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The One Thing You'd Like to Change About Golf Where You Live

All the courses near me are all struggling with membership and because of that they don't have the budget to keep up the course as much. It's the story of most courses. So, I'd change the membership cost to tier them by age. The thing is, golfers like myself who are in their early 40's and have kids around 10 to 15, we don't have a lot of extra income to cover the higher cost of membership. So, I'd have a Jr membership for the under 25 range, then tier up to 55....and then back down thru 70
 
Chef23 said:
It is $225 a month including unlimited range balls with a 3 month minimum. I haven't joined it as I am not around a ton during the summer. Is that a decent amount to you? A lot of people think it is a bit pricey.
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I would say that is pricey... :oops: That's pretty much my monthly greens fee budget... I'm ok with that going up because we've had it good around here for a long time.
 
Realistically, we get May, June, July, August to play. If lucky, maybe some April and September time.
More consistent weather for a longer season would be awesome.

A realistic change? Refreshment Shacks with washrooms. Set points on the course, so there is no searching for a beverage cart or washroom. Even if it were just vending machines would be fine. Too often there are no beverage/washroom facilities on course here.
 
DaBuckBoys said:
I would say that is pricey... :oops: That's pretty much my monthly greens fee budget... I'm ok with that going up because we've had it good around here for a long time.
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I do live 20 minutes west of Boston so things are expensive around here.
 
Two things:

- More courses offering reasonable membership programs. With demand high due to COVID what I perceive as price gouging becoming common. I understand supply/demand but increasing membership cost by more than double while cutting back on accessibility and offering less amenities is going too far in my book.
- Course maintenance:
  1. Less water on the courses. Every greenskeeper in North Texas seem to think they have to water the heck out of courses, more than the USGA says is necessary. Makes for courses playing longer than they should, and links-style courses not playing as designed (balls hit short plug or stop dead).
  2. Hole placements that are ridiculous, placed on sever slopes or on the crest of a ridge, because they are placed by someone with little knowledge of the game or due to lack of guidance.
  3. Fairways left so long that even when freshly cut they have an "orange peel" or "dimpled" look to them resulting in "cuppy" lies.
  4. GMs or head pros at public course that were more serious about the game and properly marked the course in regard to hazards and GUR, and created local rules for temporary course conditions.
 
Better practice areas. Only one course out of dozens in my area has an acceptable practice area. Only 3 have driving ranges.
 
Chef23 said:
I am curious what you would pay. I have a practice only facility literally across the street from me. It is mostly mats only but they have a very nice short game area with two practice greens, about 30 yards to hit wedges into it and a number of bunkers. It is $225 a month including unlimited range balls with a 3 month minimum. I haven't joined it as I am not around a ton during the summer. Is that a decent amount to you? A lot of people think it is a bit pricey.
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$225/month and you can't make full swings on grass? f- that. i'd probably pay close to that, but you better give me immaculate grass, high quality practice balls, and a killer short-game area.
 
McLovin said:
$225/month and you can't make full swings on grass? f- that. i'd probably pay close to that, but you better give me immaculate grass, high quality practice balls, and a killer short-game area.
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This place replaces their balls and mats pretty much every year but they are still range balls. Understand the mat issue they get so much traffic there would be no way to have decent grass. The short game area is very good.

There aren't any public options around here you can hit off of good grass.
 
Price during winter. Visitors come to town and us locals get priced out. Summer rolls around and then they are begging for local business.
 
Chef23 said:
This place replaces their balls and mats pretty much every year but they are still range balls. Understand the mat issue they get so much traffic there would be no way to have decent grass. The short game area is very good.

There aren't any public options around here you can hit off of good grass.
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that blows. but i guess being in orlando with a golf course on every corner has spoiled me. still, practice facilities are pretty bad around here. i get that it's not a huge revenue generator, but there has to be a better way.
 
I would like more options regarding club fitting. I'm not including DSG in this. There is one local golf shop that I patronize and am satisfied with but this area doesn't have many options for club fitting.

I wouldn't mind a closer Club Champion.
 
Replant the trees that were lost in the big wind storm we had 4 years ago. Hundreds of trees across a lot of the courses in my area were lost. So far, almost none of them have been replanted.
 
Damn tourist and snowbirds that don't respect the course. Winter time courses are expensive and the greens are dimpled.
 
Carolina Dundee said:
as a former Little Rock resident this is an understatement.
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And the networked membership where if you joined one of about 6 or 7 (real courses, not apt.) you had access to the others, was pretty much eliminated this year with Covid. There's zero need to fill tee times, so I don't think that's coming back anytime soon either. 😕
 
All I can grumble about is this,
Screenshot_20210212-080938_WTForecast.jpg
:mad:
 
The greens at the only course nearby. Many are too severely sloped from back to front, most breaking putts are big sweepers, and the 'grass' is literally non-existent on some in the winter.
 
More indoor options for the winter
 
If it were economically feasible, which it isn't based solely on population, I'd like more courses. I have a pretty good selection within an hour to an hour and a half, but only one inside 25 minutes and its not great.
 
Since a longer season is merely wishful thinking: More indoor facilities.
 
As much as I’d love to have more public courses, I’d settle for a driving range within 20 minutes.
 
April will mark 2 years since my former home course closed its doors ... again. There have been rumors of negotiations with the bank and an out-of-state company to purchase and reopen it. Obviously, the one thing I would change is that it would become operational again.

@DataDude do you have any insight as to why those who live on the property don't take a more active role in what goes on? I could be wrong, but it seems to me a large minority, or maybe even a majority, don't care if the course ever opens back up.


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DFW is great for golf. tons of courses and fairly cheap. only problem is the summer heat/humidity.
 
Hard to find any real complaints about my area. (Virginia Beach)

Fairly mild winters.

Plenty of local tournaments.

5 very decent military courses that I can play for $1200.00 a year unlimited within 15-20 minutes from my house.

Plenty of practice areas.

15 courses overall within a 20 minute drive.
 
I’d like the private course rates where I soon will be living for half the year, Naple FL, to be less expensive. Most of the courses have initiation fees of $50k-$120K and almost all of those are non-equity memberships. Dues are anywhere from $550-$1500 per month. I’ve played a few of the private courses in Naples and they are well conditioned but certainly not nearly as good as the private clubs in Minneapolis that are much less expensive. During the summer months in Minnesota I also have access to 3 amazing resort courses that are less than 3 miles from my house. One of them is ranked #59 on Golf Digest’s top 100 and I can join there with unlimited golf including cart for $3500 per year. None of the private courses in Naples I’ve played come close to being as good as those MN resort courses.

The good news is that Collier County has the most course per capita in the U.S. so I’ll wind up playing once or twice a week at the many public courses that are mostly in that $79-$200 per round during the peak of December-early April. I’ll save most of my golf for the summers where my average cost per round will be about $35 when I join that course near my house.
 
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