Where to join? Naples

[graveydellic]

To my knowledge, there are no courses in Naples right now without a waitlist, most are years long too, and many of them aren't "lists" at all, but rather pools, so your spot in line fluctuates based on various things, including club politics.

 

I suspect Hideout is well into the 6 figure range now (175K to 250K seems to be the going rate) with a 4-5 year waitlist.  It's gotten to the point where those who can afford a club but don't want to wait are buying properties in communities just to get access to the associated golf clubs.  These people already have a condo a few miles away.  

[PCK]

Thank you for the insights.   Appreciate the information.   Makes sense, I guess just a holding pattern for now, most likely plan to get on a couple of waiting lists. (I have a residence already in Lely)  

Hopefully things open up a bit.   

[StillCantPutt]

12 hours ago, PCK said:

Thank you for the insights.   Appreciate the information.   Makes sense, I guess just a holding pattern for now, most likely plan to get on a couple of waiting lists. (I have a residence already in Lely)  

Hopefully things open up a bit.   

They’re not opening up a bit, I can promise you that. I just met a couple who joined Fiddler’s Creek for $300k. That’s insane if you know the place. Demand is only escalating and clubs are raising initiation fees. 

[graveydellic]

3 hours ago, StillCantPutt said:

They’re not opening up a bit, I can promise you that. I just met a couple who joined Fiddler’s Creek for $300k. That’s insane if you know the place. Demand is only escalating and clubs are raising initiation fees. 

 

Likely true, but a lot is economy based.  In prior cycles, a big recession generally wipes out a lot of waiting lists and demand.  Guess we will see what the next 6-12 months brings.  That said, anyone on a list to drop 250K on a membership is certainly less impacted by any economic factors.

[Gmoney777]

Just wanted to post something general and some advice in here. I moved to naples 1 year ago and had the exact same thoughts as most posters in this thread. No public options and overpriced private options with impossible to get on “waiting lists”. After 1 year and every course played except for old collier(and maybe a few smaller courses), here are my observations and pointers. 
First off, if you are a big time golfer and love midwestern golf as I do, there is a huge learning curve coming here. You must learn to enjoy Florida layouts or you might as well move back. There are so many intricacies outside of elevation, going around and playing a lot of courses will certainly make you appreciate it more. Now you might add “how do I get on the courses if they’re all private??” and to that i say- just socialize… that’s it. 
In all seriousness that brings me to my second point, how do you get on all the private sand figure out which one you like best? NEVER listen to people in forums when asking for course recommendations. People recommending hideout over Calusa and saying that there’s not a single course worth joining for the money down here are absolutely insane. You have two options when trying to get around and play courses. #1- Make friends. I know this may seem difficult to many, but making friends is SURE to lead to golf around naples. These courses are not like breaking into bank vaults, there are many who are members and love to have kind people out to their clubs. If you are a good and genuine person, you will be introduced to other golfers and eventually have some people all over who keep you in mind when they get a game together. Some of my best friends down here came through bizarre meetings with no golf being thought of, but lead to that. Without some of the amazing guys I’ve met in the past year, my golf experience wouldn’t have been 1/10th of what it was.

option number 2- join a club with… reciprocals!! 
nothing better than when season ends and you get the recip list from your club that has endless potential throughout the summer. Almost all clubs have reciprocals, so keep that in mind when you’re thinking “man 50k initiation seems like a lot for this club” well aside from the supply and demand issue which we are all extremely aware of, the clubs actually do alot for their members to make golf enjoyable and memorable, even if the course isn’t Calusa pines which many seem to expect from every course in Florida…

 

Now for club recommendations, here are the hidden gems I’ve found. 
#1- The strand. This is a no brained to me. Multiple levels of membership depending on how much you play. Great practice facilities(if you’re okay with water range. aka the range should be sufficient for anyone over scratch). Fantastic dining options and other amenities throughout the community. Best part is, 27 holes of fun golf, longest 18 combo tipping out at 7200 yards! Good location in north Naples of immokolee and 75. Don’t quote me on this, but sport membership(everything included but slightly more restricted in season) starts at around 30k. Full membership is around 50 I believe. They will work out a deal with you, the staff is great. 
option #2- Kensington. Keeping it short and sweet, the golf course is awesome and tricky. Nothing straightforward with many features on all 18 holes. Multiple levels of membership that all have a wait, but you can join as golf in waiting and still play while you wait to gain full membership. All memberships are under 50k as of 5 months ago if you are under 50. Under 35 has even better deals. 
 

Moral of the story is, I moved down here 1 year ago this month and have managed to adapt to the crazy but amazing golf scene that is naples. It may take a little bit of work to get your feet off the ground, but the end result is golf year round and hundreds of courses with great friends, all within a 30 minute drive of the beach. 
 

if you really still miss midwestern golf, get a national membership back up where you’re from. You can join a nationally recognized club with unbelievable golf for penny’s compared to what full membership would cost you.

[Robber6656]

On 8/28/2023 at 1:26 PM, Gmoney777 said:

Just wanted to post something general and some advice in here. I moved to naples 1 year ago and had the exact same thoughts as most posters in this thread. No public options and overpriced private options with impossible to get on “waiting lists”. After 1 year and every course played except for old collier(and maybe a few smaller courses), here are my observations and pointers. 
First off, if you are a big time golfer and love midwestern golf as I do, there is a huge learning curve coming here. You must learn to enjoy Florida layouts or you might as well move back. There are so many intricacies outside of elevation, going around and playing a lot of courses will certainly make you appreciate it more. Now you might add “how do I get on the courses if they’re all private??” and to that i say- just socialize… that’s it. 
In all seriousness that brings me to my second point, how do you get on all the private sand figure out which one you like best? NEVER listen to people in forums when asking for course recommendations. People recommending hideout over Calusa and saying that there’s not a single course worth joining for the money down here are absolutely insane. You have two options when trying to get around and play courses. #1- Make friends. I know this may seem difficult to many, but making friends is SURE to lead to golf around naples. These courses are not like breaking into bank vaults, there are many who are members and love to have kind people out to their clubs. If you are a good and genuine person, you will be introduced to other golfers and eventually have some people all over who keep you in mind when they get a game together. Some of my best friends down here came through bizarre meetings with no golf being thought of, but lead to that. Without some of the amazing guys I’ve met in the past year, my golf experience wouldn’t have been 1/10th of what it was.

option number 2- join a club with… reciprocals!! 
nothing better than when season ends and you get the recip list from your club that has endless potential throughout the summer. Almost all clubs have reciprocals, so keep that in mind when you’re thinking “man 50k initiation seems like a lot for this club” well aside from the supply and demand issue which we are all extremely aware of, the clubs actually do alot for their members to make golf enjoyable and memorable, even if the course isn’t Calusa pines which many seem to expect from every course in Florida…

 

Now for club recommendations, here are the hidden gems I’ve found. 
#1- The strand. This is a no brained to me. Multiple levels of membership depending on how much you play. Great practice facilities(if you’re okay with water range. aka the range should be sufficient for anyone over scratch). Fantastic dining options and other amenities throughout the community. Best part is, 27 holes of fun golf, longest 18 combo tipping out at 7200 yards! Good location in north Naples of immokolee and 75. Don’t quote me on this, but sport membership(everything included but slightly more restricted in season) starts at around 30k. Full membership is around 50 I believe. They will work out a deal with you, the staff is great. 
option #2- Kensington. Keeping it short and sweet, the golf course is awesome and tricky. Nothing straightforward with many features on all 18 holes. Multiple levels of membership that all have a wait, but you can join as golf in waiting and still play while you wait to gain full membership. All memberships are under 50k as of 5 months ago if you are under 50. Under 35 has even better deals. 
 

Moral of the story is, I moved down here 1 year ago this month and have managed to adapt to the crazy but amazing golf scene that is naples. It may take a little bit of work to get your feet off the ground, but the end result is golf year round and hundreds of courses with great friends, all within a 30 minute drive of the beach. 
 

if you really still miss midwestern golf, get a national membership back up where you’re from. You can join a nationally recognized club with unbelievable golf for penny’s compared to what full membership would cost you.

Botton line is you can't get in a decent club down there.  The waitlists are ridiculous. You think Eagle Creek is worth $85,000 and $13,000 a year? You think Royal Palm is worth $60,000? You think Fiddlers Creek is worth $300,000? Naples is a joke. I've had a place there since 2016.  The two course you mention aren't even in the top 15 in Naples. Before Covid I would have said the golf scene was ok........not great. Hideout is a very good golf course. Calusa pines is much harder and higher rated and a great course for sure. Which is more fun to play? Hideout IMO

[Gmoney777]

18 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

Botton line is you can't get in a decent club down there.  The waitlists are ridiculous. You think Eagle Creek is worth $85,000 and $13,000 a year? You think Royal Palm is worth $60,000? You think Fiddlers Creek is worth $300,000? Naples is a joke. I've had a place there since 2016.  The two course you mention aren't even in the top 15 in Naples. Before Covid I would have said the golf scene was ok........not great. Hideout is a very good golf course. Calusa pines is much harder and higher rated and a great course for sure. Which is more fun to play? Hideout IMO

First of all, where did I claim they were top 15 in Naples? I gave two clubs fairly priced that are GREAT golf courses and fun to play even for a plus handicap. I could care less what eagle creek and royal palm cost to join. I love hideout, but my original comment is about everyone claiming it’s a better course than Calusa, most of them probably never having played either. More fun is subjective, better all around golf club is factual. I’m not saying that naples is an affordable place to play golf, but the reality is that a standard home here costs 1M+ and the average age indicates residents have lots of retirement cash sitting around. 

[Robber6656]

On 8/30/2023 at 11:07 AM, Gmoney777 said:

First of all, where did I claim they were top 15 in Naples? I gave two clubs fairly priced that are GREAT golf courses and fun to play even for a plus handicap. I could care less what eagle creek and royal palm cost to join. I love hideout, but my original comment is about everyone claiming it’s a better course than Calusa, most of them probably never having played either. More fun is subjective, better all around golf club is factual. I’m not saying that naples is an affordable place to play golf, but the reality is that a standard home here costs 1M+ and the average age indicates residents have lots of retirement cash sitting around. 

"fun" is subjective but "better over all club" isn't subjective?  Please let me know how that is factual. I've personally never heard one person say that Hideout is better than Calusa pines. Naples golf is far from amazing. It's pretty hard to build amazing courses on flat land. Unless you do what Calusa did. If you want to talk about a better over all club you should be talking about Hideout. Play in under 3:30. Strictly a golf club with a great membership. You can walk. Incredible staff. Great condition.

[Gmoney777]

7 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

"fun" is subjective but "better over all club" isn't subjective?  Please let me know how that is factual. I've personally never heard one person say that Hideout is better than Calusa pines. Naples golf is far from amazing. It's pretty hard to build amazing courses on flat land. Unless you do what Calusa did. If you want to talk about a better over all club you should be talking about Hideout. Play in under 3:30. Strictly a golf club with a great membership. You can walk. Incredible staff. Great condition.

Fun is subjective because one might not be a good enough golfer to enjoy playing Calusa and have more fun playing the easier hideout layout. Better overall club is factual because one is rated in the top 100 and the other isn’t.  I walked Calusa is 3:45 a few months ago, so I’m not really sure what your point is. Also, lots of clubs are “strictly golf clubs” down here. Hideout is one of my favorite courses to play in Naples, you don’t need to desperately defend it. The whole point of the original post has been lost here. 

[Robber6656]

10 hours ago, Gmoney777 said:

Fun is subjective because one might not be a good enough golfer to enjoy playing Calusa and have more fun playing the easier hideout layout. Better overall club is factual because one is rated in the top 100 and the other isn’t.  I walked Calusa is 3:45 a few months ago, so I’m not really sure what your point is. Also, lots of clubs are “strictly golf clubs” down here. Hideout is one of my favorite courses to play in Naples, you don’t need to desperately defend it. The whole point of the original post has been lost here. 

The top 100 is subjective, that's why the lists are all different. It's not factual.  I'm not defending Hideout. Your post made it sound like Naples was a great golf mecca. It's far from that. With a few exceptions it's flat water logged golf like most of Florida and incredibly over priced for what you get. It is that way as you pointed out because the money down there is ridiculous. Calusa is all man made similar to Shadow Creek. That's not a knock, that's why it is so good for Naples. It's nice in the off season because you can play most of the privates if you are a member at another club down there or back at home. In season the public options are nothing great in fact they are pretty poor IMO.

[Gmoney777]

8 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

The top 100 is subjective, that's why the lists are all different. It's not factual.  I'm not defending Hideout. Your post made it sound like Naples was a great golf mecca. It's far from that. With a few exceptions it's flat water logged golf like most of Florida and incredibly over priced for what you get. It is that way as you pointed out because the money down there is ridiculous. Calusa is all man made similar to Shadow Creek. That's not a knock, that's why it is so good for Naples. It's nice in the off season because you can play most of the privates if you are a member at another club down there or back at home. In season the public options are nothing great in fact they are pretty poor IMO.

Completely agree that public golf gets an F- down here. My original comment was just to give some insight on where to look if you can’t afford 100k course and the few deals left in Naples. 

[charli]

On 8/29/2022 at 10:27 AM, DrSchteeve said:

They don’t need to grow the membership. 

I mean, they kind of have to. But it’s like I told my Father in law, your friends constantly change 

[Curiouser]

Naples is a tough market for golf. There are a lot of very well-monied people who winter there, and are able to easily pay what it costs. You can complain and cast aspersions about that all you want, but that is the way it is.  Older dudes have the most disposable income, and older golfers with a lot of $$$ don't mind spending it on golf.

[Robber6656]

On 9/12/2023 at 6:39 PM, Curiouser said:

Naples is a tough market for golf. There are a lot of very well-monied people who winter there, and are able to easily pay what it costs. You can complain and cast aspersions about that all you want, but that is the way it is.  Older dudes have the most disposable income, and older golfers with a lot of $$$ don't mind spending it on golf.

Wasn’t true before Covid. Most didn’t have waiting lists. Covid golf boom.

[StillCantPutt]

15 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

Wasn’t true before Covid. Most didn’t have waiting lists. Covid golf boom.

This. Could've joined anywhere you wanted, assuming you had the downstroke they wanted. Calusa was at like $125K and had many openings. Now it's $300K and they have a 10 year waitlist.

[mshills]

Man, brutal. Even if the downstroke isn’t a problem, if you’re an old dude already, a decade wait really stinks!

 

Florida golf. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

[alexc93]

It’s not private and I’m not sure if you can be a member, but you may be better off keeping that initiation fee you’re willing to pay in the bank account and just playing regularly at Lely resort.
 

It’s a bit of a drive from North Naples (20 mins or so) but the courses are very nice and always well maintained, and somewhat affordable to pay per round. 

 

I see it hadn’t been recommended here yet but I play it a few times a year when I’m in Naples. 

[Robber6656]

20 hours ago, alexc93 said:

It’s not private and I’m not sure if you can be a member, but you may be better off keeping that initiation fee you’re willing to pay in the bank account and just playing regularly at Lely resort.
 

It’s a bit of a drive from North Naples (20 mins or so) but the courses are very nice and always well maintained, and somewhat affordable to pay per round. 

 

I see it hadn’t been recommended here yet but I play it a few times a year when I’m in Naples. 

Partially correct. I played the Flamingo on Friday. Lely Classics is private. I believe there are 600 members. Members get first shot at the tee times on the Flamingo and the Mustang courses. Then they sell the open tee times on those two to the public. Pre-Covid it had never had a waiting list and the initiation was 15K. Know I heard it’s $80,000. Funny thing is I actually think the Flamingo is better than the Classics. 

[Robber6656]

23 hours ago, StillCantPutt said:

This. Could've joined anywhere you wanted, assuming you had the downstroke they wanted. Calusa was at like $125K and had many openings. Now it's $300K and they have a 10 year waitlist.

Not sure if it’s true or not but I heard a few years ago Calusa didn’t want any new local members. You had to be a member of another club and live 50 miles or more  away from the club. 

[StillCantPutt]

2 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

Not sure if it’s true or not but I heard a few years ago Calusa didn’t want any new local members. You had to be a member of another club and live 50 miles or more  away from the club. 

This is 100% true. They want you there only a few times a year. If you’re local, they will not admit you. 

[alexc93]

3 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

Partially correct. I played the Flamingo on Friday. Lely Classics is private. I believe there are 600 members. Members get first shot at the tee times on the Flamingo and the Mustang courses. Then they sell the open tee times on those two to the public. Pre-Covid it had never had a waiting list and the initiation was 15K. Know I heard it’s $80,000. Funny thing is I actually think the Flamingo is better than the Classics. 

Interesting - that makes sense. I’ve enjoyed mustang and flamingo when I’ve played there. Both nice layouts and always well maintained imo. For OP I think this makes sense for him to check out Lely!

[TennisAndGolf]

On 8/29/2023 at 3:19 PM, Robber6656 said:

Botton line is you can't get in a decent club down there.  The waitlists are ridiculous. You think Eagle Creek is worth $85,000 and $13,000 a year? You think Royal Palm is worth $60,000? You think Fiddlers Creek is worth $300,000? Naples is a joke. I've had a place there since 2016.  The two course you mention aren't even in the top 15 in Naples. Before Covid I would have said the golf scene was ok........not great. Hideout is a very good golf course. Calusa pines is much harder and higher rated and a great course for sure. Which is more fun to play? Hideout IMO

I agree with this 100%. Naples fees for private golf in terms of value are a joke vs. national expectations. They are a joke within Florida as well.
 

Much higher quality clubs for same or less in palm beach county down to boca, etc. Tampa / Sarasota are better too.