Opinions? Private, semi-private or public if all I want to do is play golf?

[elsie451]

Title says it all. What would you do if all you are interested in is playing a bunch of golf. Social, restaurant, tournaments etc really don't matter to me. Also, all of my current golf buddies work while I'm retired, so a lot of rounds would be as a single during the week.

 

And as a follow up, those who belong to a club (private or semi), do you get bored playing the same course over and over again?

[vallygolf]

My experience is that a private is superior in all facets of golf nearly always.  I dont get bored, but I play other courses often.  If you are retired most likely you will find a group that you will be able to play with at a private.  I use very little of the club I belong to other than the practice areas and the course.  

[smashdn]

I would say this greatly depends on your area and what it costs for private versus what sort of deals you could work out with other types of courses.  (Many retired guys work the local publics on weekends and events in exchange for free or reduced golf during the week.)

 

If you are okay with the conditions of the public option the work and exchange might be the better route.  If conditions or that deal doesn't exist I would think private would be the way to go.

 

Of all the discussions and threads here you very rarely come across someone who is happy with being a member at a semi-private.  Not saying it may not be a fit for some people in certain situations but there are plenty of posts here complaining about how being a "member" at a semi-private gets them not much extra or worse, they are the money that floats the place while so many events are held that it blocks the "members" out and off the course.  I would be very leery of the semi-private option.

 

Good luck and happy retirement.

[Abh159]

Like @smashdn said it will all depend on your specific area. That being said, if golf is your primary focus then a pure private club is going to make the most sense 99% of the time. The major downside to public and semi-private clubs in in the name... "Public" access.

 

A lot of semi-privates will try to draw you in with promises of advanced tee times and unlimited access. However, they fail to mention they may be hosting regular corporate or charity tournaments in which the course will be closed to everyone else.

 

Also, good luck trying to walk on a public or semi-private course at this point in time without an advanced tee time. Something you can easily do at most private clubs.

 

To answer you last question about boredom... I've been a member at private clubs on and off throughout my life and I've never gotten bored playing the same course. However, that might be because I've chosen to join courses that I knew had great layouts and wouldn't become stale. 

[jholz]

My experience is pretty limited - I've never been a member of a private club, but have worked at a few. 

 

I've also had yearly passes or "membership" at a few public and muni courses over the years. 

 

Ultimately, I'd say it comes down to the individual course and the part of the country you are in. 

 

Down south, I could pretty much walk on anytime I wanted. Everyone knew me and they'd just throw me out there. 

 

In Colorado, it took some time to get to know people. Once they were confident that you were cool and wouldn't cause any problems, I could walk on pretty much anytime. 

 

I've also worked at a couple of private clubs where members consistently complained about course access.

 

Ultimately, you have to do your homework and find a spot that will cater to what you need. That may be private, public, or somewhere in between. 

[ShortGolfer]

When do you want to play?

 

I play on weekday afternoons when everyone is is busy doing something else.  

But, I asked at nicely maintained municipal Executive course and they said at this time of year, I could show up and they could get me on the course in fifteen minutes.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[596]

1 hour ago, Abh159 said:

Like @smashdn said it will all depend on your specific area. That being said, if golf is your primary focus then a pure private club is going to make the most sense 99% of the time. The major downside to public and semi-private clubs in in the name... "Public" access.

 

A lot of semi-privates will try to draw you in with promises of advanced tee times and unlimited access. However, they fail to mention they may be hosting regular corporate or charity tournaments in which the course will be closed to everyone else.

 

Also, good luck trying to walk on a public or semi-private course at this point in time without an advanced tee time. Something you can easily do at most private clubs.

 

To answer you last question about boredom... I've been a member at private clubs on and off throughout my life and I've never gotten bored playing the same course. However, that might be because I've chosen to join courses that I knew had great layouts and wouldn't become stale. 

Just as a side note.  I live in Florida, I'm a semi-private club member and also play a Muni each week.  I can't remember the last time I needed a tee time.  I walk on to play 3 days a week and never have a problem playing alone on either course.   I never make tee times.

[Abh159]

3 minutes ago, 596 said:

Just as a side note.  I live in Florida, I'm a semi-private club member and also play a Muni each week.  I can't remember the last time I needed a tee time.  I walk on to play 3 days a week and never have a problem playing alone on either course.   I never make tee times.

 

Sounds like you've found a great set up. Congrats! That's why I mentioned it would be dependent on the OP's location.

 

I know where I live it's next to impossible to play any of the semi-privates without making a tee time at least 1-2 weeks in advance. They are pretty decent courses so they are jam packed 7 days a week and also host multiple company/charity scrambles on a weekly basis. The few people I know who tried an annual membership with them said it was the worst money they've ever spent. 

[david.c.w]

Make sure you do not make this a financial decision.  This is a golf decision.  Hopefully you retired such that the money is not really an issue. 

 

Almost every person here who is a member of a full private will chant "Private!  Private!  Private!".  Anyone who is not will say that they want the flexibility of multiple courses and private members are snooty.

 

As @smashdnand @Abh159 have said, stay clear of a semi-private.  You are just pre-paying at a public course.  May semi-private members jump from place to place every year, so nobody has any skin in the game, so the course will ebb and flow.

 

Most private members never get bored of their course.  People who are not think we will, but we don't.  We love it.

 

But if you are in a retirement location and there are 17 good daily fee courses around and you find a group to move around, then that is a great option too if there is tee time availalbity.

 

I know you say you don't want tournament, dining, social and all that, but that really is what enhances the golf at a private club.  I will not say the golf takes a back seat, but the social aspect becomes a significant part of the experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChipNRun]

1 hour ago, Abh159 said:

A lot of semi-privates will try to draw you in with promises of advanced tee times and unlimited access. However, they fail to mention they may be hosting regular corporate or charity tournaments in which the course will be closed to everyone else.

 

Also, good luck trying to walk on a public or semi-private course at this point in time without an advanced tee time

 

Valid points by Abh, but consider these refinements:

• Semi-privates are not all created equal. Some got started in the 1990s heydey of "buy a home along the fairway."  If home lots didn't sell well, developer was losing money and dumped the course. This took a toll on maintenance of some very artisan layouts that started to deteriorate. If the course you are considering was well built and maintenance has kept up, SPs can give you solid quality golf, but without frills of a private club. (Caution: if the course has been bought and sold three times in the last 5 years, stay away!)
• Semi-privates offer different memberships. My SP home course offers varying annual passes for non-property owners. The Premium offers unrestricted access*; the Select offers urestricted access except before noon on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays; and the Weekday, you guessed it.  
• Semi-privates sometimes partner. In St. Louis region, Walters Golf Management runs about a dozen courses, most of which are semi-private. If you have a Premium, Select, or Weekday pass, you can play space-available at other WGM properties for a $20 fee. Requires a bit of prior planning, but you often can dodge tournaments that way. Or, you can just try another course once in awhile.
• Check out food service and other things. A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an article on dining at exclusive golf country clubs. The average exclusive club lost $120K a year on its food-service operation. In the recession of 2008, the half-dozen SPs in our area pulled the plug on the nice dining room. All went to a snack bar plan, with brats and burgers and wrapped sandwiches. If you have a formal event there, however, the head chef can help you assemble a gourmet spread. But, otherwise it's basic lunch.
• Beyond lunch... Swimming pool, tennis courts, riding stable? These are distracting non-golf activities. Most of the area SPs, which usually are called golf clubs, have none of these.

The thing to do is compare different membership, or annual pass, options across different clubs. See which one best fits your  needs.

---------------------

*  unrestricted access: the fine print says that the fee includes {greens fees + cart + range balls}, except during tournaments or outside events.

Edited October 27, 2021 by ChipNRun

[mallrat]

I would find a “golf club” vs a “country club” first. 

[Golferpaul]

I've been a member of four Country Clubs over the years and they are the best golf solution if you can afford them.  Don't overlook the value of friends you will make at the club which is much easier to do at a private club than a public course.

 

 

[charli]

Private no question. Public life is the worst 

[theebdk]

Private is the way to go, especially if you only care about golf.  But select a private golf club versus a country club with priorities that may not align with yours. 

 

I cannot answer your second question as our club has two golf courses.  However, some courses set up better and can play differently each day.  Especially those with multiple tee boxes and greens that can manage different pin placements. 

 

[elsie451]

Thanks for all the input.  Fortunately, the public and semi-privates around me have reasonable availability.  For example, the semi-private that i'm looking at currently has 11 fully open slots before noon on this Sunday (4 days away).  I am in the northeast, so its getting colder, which i'm sure contributes to availability.  But all summer, I've basically been able to get on somewhere whenever I've wanted to play.

 

I guess in my mind, public gives me options to play different places and doesn't make me feel like I "have to" play a certain number of rounds to get my money's worth.  Semi-Private is really just a way to save money if I play as many rounds as I think I will.  And Private is to give me the best experience, but obviously at a much higher price.

[Bonneville85308]

When I wanted to play a lot of golf at my preferred time and at a good pace, but none of the local private options made any sense for me, I got an annual pass to a semi-private course where "members" could make tee times 3 days before the general public. Most of the other "members" didn't like to play on the days of the week and times I liked to, so I basically got the tee times I wanted 100% of the time and never had a round over 4 hours. If I couldn't have access to tee times before the general public, I wouldn't have done it.

 

Even when I was a member at fully-private, member-owned clubs, I cared zero about the non-golf social aspects of the club, the pool, etc. and rarely ate in the restaurant much beyond covering the food minimum with post-round burgers and salads.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Bonneville85308

[caniac6]

I've been a member at a semi private, and am now a member at a private. I really had good experiences at both. The semi was about twice as far from my house as the private, and I just got tired of making the drive. 

[TexasTurf]

9 hours ago, mallrat said:

I would find a “golf club” vs a “country club” first. 

Truth.

[Roody]

I'm at a private club now, and have been a member since 2018. Before I was at my current club, I was a member at a semi-private for three years. That said:

• One of the reasons I left the semi-private is because I got tired of all the outside tournaments they were having. I get it, tournaments bring in money, but when they started booking the tournaments on weekend mornings that got irritating. 
• Those above that mentioned that the semi-private is really just a pre-paid public access course are 100% spot-on. That is how it felt to me.
• Also mentioned above is it's easier to make friends and find a "regular" group to play with at a private course. At the semi-private this was more challenging. 
• I've probably played my private course 250+ times in the past 3 years, and I'm not bored of it yet. And the nice thing is, if I wanna take a day every now and then and go play somewhere else, it's not a big deal. I don't look at my membership and think "I gotta play my home course as much as I can to get my money's worth or I'll go batty!". 
• To follow up the boredom comment, another great thing about playing the same course is you really get to know the quirks of it, and you'll shoot better scores because of it.
• If your wife plays golf (as mine does), she's got access to play by default with most private clubs. Semi-privates usually charge more. 

[RichieHunt]

Private is the way to go unless you want to play numerous different courses and can't afford the membership and the greens fees elsewhere.

 

For instance, my club has around 500 members and has a ton of social stuff going on with the tennis, the swimming pool, restaurant, etc.  But if I were retired I could easily play 36 holes with a cart on a weekday and finish in roughly 4-5 hours.  On weekends, I can usually get out and play 18 with a cart in 3:45 to 4 hours.  

 

Your best bet is to look for a private golf club instead of a private country club where it's all about golf, but on a private level.

 

 

 

 

RH

[CougarRed]

On 10/27/2021 at 6:40 PM, elsie451 said:

Thanks for all the input.   I am in the northeast, so its getting colder, which i'm sure contributes to availability. 

 

I guess in my mind, public gives me options to play different places and doesn't make me feel like I "have to" play a certain number of rounds to get my money's worth.  Semi-Private is really just a way to save money if I play as many rounds as I think I will.  And Private is to give me the best experience, but obviously at a much higher price.

 

I belonged to a nice club in Texas where you can play year round.  I quit when I got divorced, and have been playing public courses.  While the club was nice and fancy, I enjoy the variety now and have met a lot of nice people. 

 

In the NE, where you can only play 9-10 months out of the year at most, it makes the private/public decision even more difficult.  You are paying a huge premium for just golf, and the social aspect of the club needs to take up that slack IMO.

[Abh159]

On 10/27/2021 at 6:40 PM, elsie451 said:

Thanks for all the input.  Fortunately, the public and semi-privates around me have reasonable availability.  For example, the semi-private that i'm looking at currently has 11 fully open slots before noon on this Sunday (4 days away).  I am in the northeast, so its getting colder, which i'm sure contributes to availability.  But all summer, I've basically been able to get on somewhere whenever I've wanted to play.

 

I guess in my mind, public gives me options to play different places and doesn't make me feel like I "have to" play a certain number of rounds to get my money's worth.  Semi-Private is really just a way to save money if I play as many rounds as I think I will.  And Private is to give me the best experience, but obviously at a much higher price.

 

It sounds like staying with public courses in your part of the country is the way to go. Especially if they are that easily accessible. 

 

FWIW... Unless you have a family of 4+ and they are all playing 100+ rounds a year (only slightly exaggerated) then you will never be able to justify the cost of a private club purely from a cost per round perspective. If you're simply looking to get the most "bang for your buck" then public will almost always be the best route. However, if you're looking for more of an "experience" then that is where private clubs shine. 

[Pepperturbo]

@elsie451 Find a golf club as opposed to country club to evaluate.  Golf clubs are typically 18 holes and have a small building that operates as a clubhouse.  What you need to consider is if you're expecting to play golf with your buddies on the weekend, it's not advisable to join a pvt club, unless the membership is weekday only.

 

Private clubs have charters, and they typically stipulate how often you can invite a guest.  Most of them limit guests per month, some per three months.  The idea being joining a club you get to know members and play with them.  

 

Probably best to pass on pvt clubs and frequent public golf courses as a single and time to play with your buddies. 

 

I have been on the BOD of two private clubs and chaired Finance & Membership committees a number of years.  Each course had one 18 hole course.  Neither of the courses were boring to regularly play, mostly because both courses were rated quite difficult, so each kept me interested.  That said, at least once a month I went to another course with members or to play with non-member friends, so I never got bored with our course.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[greyman09]

Private golf club is the answer. 

[DonatelloNobodie]

Most important, find  good group of people to play with.  As you're retired, look at senior leagues.  People that you play with is more important than the public vs. private debate.

I was a private member for 25 years and now play public with two groups of seniors.  Enjoyable partners is what matters.  I found that at both private and public courses.

 

Observations: 

 

Anyone who is a member of a private will tell you that private is the way to go.  Is that surprising?   If they thought otherwise, why would they be a member?

 

"Semi-private" is a marketing term used to try to elevate a public course.  If a course is accessible to anyone, it is public. Membership is simply a season pass.

 

If you join a private, keep in mind that any initiation fee is gone forever.  If you relocate, decide to resign, or if the course is sold or goes bankrupt, your buy-in is gone. You have no choice other than to pay assessments or fee increases.  If the conditions,service, or finances decline, you're stuck.  On the other hand, private is an easy way to meet a regular group, and provides non-golf amenities for families.

[caniac6]

I know this is not a big thing, but most privates have food minimums. Check out the menu, and make sure they have food that you like. We looked at a couple places, and the food was not the only consideration, but it was a consideration.

[Golferpaul]

On 10/29/2021 at 1:43 PM, Abh159 said:

 

It sounds like staying with public courses in your part of the country is the way to go. Especially if they are that easily accessible. 

 

FWIW... Unless you have a family of 4+ and they are all playing 100+ rounds a year (only slightly exaggerated) then you will never be able to justify the cost of a private club purely from a cost per round perspective. If you're simply looking to get the most "bang for your buck" then public will almost always be the best route. However, if you're looking for more of an "experience" then that is where private clubs shine. 

I agree. If cost is an issue and you are trying to justify a private club, give it up.  A private club provides much more than just a golf course.

 

If I were a young person I would join a private club as soon as I could afford it.  You will make many lifetime friends with similar interests.

[Golferpaul]

5 hours ago, caniac6 said:

I know this is not a big thing, but most privates have food minimums. Check out the menu, and make sure they have food that you like. We looked at a couple places, and the food was not the only consideration, but it was a consideration.

I hear that a lot but I've been a member at four clubs and none of them had food minimums.  

[Golferpaul]

7 hours ago, DonatelloNobodie said:

 

If you join a private, keep in mind that any initiation fee is gone forever.  If you relocate, decide to resign, or if the course is sold or goes bankrupt, your buy-in is gone. You have no choice other than to pay assessments or fee increases.  If the conditions,service, or finances decline, you're stuck.  On the other hand, private is an easy way to meet a regular group, and provides non-golf amenities for families.

 

Not always true.  Member owned clubs have equity memberships so you do get your initiation fee back and they can assess you for improvements.  Otherwise, you don't get your initiation back and you don't get assessed for improvements.

[DonatelloNobodie]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:45 PM, Golferpaul said:

 

Not always true.  Member owned clubs have equity memberships so you do get your initiation fee back and they can assess you for improvements.  Otherwise, you don't get your initiation back and you don't get assessed for improvements.

Most have a clause that you get your money back if there is another person joining.  When clubs get in trouble due to lack of members, you lose the money.  This is common.  Google to find many lawsuits in this area.  In reality, getting money back is rare.   Also, if a member owned club goes bankrupt, you lose.