How much does your club cost per month?

[Sluggo42]

Reading the topic about golf being a rich mans sport, I was wondering what your clubs monthly cost is.

the very nice club just down the street wants $500 initiation fee, then $710 per month, plus $118 per month for carts. Then you have to spend $199 per quarter on food, and they’ll charge you if you don’t.

but, they have a pool, gym, tennis facility, fairly nice 18 holes, unlimited free driving range, and a good restaurant. 

They also have a ton of activities all the time like wine tasting, or whatever’s.

Seems a little expensive to me, although it would be reasonable if I played every day, which I could as I’m retired.

my main concern is that I’ll get sick of playing the same track endlessly...

[Alf. S]

Different world here in Scotland, the normal course in Central Belt are about £600 to £700/year, for unlimited Golf, no extras i.e. Carts. Some do put a yearly levy on your membership for food and drink but tis is normally £20-50.

You can also get some good "County Member" deals where if you live outside 50 miles you can get deals around £300 to 400 a year.

Play at your home club during the week Count club at the weekends.

[Kanoito]

My course charges about $2500 per year, all you can play, 27 holes.

No carts, no pool, no tennis, but do have a hotel with sauna.

Range balls, storage for bag, trolleys and restaurant consumption costs extra.

Guests get pull carts free of charge.

It sounds expensive, but we don't have the good deals like in the US for walk-in green fee players. And I only get to play on weekends, so that's a minimum of $70 per green fee times the amount of rounds I play per year... a membership is the cheaper alternative for me. Besides, I have a friend with a corporate membership, so he took me in as an "employee" for a slight discount.

 

[revkev]

I will preface this by saying that my club affords me a clergy membership so I don’t pay what I’m quoting here.

The top clubs in our area are between 450 and 500. Some have buy ins, some don’t. All charge a cart fee per use rather than monthly so you skip it if you walk.

Whether it’s worth it depends on the course and the members and your desire for outside amenities. I enjoy my club but appreciate the times that I get to play elsewhere -


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[Kenny B]

My club is not private.  It doesn't have any amenities; it's just golf.  The practice facilities are not great but adequate.  The "cafe" is barely that.  Sometimes the beverage cart is out on the weekends... sometimes.  

It's a daily fee course, but they also sell a "Players Card" which gets you 50% any rate, any time.  My wife and I have an annual membership.  The single rate is $1800/year; $2200 for couples.  We added the $500/year cart fee, and the club gave us an annual range pass which is $250/year.  So, it's $2500/year for the two of us.  It's time to renew our membership for 2019.  Last year, we got a 10% discount for renewing before December.

EDIT:  I forgot to mention that with the annual membership we get 50% off any rate at our sister course in an adjacent town across the river..  

[tony@CIC]

1 hour ago, Sluggo42 said:

Reading the topic about golf being a rich mans sport, I was wondering what your clubs monthly cost is.

the very nice club just down the street wants $500 initiation fee, then $710 per month, plus $118 per month for carts. Then you have to spend $199 per quarter on food, and they’ll charge you if you don’t.

but, they have a pool, gym, tennis facility, fairly nice 18 holes, unlimited free driving range, and a good restaurant. 

They also have a ton of activities all the time like wine tasting, or whatever’s.

Seems a little expensive to me, although it would be reasonable if I played every day, which I could as I’m retired.

my main concern is that I’ll get sick of playing the same track endlessly...

Actually I didn't think that was bad for southern California. Like your club we have a lot of amenities; pools, tennis courts, pickleball courts, etc. We also have a Marina and the 18 hole course. The course also has 2 practice holes (par 4&5) and a driving range. For my wife and myself: club dues are 300/mo., unlimited golf for the two of us, includes; cart fees, driving range and practice holes is about $4K a year. We're generally able to golf from late March thru November. Obviously food, lessons, etc are all extra. Marina - yeah that's extra as well. 

[fozcycle]

My club is public but has 125 memberships, which for retirees it is $107/month + $160 for full cart plan. As I Ranger 2 mornings a week I get the cart plan waived. We have 4 clubs in the Tampa area that are reciprocal for full members. We also get 10% off in the Pub and Pro shop. They also have a loyalty card that gives yo s discount at all 4 courses.


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[Kor.A.Door]

169 per month, golf only. Cart is 20 per round. Like some have stated, rack rate is 70 so if I play 4 times per month I pay for my memebership. I have already played 5 rounds this month. We also get unlimited play at 3 Sister courses for cart fee only. So 4 full memberships at 1 cost. It’s really the best deal we could have honestly. 

[srooch2]

$30/month unlimited walking and use of the gym which isn't much of one. I got in on a limited time offer it normally runs $45/month. It is also a public course with daily fees. It's a nice layout course and is perfect for my lifestyle. I also have access to another area course which is nicer than this one. I can also play a bunch of other ones in the Midwest if I travel which I don't.

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[SteddyGolf]

I live in Hawaii so the economics of my golf is very skewed. I’m not a member of a Private Club but I am a member of a group of guys that we call a club. We play a different course every Sunday and everyone pays dues in addition to a weekly bet.

Average weekly Green Fee = $65
Monthly dues = $20
Weekly bet = $20

All totaled to play in this club I spend approximately $3,500.00 annually. A small fraction of that is offset based on weekly winnings.


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[Canucklehead]

Reading the topic about golf being a rich mans sport, I was wondering what your clubs monthly cost is.
the very nice club just down the street wants $500 initiation fee, then $710 per month, plus $118 per month for carts. Then you have to spend $199 per quarter on food, and they’ll charge you if you don’t.
but, they have a pool, gym, tennis facility, fairly nice 18 holes, unlimited free driving range, and a good restaurant. 
They also have a ton of activities all the time like wine tasting, or whatever’s.
Seems a little expensive to me, although it would be reasonable if I played every day, which I could as I’m retired.
my main concern is that I’ll get sick of playing the same track endlessly...

If you were to play every day like you said or if you would use the amenities and show up for social gatherings they host it could be worth it. I hear you about getting bored of the course, but I found playing rounds with say only one wood/hybrid, even numbered irons, one wedge and a putter would change things up a bit.

The course I used to be a member at is around 2200/year for 7 days a week with advanced booking (bag storage and carts are extra), a small bucket at the range per day and 15% off in the clubhouse.

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[Jmikecpa]

Too much is always my answer if it was just for golf.  My family uses the club a lot more than I do so I guess that makes it worth it.  I am somewhere between $3k and $4k a month all in during the season and about half that in the shoulder months when I am not playing golf.

[sixcat]

After being approved by the board of directors for stock purchase, my home club membership dues are $610 per year plus cart fee.  Walking is no additional fee above membership and walking is allowed at any time.  It's a no frills facility offering golf and very little else.  It's not for everyone and certainly not for the perspective member looking for a full-service club.  We don't have dining facilities, fitness centers or aquatics centers. 

It's strictly golf and the clubhouse where you can find a card game, chess or checkers at any time.

[Mr. 82]

I have a membership at the city owned public muni which is $60 per month for walking only. You can purchase a full membership that includes carts anytime for $120 a month. And because I paid cash up front for the year, the club gave me the 13th month for free.

In addition to the 18-hole course, the city also owns another 9-hole muni that I can play as well.

There are no frills with this membership. It’s just golf. No pool, no tennis, no restaurant or any of that other stuff you get at a private club. But I don’t care because having the option of two different courses for $60 a month is a great deal for me. Just last week I walked the 9-hole muni 3 days after work and played 36 holes at the 18-hole course on Saturday. I played more golf in one week then what my $60 would have cost me if I paid everytime I played.

I’ve looked into memberships at all of the private clubs in town and they all would cost me at least $500 a month when you factor in the cart fees and food and beverage minimums. One course wants to charge you $20 for cart everytime you play, or you can pay a “trail fee” if you want to walk that is $10. I mean, seriously? What the heck is the membership fee for then?


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[GolfSpy_BNG]

I have 4 courses within a 15 mile radius of my house.  If I adjust that to 30 miles it jumps to 7 courses.  The one I pay a membership to is $257 a year including tax.  I have my own cart so I don't have to pay for that.  I do find that I will get out to one of the other course at least once a month but that is never more than $40 even if the course charges a trail fee.  The other courses around me are anywhere from $300-750 a year for membership but none of the 7 have any amenities other than golf, range, and clubhouse.  I only make $50k a year so I am forced to try to keep it as cheap as possible or my wife may try to pull the plug on golfing every men's night and weekend.

[Peaksy68]

My annual membership is less than twice Sluggo's monthly membership. I pay AUD1500 per year, about US$1100. If playing in a competition, it's AUD8, of which I'd get at least 1/3 back. Unlimited golf, except for occasional days where the course is unavailable. Practice facilities are ok, get discounts on lessons. Cart hire is extra, but I walk anyway. If courses charges people to walk in Australia, there would be rioting!

 

All this on a course that is ranked 68th in Australia, and plays differently most days due to differences in wind strength and direction.

 

https://curlewisgolf.com.au/pages/first

 

[Bosox04]

Semi-private-$200/mo, and I walk almost all the time. We have a new management company, so I expect an increase at the first of the year.

[Sluggo42]

Or I can play this trac for $40 cart incl.

[geez2323]

Or I can play this trac for $40 cart incl.

Wow! Where is that, I might move. That looks like a steal for $40. Very nice


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[Sluggo42]

It’s a muni up in Ojai, California 

Soule Park , it is in fantastic shape considering the drought we’re in. Greens were kind of hard and fast, fairways were really sweet.

only problem is it took a good 45 minutes to get there...

[Angry Yeti]

I did the math and the public courses near me have membership costs that equal roughly 40 - 50 weekend greens fees for 18 holes and a cart. One or two had additional benefits, like a pool or gym, but mostly they're golf and clubhouse bar. As I'm not getting 45 rounds of 18 in anytime soon, I pay greens fees and rotate among a few of them.

Private clubs close enough to play regularly have initiation fees of 15k+ (most expensive quote I was given was 75k and required a sponsor) on top of 500+/month membership fee and a quarterly food minimum. I can't justify that cost. During the recession in the late 2000s a few of them opened to semi public and ran tiered pricing for the 20-39 crowd at much more reasonable rates, like 3-5k initiation and 300-500 a month. Those have long sailed unfortunately. For the quality some of those courses maintain I'd consider it.

I'll be paying greens fees for the foreseeable future.