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Membership Fees and Green fees

Golfocd

Golfocd

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I am preparing an article about membership fees and green fees down here in southern Spain. One thing that has struck me is that despite the financial crisis, no clubs have dropped their membership fees, joining fees, or green fee's. I played a round at a local course last week that cost €59 which is about £70 or $90 we were the only people on the course.


I know of only 1 course here that has done anything about making golf more accessible and they charge €99 a month with 3 months initial payment. They are usually very busy. I know of a major course that has only 60 members paying annual fees.


I would like to get an Idea of what the fees are like in other areas, if they changed over the last couple of years, how easy is it to join, do they make provision for monthly payments.

Thanks
 
It hasn't changed here. I live in MS in the US in a rural area about 1-1/2 hours from New Orleans and any other "metro" area. Closest course is owned by the state at the state park and it's $39/round including a cart. You used to could play the 9 hole par 3 course on Thursdays for free if you were a state resident but that 9 hole course is now closed. They do have a package you can buy for $1250 per year or pay $125 monthly which includes unlimited golf.

The country club here is $150/month and includes golf and a cart (and the rest of the club stuff as well) with no initiation fee and it's been that way a long time and hasn't changed. They are having a drive for more members by offering a free month to try it out. It works for me, for the $150 I can play golf less than 5 minutes from the house, use the pool and restuarant, and use the excercise room which if I paid a gym membership would probably be 50% of what the country club cost alone.

Other courses within about an hour that I can play go from between $15 to $59 per round of golf. Prices haven't changed since the economic downturn for the most part. The next country club about 15 minutes down the road is similar but it's $125/monthly.

There is another club but it's just too much for me as a single person to pay just for golf. It has a family buy in of $8,000, monthly membership of $900, plus a lot of other fees like paying to use your own cart etc...I've played as a guest and it's a nice course but no nicer than the course owned by the state I can play for $39. But it has a lot of other stuff associated with it obviously.

There is a course not far from here that is for sale. I believe it has more to do with the real estate market and bad choices of the developer than lack of people paying to play golf however.

Hope that's the kind of stuff you are looking for.
 
The local club that I am joining is $150/month for unlimited family golf (cart not included but we walk anyways). Current promotion is waving the $1,000 initiation fee assuming you are a member in good standing for 12 months. So if you cancelled after 6 months you would owe the $1,000.


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Green fees in SE MN have dropped about 30-50%. We used to be about $45 for a round with cart, now we were $26 all summer with fall rates at $20 for the rest of the season. Season passes have also become more competitive.
 
Our greens fees here in s. florida haven't dropped from what I see, but initiation fees have substantially. I think they finally realize people aren't going to drop 80k to play golf right now.
 
I belong to a private club owned by the members in an area that has been hard hit by the decline in housing since the economy here is based on carpet manufacturing. We have lost a few members the past several years but our membership level is still pretty good.

To boost membership, the board has ran several special offers including lowered initiation fees and payment plans. Our initiation fees are relatively small, when I joined several years ago it was 10,500 paid at a rate of 1,500 per year. I think it is 9,000 currently. My daughter just joined under one of the special deals for a "Legacy" membership for 2,000.

Monthly rates just went up from $279 to $293, junior rates are half that. That rate is for full membership which includes golf, unlimited practice balls, all practice facilities, tennis, pool, and access to the bar and restaurants. There is a $35 food minimum. Golf practice facilities include two putting greens, a chipping green, practice bunkers, and a three hole wee links course for short game and little kids.

My wife claims I have the lowest cost per round of anyone at the club.:act-up: I average 20 rounds per month or about $15/round.
 
mcook77 said:
The local club that I am joining is $150/month for unlimited family golf (cart not included but we walk anyways). Current promotion is waving the $1,000 initiation fee assuming you are a member in good standing for 12 months. So if you cancelled after 6 months you would owe the $1,000.


Tappin' from my iPad!
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That is awesome I think. Just pay it like a normal monthly bill. Depending on the course here in Indiana but the hioghest I know of would be Trophy Club. Its about 2500 a year. My home course, which is only 9 holes, is around 600 I believe!
 
I pay $215 a month for unlimited golf without a cart. Cart fee is either $13 or $15 depending if you buy 20 or more cart fees at once. This also includes unlimited range use.
 
Memberships are pretty costly in my neck of the woods and haven't gone down at all. I don't belong to any of them due to the cost, but keep an eye on them at the beginning of the season as I'm always tempted. Near me, all the clubs are pay up front. I would be much more likely to join if I could pay monthly fees instead of the 2k+ up front in addition to the initiation fees on top of it.
 
Out here in Central PA the rates are holding steady. I'd say a weekend prime rate is averaging around $40. But the country clubs aren't really budging on prices from what I've seen. We did have one private club go semi-private because of the economy. We will see what happens here once Obama starts taxing the rich more.
 
I live smack dab in the middle of the US and prices seem pretty steady over the last few years. I made a fantastic deal this year by joining one of the cheaper courses, cost was like $650 including unlimited cart rental. The best part came when I found out I could join another course down the road about 25 miles for $100 per year through an affiliation to the first course. This second course is only 9 holes, but very well kept and seldom overloaded.

The cream of the crop course in my home town cost's around $1200 per year with a three year contract and several extra's to pay monthly, use or lose. Thank goodness I didn't jump on that one, they are tearing all the greens out this next year and replacing, accessing all the members.
 
I am on the northeast side of Nashville, TN in Wilson county. My home course/club is offering full memberships beginning at $175/mo single and $200/mo family. This includes unlimited golf (no cart) tennis, swimming, and use of the facilites. No initiation fee, and no other monthly fees. 1 year commitment, and then it switches to month-by-month membership. carts are $14 for 9, and $20 for 18...two players. I bought my own cart and keep it at the club for an adtl. $45/mon with electric hookup.

Green fees are in the $35 range for non-members. At that rate, my wife and I need to play 4 rounds/month to break even on the golf and cart park fees. We do that easily. Most other courses in the area are $40-$50 range with some as high as $75/round w. cart, so membership is a good deal for us and alot less expensive than other hobbies we've had in the past. (boating..gaaaa!)

Other local private clubs in the immediate area have been running quiet membership specials. Usually this amounts to a monthly fee but the initiation is waived. I cant speak for south of town where the big money is. Most public courses around here also run "frequent golfer" specials....sort of like a membership but not really.
 
local country club is 3K for single membership plus extras--very well kept course
local resort courses are $68/cart--twilight(after2;30) 25bucks walking
public 18 hole course with nice layout but needs a better greenskeeper is $40/18 with cart iirc--
2 local 9 hole courses are 13-15bucks plus cart--membership $490(senior) walking
Country Club has dropped initiation fees, lowered bar/food minimums but is struggling in our local economy
Another resort course(links style) is supposedly in the works----
Guess with-in 10-12 miles there are lots of choices(price points) to play--usually not very busy either
 
It sounds like a lot of the clubs in the US have their act together and are providing value..

The Clubs here in spain are just burying their heads in the sand.


Here are some examples:

€2200 including cart or €400 a month if you join Monthly
€895 joining fee plus €1565 No Cart included
€1500 - course is almost uplayable as the greens have... anthrax nose.. what ever that is!

As For green fees i'd struggle to turn up and play any course around here at the moment for under €60-€70 euros (almost $100)


Any Uk members want to comment?
 
I've only lived in VT for a little more than a year, and am not a member of a local club, so I don't have much basis for comparison. I find the greens fees here to be high compared to my prior residences in NC and TX. A few courses have specials now that the season is nearing its end, but the specials are still $40+ to ride on a weekday and these courses are not all that nice. Funny thing is, I've had a lot of time off this summer and most courses are fairly empty during weekdays...seems like they could be offering more/better specials to increase play. Memberships range from $900-$1500/yr for unlimited greens fees (cart not included) at the local courses and it doesn't look like they've gone down from previous years, from what I can gather. The "real" Country Club is significantly more expensive, but I don't recall the exact rates off hand. The CC that was near my house in NC did get rid of their initiation fee about a year and a half ago to try and increase membership to some success.
 
All the private courses around here have dropped their initiation fees except for one, and have dropped their monthly rates a bit. Most of the courses used to be about $12000-$15000 to join and then about $300 per month in dues. Right now, they are all offering membership at about $7000-10000 to join and this can be payed monthly or quarterly. Green fees are still about the same at most of the public courses, running at about $70 to walk, and about $100 to take a cart.
 
Rates here in MD are staying about the same as well. Usually you'll pay any where from $40-50 on weekdays and $55-60 on weekends for a round of golf with a cart. Memberships here are all over the board. If you name a price (besides free) you can most likely find it with a 30 - 40 minute drive.
 
Club I play at is $100 a month for Unlimited golf before 8 am and after 3pm unlimited range balls and a 20% discount on food, beverages and pro shop
 
We don't have private clubs around here. I'm lucky to play in one of the province's best courses and as a bonus they have a intermediate(21-30) membership for 1000$. Regular membership is 1750$, green fees are 75$. The regular courses in the area the prices are around 800 or so for a membership and 40$ for a green fee.
 
A nice club in my area will cost $3-4K per year after the $5-10K initial fee/share.
 
Maybe I shouldn't leave Oklahoma after all, apparently our golf is straight up cheap.

I pay 25-35 on weekdays with a card and 35-40 on weekends. Most of the nice semi-public's I ply are only 1200 or so to join for a year,, nice courses.

I can't afford to think about straight up private for a few more years.
 
60 bucks a month with unlimited golf and use of pool and tennis ( Never used by me). Cart rental fees are 15 a round, but you can store a cart for a small monthly fee.
 
The club about 5 mi from my house is a $1000 initiation for junior members(19-39) with a monthly of $200, plus required $50 dining /mo and $50 dues /mo for a total of $300 a month to play there. They did drop their initiation from $3000 to $1000 for a junior member tho this year but between that, the $300 a month while its a great course I'd love to play regularly I'd never come out ahead in a year versus just playing the public courses at $20-50 for 18 short of playing 100+ rounds in a ~5-6 month window.
 
My home course is semi- private, I pay $75 a month for unlimited golf and range balls, cart is $11 for 18 holes, $5.50 for 9 holes.

Green fees if not a member are $49 which includes cart on weekends, $39 during the week.
 
Fee's at my home course have been the same for ten years now. Membership fee's and green fee's have not changed.
 
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