Memberships in your area

[SquirrelyDave]

It's all private or public courses in the Twin Cities, at least I can't think of any semi-private. The city of Minneapolis has 6 muni courses that you can buy an unlimited membership for something like $1800 per year for unlimited golf. There are about 20 private clubs within 25 miles of my house and on the low-end initiation is about $12,000/$450 per month dues. On the higher end, it's about $45-65k and due are around $725. Food minimums are about $100 per month. There are dozen's of excellent quality public courses that are mostly in the $50-$70 range. Way more choices and much better golf courses options than I had living in the Sacramento/San Jose area for 20 years.

So, that $12,000 initiation fee gets you what? It’s essentially an application fee or deposit?

 

[aggiesam1983]

$1500 for 12 months, all the golf, carts, range balls I can stand after 1 PM. Considering I still work the after 1 PM is not a big problem for me. I joined ~July 1 and it has pretty much paid for itself already.


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[arydolphin]

So, that $12,000 initiation fee gets you what? It’s essentially an application fee or deposit?

It depends on the club, but most clubs will just take that money and put it right into their budget and the new member will start paying monthly dues. It's not an application fee. Some clubs will let you spread out the initiation fee over multiple years so you don't have to pay everything up front, and other clubs that are on the hunt for new members will sometimes let you pay a discounted initiation fee so that they can get you into the club.

 

[Syner01]

All kinds. The ranges by me typically are:

1. Super exclusive. Money is not the real object. People at that level all have the money. It is invite only and approved by board.

2. Exclusive. 6-7 figures. Round, food/beverage, grounds fees annual requirement.

3. Business/Corp level. Typically 10-50k initial fee range with 10-15k annual.

4. Small business/personal. No initial. Annual 2-10k.

5. Semi-private. Same as listed here

6. Public. Same as listed here.

 

[JDax]

Sheesh, I guess it's time for me to move.

And there was no initiation fee or Food & Beverage minimum (but it’s just a golf course , not really a country club).


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[Bernoulli]

My area generally has private clubs and municipally owned public courses. Many of the private clubs in my area are facing difficulties in maintaining membership. I was a member of a club for 20 years and I left because paying for college and related expenses became more important to me and my wife than belonging to a club.

About 5 minutes from my house is a former private club that is now semi private. I generally play there a few times a year . As semi private, it offers memberships. If I wasn’t currently paying college tuition and expenses, I would join. And when my daughter is finished with college in 2021 I’ll probably do it.

 

[Space Bandito]

$99/mo seems pretty steep, but I'm glad its a good deal for you. I am a member of two separate "clubs" that offer similar deals - unlimited range balls, discounted pro shop, free or discounted golf in the afternoon (neither are free - one is $15 w/ cart, the other is "free" plus $12 for cart). I pay $35/mo for one, $30/mo for the other.

I dunno. It's $99 for access to 6 courses (though only 2 are 10 minutes from my house, the other 4 range from 40-60 min away) that have greens fees of $55-90 in the afternoon. So you're at $65 for 2 clubs. Do yours have grass ranges? What about member days?

That monthly fee is very much worth it to me

 

[Space Bandito]

Closet private to me is:

Initiation - $165,000
Monthly Dues - $1450
Food/Bev Min - $500

As much as I'd like to join, The initiation is a bit steep. I don't want to feel like the poorest person there. "Umm, Excuse me, Mr. Gretzky, Would you mind buying me a hot meal?

 

[SquirrelyDave]

Closet private to me is:

Initiation - $165,000
Monthly Dues - $1450
Food/Bev Min - $500

As much as I'd like to join, The initiation is a bit steep. I don't want to feel like the poorest person there. "Umm, Excuse me, Mr. Gretzky, Would you mind buying me a hot meal?

Wow. Just wow. I payed less than that for my first house. That’s just insane to me.

 

[M2Giles]

Well Augusta National is about 20 minutes away..
But in all seriousness there is a few exclusive private courses in the area. Iniation fees but with a clubhouse that is an actual clubhouse that is as much of the appeal.

There are some lower priced private clubs as well that constantly are seeking members. However, the blend here into the public courses starts because they let guests play with no member. In my mind they are public since there are no limits on time, but my guess is once the membership rolls fill up they will stop letting the public play.

There are also several private community courses. Only play at these when there is a tournament going on.

There are lots of public courses that offer memberships for reduced fees and practice facilities. I'm a member at one of these and am looking to switch my membership to another public course.

Growing up I was a member at a semi private club where one 18 was reserved for members and the other 18 open to the public and it rotated every few weeks. If maintenance or a special guest was on the course the public 18 was closed. I haven't really seen anything like that here in Augusta.

 

[kevin81002]

Closet private to me is:

Initiation - $165,000
Monthly Dues - $1450
Food/Bev Min - $500

As much as I'd like to join, The initiation is a bit steep. I don't want to feel like the poorest person there. "Umm, Excuse me, Mr. Gretzky, Would you mind buying me a hot meal?

Haha.. Yeah The Riv is no joke!

 

[Space Bandito]

Haha.. Yeah The Riv is no joke!

That's Sherwood. Riv is more expensive. I think $250k. Last I heard Bel Air was $450k

 

[tahoebum]

Closet private to me is:

Initiation - $165,000
Monthly Dues - $1450
Food/Bev Min - $500

As much as I'd like to join, The initiation is a bit steep. I don't want to feel like the poorest person there. "Umm, Excuse me, Mr. Gretzky, Would you mind buying me a hot meal?

Some areas of Cali are insanely expensive. Our crappy house in Los Gatos sold for $1320 per sq.ft. in 2018. My daughter's college apartment in San Diego in San Diego is nothing special and is 4,600 per month split between her and four friends. People will clearly pay for the weather no matter if it's CA or FL.

 

[Parrot]

I have a membership at the university course in town. I think it’s $80/mo for unlimited golf. A cart is $15 per 18.

There are a couple of courses within a half hour that you can get for one membership at $150/mo plus cart, etc.. One of the courses is the best design of the 4 within 30 minutes.

The local country club is $350/mo with a $5K initiation fee. That’s ut the course is nothing special. The design and routing makes think the builder said he was done only to realize he only had 16 holes.

 

[lightningbolt44]

A good number of private courses in Raleigh and surrounding areas (30min away or so) I can think of 13 off the top of my head

In this area
Initiation is usually 10k-50k
Monthly Dues 400-650 or so some include cart some do not
No public play

The course I belong to I have never had a round over 4 hours no matter what time of day I go out, a large number of club events that are not present at semi private courses. Better course conditions and just imo an overall better service experience. That said I don’t do it for the value, we have some outstanding semi private for a decent deal but I find them to be overcrowded and a rat race to get tee times I never felt like I belonged to a club other than unlimited golf when I belonged at a semi private course.



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[campilobaxter]

And there was no initiation fee or Food & Beverage minimum (but it’s just a golf course , not really a country club).


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I mean, all I want is to play golf...

 

[campilobaxter]

I dunno. It's $99 for access to 6 courses (though only 2 are 10 minutes from my house, the other 4 range from 40-60 min away) that have greens fees of $55-90 in the afternoon. So you're at $65 for 2 clubs. Do yours have grass ranges? What about member days?

That monthly fee is very much worth it to me

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest that it was a bad deal, although I can see how it comes off that way. You are obviously in a very different market than I am anyway. I was more commenting on the difference between our markets.

 

[Space Bandito]

Some areas of Cali are insanely expensive. Our crappy house in Los Gatos sold for $1320 per sq.ft. in 2018. My daughter's college apartment in San Diego in San Diego is nothing special and is 4,600 per month split between her and four friends. People will clearly pay for the weather no matter if it's CA or FL.

This is true. Also worth noting that a lot of these 35 year olds are forced to live with roommates in areas like mountain view, simply because that's where the work is. It really sucks

Long gone is the idea of living on 40% of your income. It's not impossible, but if you don't want to commute several hours to work each day, it's not desirable

 

[Space Bandito]

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest that it was a bad deal, although I can see how it comes off that way. You are obviously in a very different market than I am anyway. I was more commenting on the difference between our markets.

I didn't take your comment as hostile. I was just breaking down what I get for the price. No biggie!

 

[Misike]

Beau Rivage here in Wilmington is like $4500 for everything a year. You can pay $2000 a year, but then you have to pay $20 for 18 holes every time.

I think I’d go for the 2k per year option. Unless you golf more than 125 rounds a year, you’d be saving money.