Country Club - Equity vs. Non-equity

My wife and I are looking into four different clubs in our area and would like to get a good idea of the difference between equity and non-equity clubs. Should either type of club really effect our final decision? We're a young couple and are looking at Junior memberships, so the equity clubs may seem less appealing to us at the moment, but I want to make sure I have all the facts straight.

Non-equity looks like that the owners will do what they believe will maximize profits for the club. Whether it's in the members best interest or not. This can mean hosting multiple outings and tournaments in a given golf season and renting out event space within the clubhouse.

Equity means you own a part of the club and you contribute money each month towards a capital fund. Once you reach a certain age you would be eligible to begin voting and voicing your opinion towards improvements, etc. That seems great if I plan on staying for a long time, which I am unsure of. I would venture a guess to say that equity also means that there are less outings, events and rented time from outsiders. The pro shop is also member owned and I receive large discounts on equipment, yay.

So this is my ignorant assessment based on a couple of my visits and what I've read online. So please feel free and add anything that would sway my decision one way or another.

Been a member at both. Neither have ever seemed a whole lot different to me. The biggest plus with equity for many is that when they leave the club, they can technically "sell" their membership and get their initiation back. Biggest question to ask is policy on that. For instance our club would allow that and sell it for you, but for every 5 regular memberships they would sell one "owned". They will tell you how many are waiting as well. Our club the waiting list to sell was about 100.

My biggest question for all clubs are assessments. Can they do it and what have they been the last 36 months and what do they have planned. The word itself means they can basically assess members anything they want to better the club (generalization). I wont join another club until retirement that has them.

JB said:

Been a member at both. Neither have ever seemed a whole lot different to me. The biggest plus with equity for many is that when they leave the club, they can technically "sell" their membership and get their initiation back. Biggest question to ask is policy on that. For instance our club would allow that and sell it for you, but for every 5 regular memberships they would sell one "owned". They will tell you how many are waiting as well. Our club the waiting list to sell was about 100.

My biggest question for all clubs are assessments. Can they do it and what have they been the last 36 months and what do they have planned. The word itself means they can basically assess members anything they want to better the club (generalization). I wont join another club until retirement that has them.

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That's gold JB thanks!

I know one club specifically said they do assess, while one also mentioned they do not. I will have to followup with the one club that said they do and find out more. It didn't occur to me at the time, probably because I was staring at the golf course, but now it makes perfect sense. This will def. weigh on our decision since neither of us have been members at a club and we're not sure if there's enough long-term benefit.

sleuth said:

That's gold JB thanks!

I know one club specifically said they do assess, while one also mentioned they do not. I will have to followup with the one club that said they do and find out more. It didn't occur to me at the time, probably because I was staring at the golf course, but now it makes perfect sense. This will def. weigh on our decision since neither of us have been members at a club and we're not sure if there's enough long-term benefit.

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To the one that said it didn't, ask them what their increases of dues have been the last 5 years? We looked at one that did not assess, yet had increases each of the last 5 years.

Country Club - Equity vs. Non-equity

To me, it sounds like a big part of the decision would be wether or not you expect to be a member long term and whether or not voting rights and having a say really matters to you or if you just want to show up, golf and then go home.
Me personally, as long as I could get a tee time on the weekends, that would be fine. In not looking to join Bushwood. You may feel differently though.


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I belong to an equity club and don't really see much of a difference between it and non equity. My club still hosts outings, etc., but it never interferes with my use of the club. There's voting privileges, but I'd rather leave decisions on the operation of the course to those that have experience and specialize in that. Personally, I see any type of initiation fee or bond as money you will likely never see again. And if you do, you get back the amount you paid, so are losing money when you consider the period of time that has gone by and inflation. I'm actually considering switching to a non equity club because there is no capital fund or monthly food minimums; it's fully private, but I don't have to worry about assessments and whether the head chef is going to be fired because one of the senior members doesn't like him, etc. And if I want to leave, I can leave without worrying about my bond being tied up or waiting for my membership to finally be sold, if even allowed. If you go on e bay, you can actually find listings for memberships to clubs that guys are trying to sell to get out of, I'm guessing it's a condition of leaving the club to sell your spot and probably some where I wouldn't want to join anyways. I guess what I'm saying is that if you decide to join an equity club and have to post a bond with an initiation fee, I'd make sure it's a club you really like and intend to stay there for a long time.

I would add to really explore the way each club operates. 'Equity' and 'Non-Equity' clubs can still operate differently within each category. A club can be non-equity but still be member owned, meaning the members still control the decision making rather than an owner or a Management team.

I think the answer to this question can vary from club to club, based on such things as the ownership of the non-equity club, the character of the membership of the equity club, the priorities of each type of club, etc.

I was a member of a non-euity club owned by a corporation for 18 years, and I still live on the course. I am often a guest at a club about 10 miles away that is equity and more or less run by the members. My experience has been that the club owned by the corporation was primarily interested in making profits for the corporation (which is fine; it is after all a business), while the equity club is primarily interested in making the club a good golf club and enhancing the member experience. The equity club just has a different feel and approach to things. It is as if the equity club is run by people who love golf, want to enjoy playing it, and want the club to offer the best golf experience possible. The non-equity club feels less personal and less invested in the game for the game's sake.

If I had to join one of these clubs, I'd join the equity club, even though I live on the other course and would have to travel 10 miles to the equity club.

But again, YMMV, and it probably depends quite a bit on the ownership and membership at each club.

I have seen that equity clubs may have slightly lesser facilities but better customer service for its members and that non-equity clubs are the reverse - lesser service to members but better facilities. Also, I have seen that non-equity clubs are more prone to make their course available to non members for tournaments and things. In short, there were tangible downsides to not owning the club and having the owning corporation being motivated to turn a profit.

All other things being equal, I'd join the equity club.

My club last year was privately owned. I liked the set up in that regard I guess. They hadn't raised dues in quite a while and did a ton of work/improvements to the course the two/three years before I joined.

Bad side was I always felt like they'd sell us out at any minute to make a buck.

double-hoo said:

I think the answer to this question can vary from club to club, based on such things as the ownership of the non-equity club, the character of the membership of the equity club, the priorities of each type of club, etc.

I was a member of a non-euity club owned by a corporation for 18 years, and I still live on the course. I am often a guest at a club about 10 miles away that is equity and more or less run by the members. My experience has been that the club owned by the corporation was primarily interested in making profits for the corporation (which is fine; it is after all a business), while the equity club is primarily interested in making the club a good golf club and enhancing the member experience. The equity club just has a different feel and approach to things. It is as if the equity club is run by people who love golf, want to enjoy playing it, and want the club to offer the best golf experience possible. The non-equity club feels less personal and less invested in the game for the game's sake.

If I had to join one of these clubs, I'd join the equity club, even though I live on the other course and would have to travel 10 miles to the equity club.

But again, YMMV, and it probably depends quite a bit on the ownership and membership at each club.

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That is the feeling I got as well, visiting the few clubs out here. We are heavily considering an equity club and it's about 15 miles away, while the close non-equity is only like 4 miles down the road from us. The former was really warm, inviting, laid back, and very leisure. It felt like a home. It wasn't overcrowded, the pool on labor day was pretty much dead as was the golf course. The closer club was more of a resort. They have extremely nice facilities and had tons of visitors/members everywhere. I was actually wondering if they oversold memberships to make more money.

I'm still trying to gather more information from membership, but we're really not sure which way we're leaning. This is a harder decision than I thought.

Well I obtained more information and we made a final decision. We chose an old equity club. The equity is only worth $100 lol. They do not assess the guests, but while it's possible, they assured me they haven't done it in over 30 years and have no plans to. They are debt free and operate improvements based on the capital fund members contribute to. Furthermore, they are now the host of a Champions Tour charity event and will now be receiving an injection of capital every year for hosting. So the director doesn't believe dues will increase for a few years either. Granted the course will be closed for 10 days due to the event, but it's for charity and they did redo the course bunkers with ProAngle sand.

We were tentative at first but we decided to go with a 3year committment to waive the initiation fee. If we decide to leave early we will have to pay the prorated remainder of the fee. Not a bad deal, actually. I want to commit to a club long-term. Great place to socialize and great for the family. We have a second kid coming in February so I couldn't spare losing golf time!

I need to start schmoozing for sponsors now.

SWEET! Great choice!

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