is playing the same course all the time one of the negatives of a membership

rollin

"Just playin golf pally"
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Im not a member of any cc nor public course. I just play my county munis and we have 5 courses. Thankfully they are pretty nice courses but more than thankfully we have 5 of them which I can mix up my rounds at. I find after just a few rounds in a row at any one of them I want to change up the scenery and play another. There is one I play more often than all the others only due to the convenience of it being the one closest to my residence (20 mins drive no traffic) while the others are a bit further. Yet still I enjoy so much better mixing things up and playing all of them when practical enough for me to do so.

The times when I play many in a row at the same course I wouldn't say i get bored but just that a change in scenery is required. One of the things I dont think i would ever appreciate much of when it comes to joining a single CC or whatever the case is the fact that Id be playing the same course all the time. That part would bother me especially after paying the kinds of fees involved at many places. The same routines and same scenery imo does tend to get a tad old at times and I can feel that way now while mixing things up between 5 courses. I couldnt imagine having only one not being something I would need a change from.

Is this something that is at least somewhat a negative when you joined a club? try to be honest here please. I know that spending good money (and some people spend a whole lot) for such a thing can often make us want to justify it by convincing ourselves that it is not bothersome at all. And that may actually be true for many people and they dont find it a negative at all but I also think some people deep down do view that part as a negative even if not able to admit it. I also know people in my area who dont join a club even though they do have the finances to do so just for this reason or at least in part for this reason and also some who use to be members but no longer are for this reason as well. I suppose there are enough people who have alot of disposable income and join a club but still go out and play others anyway just for change of scenery and mixing things up.

I imagine youd also have to wonder how your HC (if you carry one) may be affected by playing different courses vs just always the same course.

I know you can play different tees and say that is one way of playing the same place with a different feel and view. But really its still not the same as changing courses. And if you are doing that just for the sake of changing things up, then perhaps we can say it is a bit of an issue in the first place.

So all that said, Do you feel its a little negative as for joining a club? Was that ever a reason you dont join one or perhaps use to be a member but no longer are one? Does it not bother you in he slightest bit?
 
No. If I was consistent enough to play exactly the same every time I went out, then playing the same course probably would get old. But I have been playing the same course for 95+% of my rounds for 10 years and seem to find new places on various holes every time I play.
 
I have a Club Corp membership.

I'm actually pretty happy with it.

I have a home course, but have nearly identical priveleges at three other local courses as well.

My home course has two 18 hole courses--and one of the others has three 9 hole courses.

So easy access to 99 holes locally is a pretty good deal.

None of these are close to being THE private spots in the region--but they are all well maintained with excellent greens.

I would feel a bit confined just playing one course over and over.

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I've been a member at my course for about 5 years now. I guess an advantage I have is that it's three 9s so depending on the turn it will mix things up a bit. Also, like you said I do rotate through the different tee boxes as well. Lately I've been playing off the reds with my wife and it's been a blast. I'm not trying to drive every green, instead playing the hole using positions on the course for my second shot to force me to use clubs I normally wouldn't.

The other bonus for me is that they store my clubs and I have a locker. I literally can walk up any time I want and get out on the course. Sure it has the feel of pretentiousness, but as you said I do pay good money and with my schedule I can't always plan my outings. Now this does pinch me if I happen to be out with friends and we make a late night decision to play course "X" in the morning, I've been rushed to grab my clubs then haul ass across town to where we're playing.

Another plus for me is the discounts when ordering clothes or gear. They have full fitting set ups with most of the major brands and shaft options, so as long as I can get them a little heads up, we can get on the range with trackman and compare current vs new.

But I would say in the end, for us the tipping point of being members it's the staff and other members. We've become good friends with quite a few of them, friendships that extend past golf.
 
Not at all. I love playing my two courses that I belong two for nearly all my local rounds - one private and one public. I was always concerned about the same thing but I don't get bored with them despite playing each hundreds of times. Both are challenging for different reasons. The public course is very much a bomb and gauge links style course while the private course is tight with lots of old growth trees and slick, small greens with good bunkering. My game and handicap carries well pretty much everywhere.

Honestly after joining a private club, playing public courses (even the public course I have a pass at) becomes less fun mainly because of the large crowds. 20 4-balls is a busy day at my private club so its always a quick round. Plus the golfers are excellent - we have probably the best 3 amateur golfers there in the area. That's opposed to my public course where 100 rounds is a slow day and 350 rounds is a full schedule. The grind of slow play when it fills up is painful.

Another advantage of membership is that I get reciprocals on so many awesome courses and when I travel either the pro or the GM who I know very well can make a phone call and get me onto some very exclusive private clubs.

The best benefit IMHO is that I can go out and if I am not feeling it and only want to play 3 holes, then it's no issue.

I honestly cannot imagine not having a membership.
 
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The other bonus for me is that they store my clubs and I have a locker.

Another plus for me is the discounts when ordering clothes or gear. They have full fitting set ups with most of the major brands and shaft options, so as long as I can get them a little heads up, we can get on the range with trackman and compare current vs new.

But I would say in the end, for us the tipping point of being members it's the staff and other members. We've become good friends with quite a few of them, friendships that extend past golf.
All 3 are definitely in the top 5 for reasons to join that I completely forgot about. I LOVE having lockers all over as i hate changing shoes in the parking lot and cannot stand going home a sweaty mess. Also, there is a reason why all my clothes have club logos on them - my $90 - $100 RLX golf shirts cost me about $75-$80 at the pro shop. The staff too is amazing. Everyone treats you like a king and it's awesome to play a 4ball with the staff. In fact, there are 3 of the grounds crew that I play with regularly and 3 of the pro shop that play with regularly too. Lots of fun.
 
it can be if you dont mix things up again with club selection off of the tee and the sets of tees you use. You can get creative enough to make the holes different for you
 
I find for me that I still play enough golf abroad that I never get sick of my home track. It helps that my course is my personal favorite local course and has better conditions, service, and pace of play than almost every other course.

I think I'd flip this on its head - the more I play at my course, the more I despise playing at local public courses. Questionable rates, substandard conditions, packed courses with no marshalls.
 
I completely understand the thought that playing the same course could be a negative of a membership, but I don't feel that way, and the positives far outweigh any negatives to me

For me, the fact that I can play as often as I want without having to think that I have paid for 18 but only play 9 because the weather decided to change makes it more enjoyable whenever I am on the course. I can head up after work during the summer and play as many holes as I want, so I definitely feel like a membership is worth it to me

Looking at it from a cost perspective, my annual fees equate to roughly 20-25 rounds at a visitors rate depending on whether I play weekdays or weekends, so I definitely get value for money there

If I was to rotate my play around various different courses in my area, there is absolutely no way I could afford to play as much as I have done this year as the fees for some courses are almost as much as the equivalent of a monthly payment of my membership fees
 
I think I'd flip this on its head - the more I play at my course, the more I despise playing at local public courses. Questionable rates, substandard conditions, packed courses with no marshalls.
Truth there - At my private course, they will jump your ass if you start slowing the pace of play up. We don't have many rounds but occasionally there will be a group out there that are guests of a member that start to play slow and hold another group up. As soon as the pro shop finds out, one is out on a cart moving them along - member or no member.
 
I don't see it as a negative.
I can play when and as much as I'd like. I have a regular group of guys that I play with and I live on #1 fairway.
It also helps that it's not an easy course by any means and when I do travel, I typically play better simply because I had to get better.
 
Truth there - At my private course, they will jump your ass if you start slowing the pace of play up. We don't have many rounds but occasionally there will be a group out there that are guests of a member that start to play slow and hold another group up. As soon as the pro shop finds out, one is out on a cart moving them along - member or no member.
The way the holes are set up at my course they will force really slow groups to skip #10 and #11 and go straight to 12. They rarely have to, but they are willing if need be. As a fellow golfer that's good enough for me.
 
One of my life goals is joining a club... I'm tired, tired, tired of 5 hour rounds and the pathetically slow pace of my local public tracks.

I tend to practice at the same course weekly, a local 9 hole crap muni. I switch things up by playing different tees, driver from tips, irons only from the ladies. Mixes things up.
 
Funny you should ask that question as I was thinking about that very thing yesterday. The short answer is yes. I do get "bored" playing not only the same course, but pretty much hitting same shots/clubs over, and over, and over again. For example, in the past four years I have played close to 600 rounds on my home course. This year, I have played only five other golf courses. Before we even teed off I could tell you what club I would be hitting off the tee, and what club I would be hitting on my approaches and be correct a lot more often than not.

There is a big however here. My club is very inexpensive. For $200 a month, I get unlimited golf, a large grass driving range, a grass pitching range (up to 100 yards), two practice greens, a bunker complex, a 9 hole short course (average hole is about 70 yards), a gym membership, and no food or drink minimum. In addition, there are heated bays so I can hit balls in the winter, and two golf sims that cost $20 an hour, so if there are 4 of you that is $5 a person.

I was wondering what I could do to spice thing up a bit. I have played every combination of tees we have over and over again. I am thinking of starting to play the forward tees once in a while (they now have a men's rating so I could post a score). I would be like playing a completely different course, and I could use the change.

In any case, at the price I pay it would be foolish for me to go anywhere else. But yes, that is draw back

ps: since the course is littered with hazards, you will never have to purchase another golf ball again. So there is that too.
 
Doesn't bother me at all, I do play different tees depending on who am playing with. We have 4 tees available to we can always mix it up. Mine is a 9 hole so we generally play mixed tess anyway, white on front and blue on back. If playing with the older guys I play with, we go gold/white.
 
Was once a big concern of mine. For 25.5 years of my golfing life, I was a golf Bedouin. Very content to play anywhere, although I so hated the old calls to proshops to check for tee times.

The advent of Golfnow was a revelation, now I could book anywhere, instantly, and with Hot Deals, not only save money but pay in full on my phone.

It was great... until I found myself over 1.5 years time looking to book one particular place first. Then I found myself not booking anything else if I couldn't get that course.

Combination of convenience (5 miles) and preference, I joined the local semi-private club. Through well over 100 rounds now, I've never once been bored nor regretted my decision.

Key for me is that I find my course to be very challenging, even after so many rounds. There's other area courses, really good tracks, but with much easier holes that really only call for one way to play them, that would wear on me. But at my place, whether I vary tees or just the happenstance of different approach angles, a new strategy maybe invited.

I'm still only 1.5 years into my membership and 6 months were lost to a back injury, so still very new. But I'm teeing off in an hour from now and I'm just as excited to play there today as I was the very first time I booked it long before ever joining.
 
This is what is referred to as "a travelling handicap." Some have no issue taking their golf from one course to another no matter the style while others can really struggle with it. A few years ago, I did not have a travelling handicap because I played a super easy course all the time. Now, I feel like I can play to about my handicap anywhere I play because I've gotten out more and seen more.
 
I am not a member of any course, but other than cost, having to play the same course over and over would be the main negative for me of joining a club.
Just my opinion of course.
 
Been a member of my course for 18 months. And by changing up tee boxes and only using a 3I or 3W on the tee I get more than enough variety. It also helps that my course is fairly hard and that is a challenge in of itself.
 
This is what is referred to as "a travelling handicap." Some have no issue taking their golf from one course to another no matter the style while others can really struggle with it. A few years ago, I did not have a travelling handicap because I played a super easy course all the time. Now, I feel like I can play to about my handicap anywhere I play because I've gotten out more and seen more.

I don't maintain a handicap (for a ton of reasons that shouldn't derail this thread), but I find that I score/play better away from my home course. Admittedly my home course people claim to be much more demanding than other courses in the area.
 
When it is 36 degrees and I am the only one on the course I love to mix it up and make new holes, tee off on one box but then play to a fairway of a different hole.

I don't mind playing the same course tons. I love golf. Now you can easily make a case for playing the same course will probably hurt your game when you play totally different style course but it is what it is.
 
My home track has 27 holes, and if I play different tee boxes some of the holes play completely different.

That said, I'm also in a weekly 9 hole league at another nearby course. I also play roughly 1 weekend round a month at another course near our cabin.

Add to that a couple of golf trips a year, and there's plenty of variety for me.

I really enjoy the process of really getting to know a course. Little things like knowing what a putt is going to do before you even get up to the green, or knowing where to miss on a given pin without even really thinking about it are really invaluable.

For me having a membership also makes it easier to justify going out to play a quick nine in the evenings (and only getting in 5 holes), or going out when the weather is iffy. It's also a great excuse to play a round with only 3 or 4 clubs, or one where you drop a handful of balls from various spots (when the course is empty).
 
For me having a membership also makes it easier to justify going out to play a quick nine in the evenings (and only getting in 5 holes), or going out when the weather is iffy. It's also a great excuse to play a round with only 3 or 4 clubs, or one where you drop a handful of balls from various spots (when the course is empty).

This!! ^^^^

Although there is the whole "practice on the range, play on the course" mentality, if the course is wide open, use it to your advantage. Get the reps in on distance, angles, wind, weather, lie as much as you can without worrying that you spent $$$ on that round as a non-member.
 
What Blake said...I can go grab a cart at 6PM in the summer and usually squeeze in 9...or just take my son out to a hole and throw down balls in the fairway and practice different shots. I like getting to know people and frankly, the way I've been driving the ball, I get to see a lot of the course. Over the 7 months I've been a member, I've really enjoyed seeing different pin placements and learning different parts of the greens. It has really helped my course management when I go play other places. I've shot high 70's from the tips, I've shot 92 from the blues. I don't regret joining at all...and I'm a ClubCorp member which means I have 30 clubs within an hour drive that I have reciprocal privileges at.
 
This is my first year of joining a private club and the advantages far outweigh the negatives.The private club's course is always pristine and the staff treats you like family. I am also a member of a couple local muni's that I still play with friends that I have made from those courses.

After a lesson with our Pro, I'll grab a cart and go play a few holes to help translate the lesson to real world. You cannot do that at a public course.
 
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