won't be any ROI on the $5,000+ spent. Does that mean I shouldn't go?

 

 

This is the common line of argument in favor of club membership and it makes sense in a vacuum. 

 

Not sure if you're familiar with the current golf scene in Nashville right now, but it's safe to say the common line of argument doesn't apply.

 

There are very run-of-the-mill clubs that have raised their initiation fees from $10,000 to $50,000 without making any improvements. It's supply and demand gone mad. Prospective members could use your logic to justify the $10K level but at 5x the up front cost the numbers fall apart for most. 

[Minarets]

15 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

This is the common line of argument in favor of club membership and it makes sense in a vacuum. 

 

Not sure if you're familiar with the current golf scene in Nashville right now, but it's safe to say the common line of argument doesn't apply.

 

There are very run-of-the-mill clubs that have raised their initiation fees from $10,000 to $50,000 without making any improvements. It's supply and demand gone mad. Prospective members could use your logic to justify the $10K level but at 5x the up front cost the numbers fall apart for most. 

To be fair, my house is worth more than double what I paid for it 4 years ago.  I doubt I would sell it for what I paid.  

[me05501]

9 minutes ago, Minarets said:

To be fair, my house is worth more than double what I paid for it 4 years ago.  I doubt I would sell it for what I paid.  

 

Right. A home has resale value while a non-equity membership does not. 

[Mr. Grumpy]

Just learned that Legends has raised their dues, probably initiation fee as well. I also hear they will be doing some course renovations soon. 

 

Richland has opened up again after their reno, but I have not yet chatted with a friend who is a member there. I would assume that they also have raised their membership fees. 

 

It's all getting more expensive. If you play public Towhee 3 times a week that's 210-240 easy. Times that by 4,, and well there you go..

 

I wouldn't mind paying the monthly dues if I had scrap up initiation fee. But then I'd feel pressured to really only play their to justify the money and it would likely be all I had budget for. I do love to play other courses so really it does not make much sense for me to scrap up the bucks to join a CC. I'll need to wait for the senior rate tier anyway. 

 

 

[me05501]

13 hours ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

I wouldn't mind paying the monthly dues if I had scrap up initiation fee. But then I'd feel pressured to really only play their to justify the money and it would likely be all I had budget for. I do love to play other courses so really it does not make much sense for me to scrap up the bucks to join a CC. I'll need to wait for the senior rate tier anyway. 

 

 

There's a club here that I can join without an initiation, just a one-year commitment. The course is fun and playable but the quality is similar to the munis around here. They don't place any limits on how often a guest can play there, so I probably average playing it once every couple of weeks with my friend who's a member. 

 

I've considered joining and may still do it. It's a bit far from me, probably 25-30 minutes, which is a hassle in a town this size. The dues are the equivalent of 4 rounds as a guest. I just want to avoid that feeling of "I'm already paying to play my course, I don't want to play anywhere else at additional cost." 

[Mr. Grumpy]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

 

There's a club here that I can join without an initiation, just a one-year commitment. The course is fun and playable but the quality is similar to the munis around here. They don't place any limits on how often a guest can play there, so I probably average playing it once every couple of weeks with my friend who's a member. 

 

I've considered joining and may still do it. It's a bit far from me, probably 25-30 minutes, which is a hassle in a town this size. The dues are the equivalent of 4 rounds as a guest. I just want to avoid that feeling of "I'm already paying to play my course, I don't want to play anywhere else at additional cost." 

I hear you. All of my current playing friends play out at Greystone. It's a 45 min drive for me and right now I only commit to a weekday round - mostly Thursdays for their Lowball league and the occasional Tuesday. They have a membership tier, but I hesitate since it's such a long drive. I'd have to play 3 times a week to make it work best. 

Weekends around mid ten is a 5+ hour round at almost every public course. But this is a whole other issue.. 

[cubuffs]

I will say, as someone who moved away for two years and is now back - the only thing harder than finding a home in TN is finding a private club membership.