Birmingham Private Club Recommendations

[daveo6313]

We are looking at moving to the Birmingham area and looking for a club to join.  We have not found a house yet so I do not have a specific location that I am looking in.  As crazy as it may sound we want to decide on where we want to join before we buy a house since we are retired and will be playing four or five times a week.  Would like to keep initiation fee under $30k.

 

I did find an older thread talking about Birmingham clubs but it was pretty old and I am sure the scene has changed since then.

 

If you have suggestions on where to live that would be great as well.

 

Thanks for any and all input.

[kobe123]

I'm in the same boat, I called a few places and it's member invite only.

[Abh159]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:47 PM, daveo6313 said:

We are looking at moving to the Birmingham area and looking for a club to join.  We have not found a house yet so I do not have a specific location that I am looking in.  As crazy as it may sound we want to decide on where we want to join before we buy a house since we are retired and will be playing four or five times a week.  Would like to keep initiation fee under $30k.

 

I did find an older thread talking about Birmingham clubs but it was pretty old and I am sure the scene has changed since then.

 

If you have suggestions on where to live that would be great as well.

 

Thanks for any and all input.

 

These days it's going to be tough to find anything worthwhile that doesn't have a waitlist. @daveo6313 my suggestion would be to start reaching out to clubs in the area to see how long their list is and narrow down your search from there.

 

You could always play the RTJ courses in the meantime until you are able to join somewhere. 

[kobe123]

2 hours ago, Abh159 said:

 

These days it's going to be tough to find anything worthwhile that doesn't have a waitlist. @daveo6313 my suggestion would be to start reaching out to clubs in the area to see how long their list is and narrow down your search from there.

 

You could always play the RTJ courses in the meantime until you are able to join somewhere. 

 

I called a few places

 

Shoal Creek: Must know a member, and have 4 letters of recommendation

Greystone (Junior): $5,000 + $350 month, they have a brochure online

Old Overton: Won't give out any information

Vestavia: Trying to find out

The Ledges: 6 months to a year wait list.

[tiderider]

Ledges is in H'ville

[me05501]

There's a decent club off 280, I think it's called Inverness. A friend was a member years ago and I always enjoyed playing with him there. 

 

It seems like most of the clubs in Birmingham are very exclusive. One can dream but you're extremely unlikely to get into Shoal Creek, Old Overton, etc. 

 

Fortunately the public/daily fee options there are quite good. Timberline, Limestone Springs, Bent Brook, Farm Links and RTJ options aren't horrible compared to similar-sized cities. 

 

 

 

 

[Profiler]

Inverness is your best bet.  $12,000 initiation fee and $508 per month for full member.   Also, a great place to live, anywhere in the valleydale road, Caldwell Mill road, Hwy 119 area.  Don't know if you have kids, but Spain Park High school system is great and not as a cult which some of the OTM (over the mountain schools) can be, ie. mountain brook, vestavia, homewood etc.  Technically it's hoover city schools, but much smaller than the behemoth of Hoover High School.   shoot me a dm if you need more help.

[tiderider]

17 hours ago, Profiler said:

Inverness is your best bet.  $12,000 initiation fee and $508 per month for full member.   Also, a great place to live, anywhere in the valleydale road, Caldwell Mill road, Hwy 119 area.  Don't know if you have kids, but Spain Park High school system is great and not as a cult which some of the OTM (over the mountain schools) can be, ie. mountain brook, vestavia, homewood etc.  Technically it's hoover city schools, but much smaller than the behemoth of Hoover High School.   shoot me a dm if you need more help.

oh my ... wonder if they know the are cultish ... 

 

[me05501]

54 minutes ago, tiderider said:

oh my ... wonder if they know the are cultish ... 

 

 

Ha! Our local all-girl prep school makes a huge deal out of its "May Day" celebration and the pictures parents post online don't look far off from this. 

[kobe123]

Can you all rank the clubs? I'm debating on moving to Birmingham here soon and wanting to join a club.

 

Has anyone played Greystone? Seems like a great deal.

[Profiler]

Greystone is two courses.   I think the initiation is $25k or more.  But they are good courses.  They have more traffic through them.  Inverness is a great track as I described above.  There are a few good public courses like Bent brook, Ballantrae, etc.  Just depends on your price range.

[vandyfan]

4 hours ago, me05501 said:

Our local all-girl prep school makes a huge deal out of its "May Day" celebration

 

Shoutout GPS.

[vandyfan]

4 minutes ago, Profiler said:

Ballantrae

 

Ballantrae is a fun course but it is very much a semi-private deal. I preferred it to Timberline which is the same structure. Both are built around housing developments but Ballantrae is way deep into a housing development and was BUSY last time I was there. Probably not going to be able to zip around in 2-3 hours really ever out there. All in all good courses but I don't think this is what the OP is looking for. 

[me05501]

3 hours ago, kobe123 said:

Can you all rank the clubs? I'm debating on moving to Birmingham here soon and wanting to join a club.

 

Has anyone played Greystone? Seems like a great deal.

 

Greystone is awesome. They have thick Zoysia fairways so you don't get a ton of roll but the ball sits up like it's on a tee. 

 

Inverness is also really fun to play, conditioned well and challenging. 

[kobe123]

1 hour ago, Profiler said:

Greystone is two courses.   I think the initiation is $25k or more.  But they are good courses.  They have more traffic through them.  Inverness is a great track as I described above.  There are a few good public courses like Bent brook, Ballantrae, etc.  Just depends on your price range.

Correct, $25K for a full. I'm a junior so it's quite a bit cheaper

 

Junior: $5,000

Monthly: $350

Capital Dues: $75

 

I would love to join Shoal Creek, but you have to know 4 people who will recommend you.

[me05501]

1 minute ago, kobe123 said:

Correct, $25K for a full. I'm a junior so it's quite a bit cheaper

 

Junior: $5,000

Monthly: $350

Capital Dues: $75

 

I would love to join Shoal Creek, but you have to know 4 people who will recommend you.

 

I played Shoal Creek once as a guest. It is way too stuffy/Old South feeling for me. 

[kobe123]

7 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

I played Shoal Creek once as a guest. It is way too stuffy/Old South feeling for me. 

 

Vestavia - Wait List must know 4 members and have 4 non-member references

Shoal Creek - Must know 4 members

Greystone - very reasonable

CC of Bham - have tried to get ahold of for a month and no response 

Inverness - very reasonable 

Old Overton - wouldn't give me any details

Edited June 14, 2022 by kobe123

[me05501]

7 minutes ago, kobe123 said:

 

Vestavia - Wait List must know 4 members and have 4 non-member references

Shoal Creek - Must know 4 members

Greystone - very reasonable

CC of Bham - have tried to get ahold of for a month and no response 

Inverness - very reasonable 

Old Overton - wouldn't give me any details

 

 

Old money tends to take itself too seriously. 

 

Shoal Creek is the only club I've been to with a gatehouse manned by an armed guard. 

[kobe123]

3 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

 

Old money tends to take itself too seriously. 

 

Shoal Creek is the only club I've been to with a gatehouse manned by an armed guard. 

If I knew 4 people, I'd do it, but that's not easy to find. 

[kobe123]

Any updates from anyone? 

[Profiler]

Best bet is Inverness first, Greystone 2nd.  My kid's summer job is as a greenskeeper at Inverness.   I know they put a lot of work into it.

[kobe123]

20 hours ago, Profiler said:

Best bet is Inverness first, Greystone 2nd.  My kid's summer job is as a greenskeeper at Inverness.   I know they put a lot of work into it.

Why Inverness over Greystone?

[Minarets]

kobe, obviously we talk, and I do not know much if anything about greystone, except what you have told me,  but I know there are a lot of good games at Inverness.  a buddy is a member there.  

[Profiler]

On 6/23/2022 at 11:08 AM, kobe123 said:

Why Inverness over Greystone?

cheaper up front money.  It's a great track, not very crowded and convenient.