ANNUAL DUES

[obedt]

[quote name='QWKDTSN' timestamp='1307332824' post='3287112']
$300 initiation fee, $120 a month for me as a military member.

The new place I'm going to be playing in Puerto Rico is only [b]$650 a year[/b] and I'm sure the conditions will reflect that, but it's right on the cliff - nothing but palm trees and whales breaching in the water below...
[/quote]


That's crazy low... Mind if I ask what the name of the course is?

[Random Hack]

Philadephia area - initiation is ~$15K (was higher before the recession, methinks), dues are $8K, food minimum is another ~$700 ($60/month), carts are $35/round or caddies are $60/round (must take one of the two if playing before 2pm, but can carry your own bag after 2pm).

All in all comes out to around $11-12K for me, which is why I changed my membership to out of state this year (live an hour away and although I've paid full price only played maybe five times a year there - just didn't make financial sense anymore).

Some of you guys get sick deals - hate paying dues and monthly charges to my club when it's snowing for 1/4 of the year - would love a March-November membership somewhere.

[kitsoasis]

What's the deal with the food minimum?! They don't do that here in Australia.

Do you guys feel pressured to have a meal at the club or anything? Or just a lot of scotch after a round :P

[FriedEgg]

$440 per month for unlimited golf and practice facility. Cart fees are $25 per round or $1,500 annual trail fee. Cart fees make me nuts sometimes but no food minimums.

Great course, excellent practice facility and I'm there in 2 minutes from my door.

[larrybud]

I belong to the Oakland University Course. Basic membership is $750/yr. That gets you access to the course. Walking is $30 after 4pm on the weekdays, $40 on the weekends. No minimums, as it's not a country club.

They have a terrible guest policy though. WAAAYYY to expensive. $65 for walkers, $90 for riding, and it's not an easy course to walk. Good for me though, as nobody is out there in the afternoons on the weekdays, so I can get out of work and still play 18 in about 3 hours.

[Random Hack]

[quote name='kitsoasis' timestamp='1307371714' post='3287792']
What's the deal with the food minimum?! They don't do that here in Australia.

Do you guys feel pressured to have a meal at the club or anything? Or just a lot of scotch after a round :P
[/quote]

Unfortunately liquor/alcohol is not considered "food" at my club so the beverages I drink are in addition to the food minimum.

I believe it's supposed to foster a sense of community by seeing other members out at dinner, etc., but really it's just a pain in the arse, IMO.

I think I might've used up my food minimum twice in the past five years.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

I was trying to find an article that had the top private clubs in my area broken down price wise. I couldn't find the exact details but the top 20 clubs averaged around 50,000 to 100,000 to join and 1k per month in dues which usually does not cover cart or food and beverage minimum and that is with most of them having reduced rates with the economy being what it is.

On the plus side if you live in some of the other areas of Phx you can join a pretty good club for a whole lot less right now, a few places have waived initiation and have dues of 300 to 600 plus f&b minimum.

[bub72ck]

If anybody lives in the Myrtle Beach area The Dunes Club has made some big changes to the dues structure. Initiation used to be $19,000 and is now $2,500. For my age group (26-30) the monthly dues are something like $179.00 per month. I considered packing up and moving to MB to take advantage of that deal. LOL

[Mike_C]

This is the first club I've ever joined, it was just over a year ago. Initiation was $6,000, monthly $400 for golf, tennis, pool. Range $200/year. Other extras are $25/month club storage, and $10/month for a locker, I didn't get either. Cart is $14, but I almost always walk, $120/quarter food minimum. This is the full rate, junior rates are much better....

Hard to justify it in the winter when its cold, I didn't play at all in December or January, but I suppose I could have, we just had a cold winter here in NC. But it is nice not having to deal with public courses...

[jshel]

I'm at one of the more economical private clubs in the Minneapolis area:

$400/month for dues and capital improvement fund
$1000/yr minimum

Carts are free.

[dpb5031]

[quote name='YipMaster' timestamp='1307381445' post='3288126']
[quote name='kitsoasis' timestamp='1307371714' post='3287792']
What's the deal with the food minimum?! They don't do that here in Australia.

Do you guys feel pressured to have a meal at the club or anything? Or just a lot of scotch after a round :P
[/quote]

Unfortunately liquor/alcohol is not considered "food" at my club so the beverages I drink are in addition to the food minimum.

I believe it's supposed to foster a sense of community by seeing other members out at dinner, etc., but really it's just a pain in the arse, IMO.

I think I might've used up my food minimum twice in the past five years.
[/quote]

Food minimums are used to keep consistent cash flow coming into the restaurant throughout the year. Remember, they have to staff the place, purchase the food and other commodities and sustain the business year-round. There is some degree of seasonality that applies to most golf clubs, so food minimums help them to deal with that and avoid operating losses. Remember, if you are talking about a private club, they are dealing with a finite (limited) number of potential restaurant customers, yet still are expected to offer full services. The social (community) aspect is secondary, it's really about sustaining the business.

[goose75]

4800 a year in dues and F&B minimum, plus 20 bucks for a cart if you walk. There are other misc. fees, i.e. tournaments, bag storage, locker, etc.

[meroj]

$10,000 up front - $486 month - $80 monthly min. for food.

Most months it's pretty cheap, summer months when the kids spend all day at the pool, ouch.

[deadsolid...shank]

$124/month for my single golf membership. Doesnt' include the pool or tennis courts, but wife doensnt' play and kids are gone, so don't need those. $40/ month food minimum, but that's ok, I have to eat anyway. We also have a $15 monthly assesement that goes into a fund any emergencies or such (broken water pipe in the kitchen this winter) and this year a one time 200 assesment. Those do get somewhat annoying. Then $500 year for private cart storage, but I like having my own there (especially having the cover for when the evitable afternoon storms roll in). That also includes unlimited grass range with two shortgame areas. Very nice condition private course and for the most part we get to play year round (albeit, some of those winter days when we're out there really can't be call golf weather).



Also have a yearly membership at our local public (which logged the second most rounds of any course in the state last year). $500 membership and $475 private cart storage fees.



I feel it's pretty good place to be golfwise, I think I get quite a bit for the money.

[pingB]

full private.. 3k/yr junior membership.. + 250 for full range.. $17 for the cart etc.. with all the playing and beer drinking and dining i'm paying closer to 6k a year.

when I turn 35 I'll only have to pay 1500 extra initially then I think it goes up like 2k a year or thereabouts..

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='QWKDTSN' timestamp='1307332824' post='3287112']
$300 initiation fee, $120 a month for me as a military member.

The new place I'm going to be playing in Puerto Rico is only $650 a year and I'm sure the conditions will reflect that, but it's right on the cliff - nothing but palm trees and whales breaching in the water below...
[/quote]

I was stationed at Roosevelt Roads back in the 70's. Didn't play much golf down there. Beautiful island - great beaches, warm water. Rain forest is cool to visit.

Enjoy!

[Sixcat]

http://www.blueridgegolf.net/

$3,000 stock purchase and $610 per year unlimited, no cart. Club does not have a driving range and is not in the best condition most of time but it's a good place to work on your game and still afford to play as many other courses as I want.

The price allows local kids to play a ton of golf and it shows up in the high school program. The local high school has won 5 state championships since 2004 and 2 of the past 3. Tom McKnight (champions tour player and 1998 US Amateur runner-up) also grew up on this course.

[In2Bate]

$20,000 initiation
$7600/year dues
$1200/year food/beverage

[cardoustie]

Toronto$85k list for initiation but you can wheel and deal for $45k .. payable over 10yrs
Gets me onto 30 other courses up here as well in Ontario but Montreal, Muskoka, Ottawa etc

$7k per yr in dues which also gets me on all Clubcorp tracks in the USA
$1500 f&b min which is what we spend mthly anyways

[tigersrsweet]

$3300 a year for dues.
$26.75 for a cart or $20, $24, $28, $32 for caddie plus tip

The one thing our club does that I like is they have taken away the food and beverage minimums and replaced it with $750 mandatory guest fees. I will have guests out all the time and some pay, I pay for some but it is no problem hitting the $750.

[bigred90gt]

Not a private club, but I have a membership to a semi-private club. It is $800/year, and $15 to play golf (walk or ride, you still pay). They also have a $1600 option, which lowers the price to play to $7 (and gives 20% off pro shop purchases). Range balls are 1/2 price (my warm-up bag before a round cost me $1.50, and for a long range session, it costs me about $6, which only happens a couple of times a month anyway). My line of thinking was, the membership can be paid monthly, at the rate of ~$70/month after tax, and 2 weekend rounds (at $15/round) makes a monthly total of ~$100. Those same 2 rounds at the going rate for public play will cost $98. So basically, after I play 2 rounds on the weekend in any month (which happens usually within the first weekend of the month), every other round only costs me $15. Plus I get 15% off all merchandise through the pro shop, which came in handy when I ordered my MP68. Add to it the fact that it is about 10 minutes from my house, and I was already playing there about 8-12 times a month anyway (at full price), and it saves me a bunch of money. Plus, a buddy of mine was the super for several years, so I already knew everyone that works there. It is a family owned course, and my family has actually known their family for decades, though I do not know them personally through that connection. It is nice though to be on a first name basis with the owners, including playing rounds with them sometimes. They are all great, down to earth people.

I would like to join a nice private club one day, but at this time, I just cant justify the cost. There are also no nice private clubs within 10 minutes of my house, so I would also have to factor in travel time and mileage to the equation. As far as I know, the nearest nice private club is at LEAST a 30 minute drive, so getting in an afternoon round after work would not really be possible. Until we move or win the lottery, it's just not worth it.

[knickerbocker]

I am waiting a few years to join a private club - when I know my family will get the use out of it to justify the cost.

When I do it will be about $7500 initiation/stock with $400 monthly dues and $40 monthly min.

I currently pay $550 for a yearly pass at a local course which is cheap!

[bigred90gt]

I guess one of my other problems is that at $400/month, even though I could justify it because I easily spend far more than that on just various junk, in my wife's eyes, I would be tied to playing that one course all the time, and I just couldnt do that. If she knew I was spending that much money each month to play one course, and was also paying to play other courses, she would flip her lid.

[Pr3cision]

At the local country club, it's approximately $75,000 per year or so.

[TexasAg]

[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1307468483' post='3290210']
At the local country club, it's approximately $75,000 per year or so.
[/quote]

No it's not.

[CowtownTexas]

[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1307468483' post='3290210']
At the local country club, it's approximately $75,000 per year or so.
[/quote]


I doubt if a club in your area has that high of an initiation fee, much less annual costs. Muirfield wasn't that much last I heard and I doubt it's gone up.

There's not a club in the US that costs $75k per year, unless you're counting assessments and even then it would be few and far between.

Edit: Oh, maybe I get it. Is there an Ohio State Football Country Club? I can see where $75k per year could get distributed through that "club".

[Pr3cision]

[quote name='TexasAg' timestamp='1307469291' post='3290242']
[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1307468483' post='3290210']
At the local country club, it's approximately $75,000 per year or so.
[/quote]

No it's not.
[/quote]
Yes; it is. That is for the full membership I believe. That also does not includes drink minimums and food minumums either. It's also rated one of the best in the state. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

http://www.nacc.com/

[TexasAg]

[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1307471073' post='3290325']
[quote name='TexasAg' timestamp='1307469291' post='3290242']
[quote name='Brendon1215' timestamp='1307468483' post='3290210']
At the local country club, it's approximately $75,000 per year or so.
[/quote]

No it's not.
[/quote]
Yes; it is. That is for the full membership I believe. That also does not includes drink minimums and food minumums either. It's also rated one of the best in the state. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

http://www.nacc.com/
[/quote]

You're incorrect. There is no such thing as a country club that costs $75k per year. Well actually, there might be one somewhere, but NACC isn't it.

[tnord]

for a "junior" membership

no initiation
$3600/yr in dues
range included
cart included
full family membership
pool included
fitness included (nice brand new facility)
no clubhouse minimums
$90/yr locker
$90/yr club storage
$40/yr mens club

pretty good deal. there were a LOT of courses built in Kansas City in the last 10 or 15 years, and almost everyone is struggling. you can get some really good deals out there, i think i found one.

[QMany]

[quote name='tnord' timestamp='1307472167' post='3290376']
for a "junior" membership

no initiation
$3600/yr in dues
range included
cart included
full family membership
pool included
fitness included (nice brand new facility)
no clubhouse minimums
$90/yr locker
$90/yr club storage
$40/yr mens club

pretty good deal. there were a LOT of courses built in Kansas City in the last 10 or 15 years, and almost everyone is struggling. you can get some really good deals out there, i think i found one.
[/quote]

I'm from OP. What club is this?