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The Cost of Golf

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sixdoubleo

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I was way behind on my financial tracking (I'm a bit of a Quicken freak) and finally got it all caught up today. So of course the first report I ran was Golf expenses, YTD... I was really shocked by Greens Fees. I think a few of those are me paying for the foursome with my credit card and my buddies reimbursing me. But still...yikes! (It's worth it though) By the way, the instruction is all DVD's, books, and training aids (2 tour strikers, smash bag, etc).

So put another way...I went from a 36.4 to a 29.9 handicap this year, which works out to $493 a stroke. ;)


ExpensesYTD.JPG
 
and i thought i had a spreadsheet for everything, guess not LOL :D
 
Holy crap. And I thought I spent a lot on golf haha
 
I spend... much less, lol.
 
I love how organized you are, seriously. If I had the patience to do that, I absolutely would.

It looms like you need to get a range membership! I know most courses and/or ranges offer annual passes, and they should save you some money.

Personally, I work at a golf course, so all the golf and range balls are free. You should consider it if you have time. I know it isn't for everyone, but even if you work only 2 days a week you still get to play and practice for free.
 
Quite interesting and it shows how it quickly it can add up.

I dont want to know what I spend because I would be shocked, surprised, overjoyed, ticked off, encouraged, disappointed and moved to both tears of sadness and joy. Then I would probably need a therapist which ups my costs again. I am better off not knowing for sure.

TapAhoy!
 
I don't even want to know how much I spend on golf each year... lol :act-up:. But I do like the spreedsheet you made... very organized.
 
I would not have the patience and really may not want to know all the money I spend on golf each month. I also think if my SO found out that info I might be in trouble.
 
Not married, eh?
 
If I spent that on golf.......I would be divorced. However, if youcan do it, why not? Good job!
 
That spreadsheet is such a cool idea. Bravo to you for coming up with that idea
 
And that's only YTD? Wow.


I can't help but think spending 175 on lessons wouldve done much more than those items would. Well done.
 
JConn said:
I love how organized you are, seriously. If I had the patience to do that, I absolutely would.

It looms like you need to get a range membership! I know most courses and/or ranges offer annual passes, and they should save you some money.

Personally, I work at a golf course, so all the golf and range balls are free. You should consider it if you have time. I know it isn't for everyone, but even if you work only 2 days a week you still get to play and practice for free.
Click to expand...

Already thinking that! When I first saw the range memberships I laughed at the expense. "I just need to whack a few balls every once in a while". Now that I'm seeing the numbers it's a no-brainer.
 
For those saying "I don't want to know" I'd be willing to bet it's double what you think ;)

And for those thinking this was some painstaking laborious process it isn't at all. I'm just as lazy as the next guy. ;) This is Quicken, not a spreadsheet, and that is just an ad-hoc report asking Quicken "What did I spend YTD on this category?" I do it with Gas, Home Improvement, Groceries...anything I'm trying to track.

Programs like Quicken make it almost effortless to do so with just a few clicks. It downloads your transactions from your bank accounts automatically. Then you simply categorize the transactions with categories you create. The process of categorizing a week's worth of purchases takes MAYBE 5 minutes. This is a Saturday morning ritual for me as I sit down with my coffee.

So for example, if a purchase consists of multiple categories (as golf purchases often do) you just split it out like this. Here's a $134 purchase I made from RockBottomGolf earlier this year.

TransactionExample.JPG



Anyway...I didn't want people to think I was slaving over a ledger with an adding machine and one of those green clear plastic accountant visors tabulating numbers from paper receipts into the middle of the night. Technology has made it easy.

By the way, anybody interested in tracking spending (golf or otherwise) and don't want to buy a full-fledged software package like Quicken, check out Mint.com. It's a really nice online money manager. Its free and has most of the same features as Quicken. (from the makers of quicken)
 
Thainer21 said:
And that's only YTD? Wow.


I can't help but think spending 175 on lessons wouldve done much more than those items would. Well done.
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Possibly, depends on the person and the situation. I had golf lessons last year so they aren't on this particular report. The lessons I took last year didn't really help me much. Maybe it was timing or just those methods didn't resonate with me. The instructor can tell me things all he wants..."hit down on the ball". "You need a forward shaft lean". "Keep your head down" "Release the clubhead", but I'm a very analytical person who needs to understand the why and the how...and understand what it feels like to do those things, why I'm doing them, and perhaps how those things are merely a byproduct of something else. Once I finally get it I find myself thinking back to things he said in the lesson and going "Ahhh...so THAT'S what he meant". But I can't help but feel that as an instructor, he should be able to prescribe a drill or something to help me feel those sensations. Might've just been a bad instructor or just not a good fit for me. Either way, golf is definitely a game of self-discovery and Aha moments.

But in terms of training aids, I've only really bought the two tour strikers, and a smash bag. The rest was Dave Pelz short game and putting book, Mickelson Short Game DVD, etc. Oh I also have a shag-bag which I called "Instruction". Of all of those things I can definitely say without a doubt that my two Tour Strikers (which were $165 for the pair) have benefitted me far more than any other item or lessons. They are a tool that I can use again and again to engrain this feeling of having lag in the swing and they provide instant feedback. Initially I felt I cheated the movement, but after working with them a bit, and also practicing with a ball-forward drill on their site, it all started to click. Now, if I hit 10 balls with a tour striker and then switch back to my normal club, the difference is amazing. The sensation of having that lag in my swing and compressing the ball like that is something an instructor has not been able to get me to feel. It's something I just had to discover on my own. So those two clubs were definitely worth every penny. But my smash bag? That was $28 I didn't need to spend. Just haven't really felt that I've seen much benefit from the smash bag.
 
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I do the same thing on Mint.com, such a helpful site for knowing where your money goes and what areas you need to trim back on. I'm awful with budgeting money though :(

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Tapatalk2
 
SW said:
I do the same thing on Mint.com, such a helpful site for knowing where your money goes and what areas you need to trim back on. I'm awful with budgeting money though :(

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Tapatalk2
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Yeah, in many ways I actually prefer Mint. It's a lot simpler and has Apps for iPhone and Android which is nice. If I wasn't so heavily invested into Quicken (I'm 41 and have been using it since my first checking account at age 17) I would just use Mint. But I have so much data over my lifetime, I'd prefer to just stay with Quicken. I'm hoping at some point they merge the two.

Having the data can be very sobering though, that's for sure.
 
OG and I have been very fortunate cost wise since I worked PT at our local course for about 4 years. Since I've quit and we're moving, we've really been checking out prices of golf and now realize just how fortunate we've been. We worked very hard for retirement so we're going to spend the money and live out our years playing at a nice country club. We're downsizing our home and improving our golf. I love the club we're hoping to join because they have a women's association of 45 ladies and a large organization for the men. There will always be something going on. OG's social security starts just in the nick of time to pay for it all.
 
sixdoubleo said:
Yeah, in many ways I actually prefer Mint. It's a lot simpler and has Apps for iPhone and Android which is nice. If I wasn't so heavily invested into Quicken (I'm 41 and have been using it since my first checking account at age 17) I would just use Mint. But I have so much data over my lifetime, I'd prefer to just stay with Quicken. I'm hoping at some point they merge the two.

Having the data can be very sobering though, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

I'm the same way with Quicken. I've been using it for almost 15 years. I run reports every month for my various expenses and it helps adjust my budget based on what I "REALLY" spend versus what I "THINK" I spend.

I was shocked last year when I ran my reports for golf too. After seeing the amount of money I was spending monthly on greens fees/range balls, etc convinced me going to a private course was worth the money. While at first looking at my monthly statements made me question my reports, not that I have almost a year of expenses to compare to my prior to joining a club expenses, I'm saving almost $1,500 a year with my membership. That's enough money to go on a really great golf trip!

And no, before some smarty-pants says, "not married/no childern huh?". I'm not. I was widowed at 42 and we couldn't have children despite years of trying. So think before you say crap like that. Everyone's life situation is different and you don't know what a person's decisions on marriage or experiences are. Don't know why that earlier comment touched a nerve but it did...
 
MaryC said:
I'm the same way with Quicken. I've been using it for almost 15 years. I run reports every month for my various expenses and it helps adjust my budget based on what I "REALLY" spend versus what I "THINK" I spend.

I was shocked last year when I ran my reports for golf too. After seeing the amount of money I was spending monthly on greens fees/range balls, etc convinced me going to a private course was worth the money. While at first looking at my monthly statements made me question my reports, not that I have almost a year of expenses to compare to my prior to joining a club expenses, I'm saving almost $1,500 a year with my membership. That's enough money to go on a really great golf trip!

And no, before some smarty-pants says, "not married/no childern huh?". I'm not. I was widowed at 42 and we couldn't have children despite years of trying. So think before you say crap like that. Everyone's life situation is different and you don't know what a person's decisions on marriage or experiences are. Don't know why that earlier comment touched a nerve but it did...
Click to expand...

Very good point on the club membership. When I first started seeing the costs I instantly thought "that's for rich people with loads of money". But if you truly look at the numbers, it starts to make sense. The only problem is we have so many courses around me and I really like to play a variety. But there are still things I can do to save more money. For instance, we have a couple different "Players Card" deals here in my area. For $99 you get a card that entitles you to a free round of golf at 7 different courses...and these are nicer courses typically costing $50-75 so the card pays for itself within the first couple uses. I have one of these cards, but need to take advantage more often. Also there are the Groupon deals that pop up as well as some of the GolfNow deals. Sometimes we're wanting to play last minute during prime time and so we pay a premium for that. A little planning ahead and paying attention to deals would save on that. Another is walking vs riding. This alone could save $40-50 a month. I love to walk...in fact I feel I play better when I walk. But my playing partners don't like walking so I'll need to work on changing their minds.

I think that married? comment was really meant tongue in cheek. At least that's how I took it. I think it was GW who said "they hate us for our freedom" ;)
 
sixdoubleo said:
Very good point on the club membership. When I first started seeing the costs I instantly thought "that's for rich people with loads of money". But if you truly look at the numbers, it starts to make sense. The only problem is we have so many courses around me and I really like to play a variety. But there are still things I can do to save more money. For instance, we have a couple different "Players Card" deals here in my area. For $99 you get a card that entitles you to a free round of golf at 7 different courses...and these are nicer courses typically costing $50-75 so the card pays for itself within the first couple uses. I have one of these cards, but need to take advantage more often. Also there are the Groupon deals that pop up as well as some of the GolfNow deals. Sometimes we're wanting to play last minute during prime time and so we pay a premium for that. A little planning ahead and paying attention to deals would save on that. Another is walking vs riding. This alone could save $40-50 a month. I love to walk...in fact I feel I play better when I walk. But my playing partners don't like walking so I'll need to work on changing their minds.

I think that married? comment was really meant tongue in cheek. At least that's how I took it. I think it was GW who said "they hate us for our freedom" ;)
Click to expand...

I was really lucky to join a club affiliated with several other clubs so I get lots of variety (there are 27+ clubs I can choose from to play when I play out of my home club). Plus I have friends who belong to other clubs so I "guest" them at mine and they "guest" me at theirs. Like you, I love to walk. It is the thing I miss the most about having moved from New England where the courses are all walkable (tee boxes adjacent to each green, no billy-goat gruff hills) to the Atlanta area where most the courses are built with long distances between tee boxes and hills from hell. My home course allows walking but my sister club does not because of the type of course/distances.

I assumed the "not married" was tongue in cheek but as I said, it touched a nerve for some reason. Maybe I'm a little sensitive to the whole thing or it is an after-effect of having lost my husband and being a woman. There is so much societal pressure on women if they aren't married/don't have children, especially at my age. You are looked at with that "what is wrong with you" look by people who don't know you/don't know the situation. On the web, there isn't a way to judge the "tongue in cheek", so I think those types of comments should be offered with caution by people who don't know you. And yes, my married and married with kids friends do "hate me for my freedom", especially when they know I'm going away somewhere awesome to golf/hang out and they are stuck going to Disney, again for the 1000th time...
 
Golf is an expensive game.....

Golf is an expensive game.....

It amazes me how much I spend playing golf, if I kept a record of it I could probably put down a deposit on a new flat! Near the start of the year I got fitted and found I should be using regular flex and not stiff which I had being doing in my 712 AP2s, ended up going for a Ping setup in regular which served me well. Over the last 4 weeks my swing changes have come across well and started noticing increased distance but also a ballooning ball flight and not that tight dispersion. Went for a fitting and found my driver swing speed which was 85-90 in Feb has now gone to 105 with my driver! There was also a solid increase in my iron figures. Tried hitting some stiffer shafts and was keeping the ball lower and gaining 5-10 yard a club but more importantly, dispersion was tight. I am now selling all my PING gear cheap and laying down a fair whack on some 712 Titleist CB/MB combos and 910 woods. Think I an empty pocket for the year now! Looking forward to the new clubs though, bought a 910D3 second hand with a RIP shaft on the cheap, no point getting a new one with the 913 round the corner!
 
yeah, I don't even want to see mind total of golf expenses for the year
 
I don't break it down below "Recreation:Golf"....and a lot gets put under "Clothing". I'll need to check my YTD tonight and project where I'll be end of the year.
 
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