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Private club or municipal? Why?

Dave Alvarado

Dave Alvarado

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I was researching local private clubs on a whim, and it looks like there are a few in my area that have reasonable initiation and monthly fees. It got me thinking about whether I would want to join a private club.

Are you a private club member? Do you shun private clubs and play public/municipal courses only? Why?
 
I used to always play municipal courses, but I switched 2 years ago and I think I'd have a hard time going back to having a membership at one. The country club definitely is a friendlier place, everyone seems to know each other, players tend to take better care of the course, and its never packed. I could walk on just about any time unless there was a tournament going on that day. There aren't a ton of local courses around here, and the one by my house was always so packed and had slow players that didn't let people play through that it could be a 6-hr round for 18 holes.
 
I'm a member at a municipal course. No, its not as nice as the club down the road, but its also half the price. That did it for me.
 
There are so many golf courses around me, I would feel like I was wasting money playing anywhere other than a private club if I were to join one. Add to that the fact that none of my golf buddies are members, I would have to find a whole new group of people to play with.
 
I joined a private club last year for a few different reasons.

1st being ease of scheduling tee times. The course is less than 10 minutes from my house and if I catch a break in nasty weather, getting on is no problem. If I am working from home, I can easily get a few holes in in the morning, a few more at lunch and then in the afternoon. Basically, I get to play more often.

I also know what I'm going to spend (or pretty close) every month and helps my budget. Basically, I play more so the cost per round is reduced.

They have a pool and rather than put a pool in, my wife is happy using theirs (at least for the time being). I can play in the morning, she can lay by the pool, meet for lunch then I can play another round. She's happy lounging by the pool and no more attitude about how much golf I play. Basically, I play more.

It made sense to me for a lot of reasons.
 
I was a member at a golf club for most of 2013. I loved the course and the price was decent for the condition of the course, but I reluctantly dropped the membership in December 2013 due to me not being able to get out as much as I had hoped. The club was about 30 minutes from work and about 30 minutes from where I live. I would consider joining the course again in the future, though.
 
Muni for me, the costs are just too much at this point. I also have a tough time paying dues for the 5 months you can't use the course.
 
I play municipal because I live in the middle of nowhere and its the only course within 18 miles. The course 18 miles away has sand greens. The next closest course takes me 40 minutes to get to, and I can't justify their annual fee (although it's quite reasonable if I lived closer).

I certainly have no issues with private clubs. My dad was part of one when I was a little kid, and I loved it as a kid. He was part of another, but its overpriced.

~Rock
 
Obviously, this is a question where there is no correct or wrong answers, it is singularly a matter of personal preferences. Until approximately three years ago, I was always a member of a private club. It met my personal and importantly my professional needs. I will say there is something nice about what I will call the Cheers factor--its good to be where everyone knows your name. I would think an importance preference may be one's need or desires regarding venue variety. Given that one will be paying dues to a club, one is most likely to play mostly at that club. For me, having been in the private venue, I like the variety of independence, so to speak. However, I have joined a couple of senior associations that travel to various courses. I find this gives me the Cheers factor as well, plus as a group we tend to get good deals from the courses.
 
i don't have a private course close to me that I would want to join. there are two real close but if im going to go to a private club i want a little more than what they offer. I prefer the option of playing multiple courses in the area and would feel obligated to play the course where I am paying membership fees to, plus i lose about 3-4 months of playability due to weather.
 
Only 2 courses within 30 miles of my house. One private and one muni. I am a member of the muni for strictly monetary reasons.
 
At this stage I would have a hard time joining a club I like to play a variety of courses throughout the year. The few Muni's we have up here are in bad shape and boring to play I prefer to play at semi private courses. I find the semi's have great conditions and reasonable rates during off hours and are better designs and more enjoyable to play.
 
I would prefer to play the same course rather than play a bunch of different ones so a membership works well for me, but there are other variables that come in to play and the biggest is a great practice area, I love to hang at the range so it really depends on your needs and wants.
 
Muni for me. We have a good amount of golf courses around the area, and I enjoy mixing it up each weekend.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I know there's no right answer, I'm just curious about different opinions.

On some further research, it's going to be a tough decision. There are a half dozen ClubCorp clubs around here, and you can buy a membership level that gets you rights to play at all of them. On the other hand, even "cheap" is fairly pricey. I'd need to play at least a half dozen rounds a month to convince myself I'm getting my money's worth.

I'll be pondering.
 
I joined a private club this year for a few reasons, none of which were financially driven (because I already know that joining a private club doesn't make a lot of financial sense for me right now).
1) pace of play
2) ease of getting on
3) practice facility
4) social aspect (way way down the list from the other three reasons).

Although a lot of people talk about variety of golf courses, I still play outside of my club a number of times a month, but now I have a place where I can play regularly, with guys who also play regularly. Or I play alone, quickly.
And reciprocity with other private courses in the area allow me the opportunity to play other private clubs that I would probably never have an opportunity to play. Not to mention national reciprocity, given the members of my club who are also members in other states (e.g.: Oakmont, Sand Hills, etc)
 
I play mostly munis. One reason and the cost, although I have never looked it up. The other reason is variety, I love playing different courses every week.
 
I personally wouldn't be a member of either. I like public courses because I can go play many different ones and not feel that I am wasting money by being a member of a club and not playing only there.
 
I belong to a private club, but the reason is that it provided the best value for my buck and allowed me to play more golf than I have since high school.

One of my mottos is "Do more, spend less.". Fits my club perfectly
 
Well, I am a semi-private club member. My answers are no, no, and no....

Dave Alvarado said:
...Are you a private club member? Do you shun private clubs and play public/municipal courses only? Why?
Click to expand...
 
I'm a member at two public course's. I'm not the country club type. I get on a couple of local private clubs with friends and always love it, but I'd never spend that kind of money nor do I have that kind of money.
 
I play only muni courses. We have a lot of good courses around here and I like to play a variety.
I can't afford a private club and even if I could, I wouldn't want to be limited to one course.
 
I'm a member at a semi-private course, but the range balls are horrible so I hit the range at the course across the street from my work, which has a much better range.
 
I loved being a member of a private club when I was back in the UK. I loved the fact it was owned by the members, I loved I could just turn up and tee off, no worries about having to book tee times or queues on the 1st, the course was in far better condition than the local pay and plays (far less traffic for starters)and I also enjoyed just the general sense of belonging. What I didn't enjoy though was sometimes it could get a bit stuffy, especially with the stupid clubhouse dress code, and if anything major needed doing, like when they built a mahoosive greenkeepers shed, it was the members that had to dip into their pockets and pay for it.
 
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