Country Clubs: The Good and The Bad

[golfpractitioner5]

I am just looking for some input from current or past Country Club members.  What are or were your experiences like in a positive or negative opinion.  What were some of your favorite perks, or things you could have done without.  Also, I am just asking current or past members of Country Clubs so that I can get some honest perspectives.  I am not really looking for input from guests to a Country Club or people who played one as part of a charity or tournament event.

[NJPhil]

The good:

- course is < 3 miles from my house 

- rounds are < 3.5 hours (last Sunday we started at 9:00 and I was home by 1:00, that includes settling bets and eating lunch)

- great practice facility

- good 3 hole or 5 hole loop if I don't have time for 9/18

- great group of guys that I play with, always have a Saturday and Sunday morning game available

 

The bad:

- not much, it is expensive, but it fits into my budget

[Pepperturbo]

I was an equity CC member and on the BOD, also on the membership and finance committees at one club, the other club was corporate owned with membership mgt committees; but now club-less. 

 

Of my thirty + years playing the great game of golf, being an active club member and tournament/match team member on a tournament level course was, by far, the best experience for my wife and me.  Playing public courses is just not comparable, including high-end public courses which I have two memberships. 

 

Advice, know what YOU, maybe our family, want from a private club, then find the club culture that matches; golf club or country club, there's a big difference.  DON'T expect a private club to adapt to your needs, potential members seek and adjust to the club culture.  You can't steadily invite your friends to most clubs, you have to be social to an extent, therefore willing to join groups to meet club members and make new friends.  Know the max you can afford.

 

Make sure to read the Club's Charter/rule book before joining, and play golf with a few members.  A good private club (doesn't have to be expensive) can offer many niceties.  My favorite was the gated golf community, driving my golf cart to the club.  Having my bottle of Single Malt kept behind the bar just for me, and playing in weekly InterClub Match play tournaments that took me to other private clubs in Southern California. 

 

As long as you know what you're getting into, the club is financially healthy, with a solid membership roster, there is NO bad to joining the right club.  Course, if a potential member doesn't know what he/she expects and doesn't look closely at a club, he/she may join a nice club but not have a good experience because they entered with the wrong expectations. 

[golfwb]

1 hour ago, golfpractitioner5 said:

I am just looking for some input from current or past Country Club members.  What are or were your experiences like in a positive or negative opinion.  What were some of your favorite perks, or things you could have done without.  Also, I am just asking current or past members of Country Clubs so that I can get some honest perspectives.  I am not really looking for input from guests to a Country Club or people who played one as part of a charity or tournament event.

I have belonged to a member owned private golf course and two private courses owned by an individual /group.

 

They are completely different animals.

 

Although the member owned was more expensive everyone voice was heard and things moved in a timely manner.

 

Now at the individual owned course, our group of 45+ guys just had to send in a letter for the owners to do the right thing. We are not far from starting a lawsuit unfortunately 

[Golferpaul]

I've been a member of five clubs over the last few decades.  Guys at every club b**** about management. 

 

The single biggest benefit, IMHO, is making lifetime friendships with people who have similar interests.

 

[jibbs1082]

2 hours ago, golfpractitioner5 said:

I am just looking for some input from current or past Country Club members.  What are or were your experiences like in a positive or negative opinion.  What were some of your favorite perks, or things you could have done without.  Also, I am just asking current or past members of Country Clubs so that I can get some honest perspectives.  I am not really looking for input from guests to a Country Club or people who played one as part of a charity or tournament event.

 

-4 hour round (undisputed top of the list)

-Sense of camaraderie amongst other members

-Finding a good game relative to your index

-Men's lounge feels like the locker room back in the college days

-Ability to practice whenever you want on a real range, and short game area

-Excellent conditioning of the course

-Member/Guest, Member/Member are very fun events to be a part of

 

 

Cons:

Over paying for convenience and access. If that's a con or something you just learn to understand as life goes on.

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by jibbs1082

[vandyfan]

Background: Got into country club after being waitlisted for 2 years and have since played 22 rounds since May 2023. I did not grow up in a country club so this is my first experience belonging to one. 

 

Pros:

-Love the course and haven't gotten tired of playing it....in fact playing the same course all the time makes me appreciate certain aspects of holes I wouldn't have if I only played it 3x per year

-Men's Grille is the social center of the club and a very fun place to hang out

-Easy to get a tee time as we have a membership cap

-There are numerous competitions to play in which are fairly relaxed but give me "tournament" reps

-Great practice range and short game area so I hit balls 2x per week now 

-Trackman studio with 2 bays inside that is almost never used by other members

-Great pool for my kids and the holidays are AWESOME, lots of kids stuff

-Pace of play is quick, average 18 hole round is 3 hours during the week and 3.5 hours on the weekends

 

Cons:

-Course is 15-20 minutes from work so not easy to just jump over there and hit balls during lunch

-Course is 10 minutes from house so close but not far either

-This is a strange "con" but almost no one walks so I am self conscious about walking because everyone else plays really fast (which is a pro above) and rides in carts. As a 4some I can keep up easily but once you get to 3 some and the members have separate carts it is impossible to keep up.
-It is obviously expensive and doesn't "make sense" financially except when you realize you get everything noted above

-Range is only about 240 yds long (with a net at the back) so when the teeing area is in the forward half you can't hit driver because you will fly the net which is a fineable offense

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by vandyfan

[BombinJim]

Pros:

-excellent range facility/balls/practice area

-unlimited play

-preferred tee times

-ability to get tee time very easily (walk ins)

-ability to keep playing after 18 (27 or 36 not a big deal)

-discounted rates for your guests

-storing your clubs onsite

-club tournaments (member-member, member-guest, etc.)

-pro shop discount

-restaurant/bar discount

-hotel partnership discount

-reciprocal course rates/access

 

Cons:

-tied to one main course

-tied to same member pool

-some clubs charge cart fee even to members, so if you ride all the time it can add up.

-member drama

 

 

[golfpractitioner5]

I really appreciate the responses so far.  The highlights have been what I expected.  I live south of Nashville, and the dreaded 5+ hour rounds have become the norm in my area with almost no decent tee times available these days.  Top that off with the increasing prices of green fees and those are just a few reasons that I am considering joining a private country club.

[Bonneville85308]

I've been a member of member-owned clubs my entire adult life (joined my first the week after I graduated college), though now I am down to a non-resident/national membership at one I used to be a full-time member at. I could type pages about my experiences, almost all at least good and most great. Example, my closest, most trustworthy friend today is someone I met 15+ years ago at a club we both belonged to at the time.

 

Here's something to watch out for. Sitting around the grill room after a round over burgers and beers, It can be very easy to get caught up in negative discussions with fellow members about different, often insignificant aspects of the club, opinions of management, or recent changes. Every club seems to have a group of complainers. Be friendly to all members but avoid and don't stoke those discussions, they are a waste of mental energy. You want to both arrive and leave the club in a happy mood, not go home annoyed because people were complaining at lunch that the club is going to do away with barbicide in the locker rooms to cut costs.

 

The most difficult time to be a member was during the great recession when we were losing members like crazy, fees/assessments had to go way up among the remaining members to keep the club afloat, and we had no money to make capital improvements. It was great that the course was usually relatively empty compared to a few years prior, but I'd start fearing what the next operating or special assessment would be, and many people I liked playing with had to drop out because they were losing their jobs or their investments tanked.

 

I would only ever join a member-owned club. Maybe even one owned by an individual or a couple of partners if I knew the owner's views on running the place were aligned with mine. Definitely never one owned by ClubCorp/Invited, Arcis, or some private equity company.

[NJBigFish22]

I belong to a no frills golf club.  There are 2 courses and the public can only play on 1, but members can play both.  Members have own Locker room and rest rooms.  Members have their own range and short game area.  I can get a tee time any time, walking up and heading straight out is an option.  During the week a typical round is 3:30-3:50 on weekends it’s usually 4 hours.  The longest I have had is 4:25 minutes.  I’m not sure if I will stay, the company that owns recently entered into an agreement to sell part of the property, so my staying will be based on whether I like the redesign, go full private and what the previous 2 things affect on dues.

[Dancin]

The single owner benevolent dictator model is best but if you don't have a good owner it can get ugly fast and when that owner wants out you may get screwed depending upon who buys it.

Any member run course will always have a lot of politics. There will be some who don't want to spend a dime and keep it as cheap as possible and others that want to blow money on non golf things to keep up with other clubs on appearances. If you are a hard core golfer it will drive you nuts seeing the club blow money on flowers, new clubhouse carpets and furniture etc. and other things instead of improving course conditions.

Corporate owned clubs tend to be the worst unless they buy a struggling club in which case they often can inject some much needed money in fixing things but their incentives are to maximize their assets which generally results in a worse experience compared to other club models.

[sabram]

Benefits:

Easy to get out whenever you want to play

Fast pace of play

Great conditioning

Lots of friends to play with

 

Negative:

Cost

[david.c.w]

Pros: 

Too many to list

 

Cons:

Not cheap

Generally only play home course.

 

99% of people who join a club are glad they did.  DO NOT join a club to save money or break even.  You are paying for quality, convenience, consistency.  You are NOT paying for golf.  If money is your primary driver for joining a club, move along....

[smashdn]

Good

- Pace of play is really good.  I walked nine in an hour and fifteen the other day.  Played 18 as a foursome with wagering and we intentionally waited to try to get a two some to play through us and still got through in 3.5hrs.

- Conditioning.  So much better than the public options.

- Familiarity.  The folks that work there get to know you and trust you and they help make your round or day at the club a good one.

- Convenience.  I can get a round in after work whenever.  We don't do tee times so we just get in and go.

 

Bad (and this isn't all bad, just stuff I didn't anticipate or am having to come to grips with)

- Reluctance to change.  We could use some improvements (IMO) but they probably won't happen due to cost and having an older membership.  Both to the course and to the clubhouse.  I don't blame them for not wanting to spend the money if it means dues go up or there is an assessment.  I think there was a change or two made to the course that didn't make it better or more functional.  A new teeing area on a hole or two would change the angle on a few tee shots and make the set-up more dynamic.  I would rather that over a fairway bunker at 220 yards off the tee.

- Course can get crowded leading up to events.  We had a mixed partner two day tournament and it basically closed the course for the weekend and it was packed on the thurs and friday leading up to it.  Really the most slow I have seen it.  (Imagine taking your seldom golfing wife out for "practice" the day before a tournament.  It slowed stuff down.)

- Fivesomes, sixsomes, eightsomes, why not?  Guys want to play together, especially if they have a regular game or group thing going on.  We don't have rangers so it goes unchecked a bit.  Most folks let you play through but it is still a little frustrating and of course awkward when you have a group that large watching you play through.

- Everybody has their own cart.  You may have a foursome playing and doing so with four carts.  We have personal carts not a fleet.

- No room to store all the carts.  We are out of cart storage space.  If you don't live in the neighborhoods surrounding the club you store your cart at the club.  Unless you don't have a spot yet so you have to rent a cart each time or rely on playing with people who will have an open spot for you in their cart.  My cart is currently in my barn at my house just hanging out waiting for a spot.

[FuzzyKnuckles]

May be a silly question, but we are looking to join somewhere, but we do not know if we will be in our current city for more than 3-5 years. Does it make sense to join somewhere once we move, or do it now and leave the club when we leave the city? I do not know how difficult it is to leave a club, especially on the legal and financial fronts. If anyone has any experience in leaving a club, please let me know. Thank you

[doctor220]

23 minutes ago, FuzzyKnuckles said:

May be a silly question, but we are looking to join somewhere, but we do not know if we will be in our current city for more than 3-5 years. Does it make sense to join somewhere once we move, or do it now and leave the club when we leave the city? I do not know how difficult it is to leave a club, especially on the legal and financial fronts. If anyone has any experience in leaving a club, please let me know. Thank you

Depends on the initiation amount involved. If you’re ok to eat that after the 3-5 years then no big deal. At a lot of places though it may be pretty cost prohibitive to only join for that long, especially with golf’s boom after covid and initiations going up pretty much everywhere. There’s not really any legal or financial ramifications unless it’s a unique equity set up and there has some to be someone else moving in your spot.
 

There will prob be terms like you can resign at a certain point of the year but it’s not like a gang that’s going to threaten you if you want to leave. 

 

Not sure your age but generally the initiations are generally much more reasonable for younger guys say 30-35 than once you get past that point, which you only really pay once , so if you guys end up staying somewhere and you get in young, it can be quite beneficial financially. 

 

[FuzzyKnuckles]

9 minutes ago, doctor220 said:

Depends on the initiation amount involved. If you’re ok to eat that after the 3-5 years then no big deal. At a lot of places though it may be pretty cost prohibitive to only join for that long, especially with golf’s boom after covid and initiations going up pretty much everywhere. There’s not really any legal or financial ramifications unless it’s a unique equity set up and there has some to be someone else moving in your spot.
 

There will prob be terms like you can resign at a certain point of the year but it’s not like a gang that’s going to threaten you if you want to leave. 

 

Not sure your age but generally the initiations are generally much more reasonable for younger guys say 30-35 than once you get past that point, which you only really pay once , so if you guys end up staying somewhere and you get in young, it can be quite beneficial financially. 

 

I appreciate the reply. I am 26, so I understand the Junior Exec rate is definitely more affordable. I live in Dallas and the initiations are ridiculous these days, so I want to use the opportunity to get my foot in the door while I'm young, but knowing we will probably move one day it makes me wonder if it is worth it

 

Guess I am more interested in if you can get off the hook from the dues, and if you are ever able to get part of the initiation back.

[doctor220]

9 minutes ago, FuzzyKnuckles said:

I appreciate the reply. I am 26, so I understand the Junior Exec rate is definitely more affordable. I live in Dallas and the initiations are ridiculous these days, so I want to use the opportunity to get my foot in the door while I'm young, but knowing we will probably move one day it makes me wonder if it is worth it

 

Guess I am more interested in if you can get off the hook from the dues, and if you are ever able to get part of the initiation back.

I don’t think you will ever get initiation back in a non equity set up. Dues will just depend on the terms , like mine you can leave either half way through year or end of year so if you want to leave in March, you’re going to be on the hook for the dues April through end of June but totally depend on how the club structures it. 
 

some places may also offer like a 1-2 year trial period with a relatively nominal initiation before the whole larger amount is due , though this might not be as common in what I assume is a very competitive Dallas market 

[carrera]

My only advice is to make sure the club you join is convenient for both home and work.  A club that is 40 minutes away, even if slightly better in some respects, is worse than a club that is 15-20 minutes away.  Hard to overstate how important convenience is for a club membership.

[Drock25]

Agree 100%.  Location is key, i am in atlanta metro area.  Tons of great clubs, but the one 10 minute from home is the best because of convenience.

[david.c.w]

On 9/28/2023 at 4:38 PM, FuzzyKnuckles said:

I appreciate the reply. I am 26, so I understand the Junior Exec rate is definitely more affordable. I live in Dallas and the initiations are ridiculous these days, so I want to use the opportunity to get my foot in the door while I'm young, but knowing we will probably move one day it makes me wonder if it is worth it

 

Guess I am more interested in if you can get off the hook from the dues, and if you are ever able to get part of the initiation back.

 

Many, if not most, clubs will have a payment plan for Junior Exec's.  Usually if you leave before you payment plan is up the balance owed is simply abandoned.  Of course you are out whatever you have paid, but if the initiation is $20k paid out over 7 years, you may only be out $10k if you leave after 3 or 4.

 

With this method you can both get your foot in the door and manage risk. 

 

[Roody]

On 9/27/2023 at 3:04 PM, BombinJim said:

Cons:

-member drama

 

 

 

My wife and I have been members at a private club for 5 years now. Overall we love it, but sometimes the member drama gets very tiresome. I've learned over the past 5 years that people will complain about EVERYTHING. And a lot of it is stupid crap that falls very firmly under the #FirstWorldProblems hashtag.

 

I've also learned that some well-to-do-financially people will argue over amounts as small as a couple bucks. 

[caniac6]

Our club is going to do a major renovation next year, and will be closed a minimum of 9 months. We will have to pay dues and food minimum during that time, but there is no additional assessment. We have had some members quit, and I’m expecting a lot more to leave. That is the only downside I can think of. Everything else is very positive.

[me05501]

Club membership is one of those deals where you get out of it what you put into it. 

 

If you play in the events or regular money games and/or use the club as a social hub you'll meet a lot of people and eventually find a crew you enjoy playing with the most. I think this is true just about anywhere. You'd have to be a very unpleasant person to not find at least 10-12 other members you enjoy spending time with. If you're looking for a way to get integrated into a community and meet new people a club is a good call. 

 

Of course being more involved drives up your monthly costs and it hurts to start getting bills with all the cart fees, dinners, tournament buy-ins and other expenses that come with being active at the club. 

 

Another downside to being a committing club member is that you will probably lose touch with any guys outside the club that you might regularly play with now. They're not likely to get excited about playing all their golf as guests at your club and many clubs even have policies limiting how many times a specific person can play as a guest without becoming a member. 

 

If all you ever do is make tee times, play your rounds and leave it will feel much more like any other kind of golf except hopefully with better conditions and pace of play. That's okay for some people. It makes me sad to drive by the club near my house and see 5-6 singles playing right behind each other instead of pairing up and enjoying each other's company. 

 

 

[T-W]

On 9/27/2023 at 1:35 PM, golfwb said:

I have belonged to a member owned private golf course and two private courses owned by an individual /group.

 

They are completely different animals.

 

Although the member owned was more expensive everyone voice was heard and things moved in a timely manner.

 

Now at the individual owned course, our group of 45+ guys just had to send in a letter for the owners to do the right thing. We are not far from starting a lawsuit unfortunately 

 

Lawsuit! Do tell, if you can share any details. 

[T-W]

On 9/27/2023 at 11:59 AM, golfpractitioner5 said:

I am just looking for some input from current or past Country Club members.  What are or were your experiences like in a positive or negative opinion.  What were some of your favorite perks, or things you could have done without.  Also, I am just asking current or past members of Country Clubs so that I can get some honest perspectives.  I am not really looking for input from guests to a Country Club or people who played one as part of a charity or tournament event.

What clubs in the Nashville area are you considering?

 

[golfpractitioner5]

Currently, the only one worth considering due to location is Stones River Country Club in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I live within 5 minutes of it, and it is on my way to and from work everyday.

 

I am in no rush to join in the immediate future. I’m just a big time planner and like to gather as much information as possible before I make big financial decisions.  I figured who better to ask than a bunch of people who do or have belonged to country clubs.

[golfpractitioner5]

19 minutes ago, T-W said:

What clubs in the Nashville area are you considering?

 

Currently, the only one worth considering due to location is Stones River Country Club in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I live within 5 minutes of it, and it is on my way to and from work everyday.

 

I am in no rush to join in the immediate future. I’m just a big time planner and like to gather as much information as possible before I make big financial decisions.  I figured who better to ask than a bunch of people who do or have belonged to country clubs.

[klebs01]

On 9/28/2023 at 9:48 PM, FuzzyKnuckles said:

May be a silly question, but we are looking to join somewhere, but we do not know if we will be in our current city for more than 3-5 years. Does it make sense to join somewhere once we move, or do it now and leave the club when we leave the city? I do not know how difficult it is to leave a club, especially on the legal and financial fronts. If anyone has any experience in leaving a club, please let me know. Thank you

a couple things to think about.

 

1) once you are in a club, it can be much easier to join other clubs. You may even get a reduced initiation if you are moving to a new club and initially join with it being your second club, then eventually transition it to you primary club. This type of thing is all demand dependent, so won’t be much benefit if the club has a long waitlist. If things normalize, it could be a nice perk. 
 

2) read the bylaws on exiting the clubs. May have something about owing 6 months of dues from when you give notice or something like that. There can also be terms in equity clubs about paying until you are replaced though that is very rare. 
 

3) consider the initiation gone. Even in equity clubs there are usually terms about a replacement member having to come in before you are paid and having to be over a membership floor to get paid. It’s a nice bonus if you get the money back, but don’t count on it.