Where do you play (public vs private)?

[Dokex]

On 9/9/2021 at 10:06 AM, Gavwlee said:

I recently signed up then cancelled my private club membership after 6 months when I realized members didn't care to repair divots, rake bunkers, destroy practice areas, and monopolize tee times (just in case they decided to play)...all to say, not a good experience. And the pace of play was not any better than any public course (5 - 6.5 hours when stuck behind the wrong group, thinking they're playing on tour).

With that rant aside, where do you all play? Public vs Private? Same home course all the time? Rotation of courses in and around your neighborhood? With a club/consistent group of folks?

I think that members at private clubs blame the less than ideal conditions on non-member outing play, instead of taking pride in the upkeep of the course.

[Godawgs]

I play golf at Edmunson Golf Coarse and Harvest Point Golf Coarse, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Both are public golf coarses. We also have Oskaloosa Golf that is also public but I’m not a member there. Great coarses 

[Papa Tango]

Public. Where I play most, great rates for seniors, especially walkers, but great even for 18 with a cart. 

[Gavwlee]

2 minutes ago, Dokex said:

I think that members at private clubs blame the less than ideal conditions on non-member outing play, instead of taking pride in the upkeep of the course.

So true..but in this case, I’ve no doubt that the issue were the members. Lots of the members (definitely not all) were the bad apples that just didn’t care to repair divots, rake bunkers, etc. Maybe they thought their membership dues would take care of all that for them?

[redhillaz]

I mostly play at a private country club.  I can get a round in less than 2 hours if playing by myself, if playing in a foursome normal play is just over 3 hours.  If you play on weekends it can extend to 4 hours which seems like an eternity.  I do play public courses as well just for the variety or when traveling.  Whenever I go public, it is a real wakeup on the pace of play and the course conditions.  I find public courses also have worse green conditions, especially in unrepaired or poorly repaired ball marks.

[Gavwlee]

40 minutes ago, 550025 said:

I'm fortunate to have been a member of various private clubs since 1980. This year our club decided to increase our already hefty dues by another 30%.  I moved over to a nearby semi private club (with 10 other members) and couldn't be happier. We kept most of our Saturday group together and saved a ton of $$$. The savings gave me a chance to take 2 bucket list golf trips and more are planned.  I'll stay semi-private. 

I’ve actually been considering this recently as there is a highly rated semi-private within 20 minutes of where I live, but looks like they have a waitlist, so I might have to visit as a non-member for a while and scope it out more  Glad your situation resulted in an optimal position for you and your group! Where were your bucket list trips?

[Gavwlee]

1 hour ago, funkyjudge said:

The vast majority of public-access and municipal golf courses in my area (Eastern PA and Central/Southern NJ) are well-maintained and provide a good challenge and test of golf, so I primarily play these courses. I occasionally get the opportunity to play private courses, and if they are good courses and the folks I will be playing with are cool, I play these courses maybe 6 to 8x per year.  I will also travel up to 1.5-2 hours to play a great course, but I am fortunate to have plenty of quality public courses within a 20 to 30 minute drive from which I can choose, so I only travel those greater distances to play golf with buddies of mine who live nearer to courses that are further from me.

I also play on a winter golf tour, and the mix of courses that we play on that tour are about 65% private (some very exclusive private courses) and 35% public.  The opportunity to play some of these exclusive private courses is a major motivating factor that prompted me to join this winter tour a few years ago (and the prize money and skins potential doesn’t hurt, as well).

Semper Fi, Brother Marine!

I might have to come up to PA! Lol sounds like you have a ton of quality options up there!

[Albatrass]

I play all three.  Living in The Villages FL.  we have 13 Regulation (18 or 27 hole) courses and 42 executive (9 hole) courses.  We still like to go to courses outside of the Villages too.  Some are semi-private or public.

[MDGolfHacker]

I tend to play whatever courses EA golf and tiger woods golf allows me to play . But seriously I tend to only play public courses, although with a busy family and work schedule the only course I play is the one where I do my nine-hole golf League lately.

 

MDGolfHacker

[Bubbly Pop]

I'm lucky in that the course I belong to in Pittman NJ (Running Deer) owns/operates 7 other (semi-private) courses within a 50 mile radius, and you can play any of them under the same membership.   I still occasionally play 3-4 other area courses that either have interesting layouts, unique green complex's, or both.  However, it's a good deal joining a course that is affiliated with other courses in order to regularly enjoy more variety for the same $'s.   

[Tyler86]

Public cause im not baller enough to pay the 40k initiation fees. Minnesota is fortunate to have golf courses on every block it seems like. Tons of Public courses that are PGA quality. 

[GatorJimbo]

24 minutes ago, Albatrass said:

I play all three.  Living in The Villages FL.  we have 13 Regulation (18 or 27 hole) courses and 42 executive (9 hole) courses.  We still like to go to courses outside of the Villages too.  Some are semi-private or public.

I’m so jealous. I live 90 minutes north of you in Alachua and we have so few courses, let alone quality courses. I enjoy the courses in your area. 
 

I play public courses here in the Gainesville area mainly because there’s nothing else. The university course is always in great shape. The one local private is too expensive and not my type (lots of condos, etc)

[Tom33]

I play the Air Force Academy Courses here in Colorado Springs.  Two great options and both are well maintained and offer a lot of value for the money.

[toehold57]

11 minutes ago, Tom33 said:

I play the Air Force Academy Courses here in Colorado Springs.  Two great options and both are well maintained and offer a lot of value for the money.

I’m hopefully playing one of the Academy courses in a couple of weeks, never played them & looking forward to it.

Public courses for me, my playing partner likes to move around.

[Willie T]

A local semi-private club offered a “special 3-yr membership”, so the missus and I joined.  It is struggling to make the course better.  The benefits are if you walk 9, it’s free. To ride 9 or 18 it’s just the cart fee.  I also play number of other semi-private courses in the area, some in super nice shape.  

[Thegolfdean7]

I guess mine is semi private, we have memberships, and greens fee players. I like it that way, I think it keeps our costs down. People should take care of where they play, no matter what type of course. But sounds like you need a nice course to play at. I like being in a place with members, tournaments, always someone you know to join in with when you just decide to go play on a whim. 

[Jmikecpa]

I am a member of a private club in NY and a member at semi private club in VA. I will say I enjoy the golf in VA a lot more than NY.  Heck of a lot cheaper and the conditions are pretty good for what I pay per month. The course in VA is a lot of fun to play and a lot more challenging off the tips. 

[T McKinnon]

I play the many different courses in the Northern Utah area.  There are nice variety of courses to play.  I love to play the mountain courses, the views are outstanding.  The valley courses are also very nice with nice views of the mountains.  

I find that playing a variety of courses is a lot more fun and satisfying than play just a couple of courses!

[ajdegeno]

I am a little different than most of you.  I belonged to private club while working, now retired, I play mostly clubs that have season passes for members of that course as well as general public courses.  Here in Vegas, I also word one day a week as a marshall at a public course and one day a week at a semi-private--passholder course.  So I am on a golf course 7 days a week.  I have a lot of fun doing it this way and I also receive very good benefits for me and my friends where I work.  I pay $3400 a year for my pass to play at one course 5 days a week and get in at least 3 days of golf a week year around there.  I play the courses I work at once a week for free and my guests get discounted rates...$50 less than local residents pay usually.  So every week I get to play a links style course, a desert style course and a more traditional course with tree lined fairways.

For those who were complaining about pace of play, I worked as a favor to another marshall today and kept the pace at 4:30 all day.  I had a group fall 15 minutes behind before I got there at 7:00 this morning and in 6 holes had them back ahead of pace--they finished in 4:20.  Slowest round of the day was 4:35.  We have more out of town play at this time of year and will through thanksgiving but pace of play will be kept very close to 4:30.  Tomorrow a regular work day for me, I will be off and playing at 6:20 first off.  We will play in less than 4 hours and let everyone try to catch us. 

One last note--today we had 174 players and tomorrow we have 186.  I told the other gentleman that I would check with him before I leave tomorrow to see if he needs help--if so, I will work one 9 and he will work the other 9.

 

[jimbuffalo]

The only private courses I've ever been at were when I was working a PGA, LPGA or USGA tournament as a volunteer. I play muni courses 3 or 4 times a week, play ready golf and by our own agreed upon rules.  I play for the fun and camaraderie with my friends and keep score for that round and trash the score cards at the end of the round. Our average time per round is in the neighborhood of 3 1/2 hours most days.

[CarlH]

2 hours ago, Dokex said:

I think that members at private clubs blame the less than ideal conditions on non-member outing play, instead of taking pride in the upkeep of the course.

Since we (private clubs) have little non-member play, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  I'm sometimes taken aback with the number of divots not repaired, pitch marks on the greens, and traps not raked.  Yes, it's easy to blame the high school kids that we host for practice and play, the few outside tournaments we host, etc...but, in the end, it's our own members who fall into the trap of thinking the greens crew will fix it.

[John Bachman]

I play at a nine hole private club. As much as I play it’s the right price and pretty easy going. I miss the 18 holes, but I play with a really nice group. I’ve also noticed that no matter where I play, public or private, unattended ball marks and divots are pretty much a given. 

[MmmmmmBuddy]

4 hours ago, CarlH said:

Congrats to him!  Winning that is an accomplishment!  I didn't play this year, but I did caddy for one of the players in the Seniors division.

Will do. He was quite happy with the results.

 

Back on topic:

I play all over the section. Both public and Private. Most of my rounds are tournament rounds at this point. When I do get out on my own course (Semi-Private), I am typically working on shots or practicing short game situations or playing with membership.

I suppose that there is a good fit out there for every player. It is really about finding a place that you have an enjoyable experience each time you tee it up. I don't mean shooting a career low each day, but being able to enjoy your time on the links.

[RATOUR7]

I play public courses!!! Just barely able to afford that!!! Golf is getting too pricy !!!

[Kenny B]

On 9/9/2021 at 5:55 PM, CarlH said:

And, we know how cheap those courses are, even using GolfNow or other apps!  

It's a vacation, so WTH!!

[Mikedb26]

Play public courses, but the issue is pitch marks.  Here in mid east coast of Florida, no one seems to know what a divot tool is or how to use them if they actual own one.  Especially when the season gets busy with the snowbird migration.  Lucky for me to have friends that belong to private clubs that we play more than occasionally, and the conditions and pace of play are more than tolerable.  Our weekly rounds, Saturday and Sunday, pace of play is usually under 4 hours, and that's the public course.  Coming from up north, that was a welcome change.  Don't know what the issue is up there, but we would be ecstatic if we finished in 5 hours.  IMHO private is nice, I like to play different courses, but it felt as I HAD to play the private I used to belong to get my money out of it, so it was a one year deal.  Like they say, barring marriage, variety is the spice of life!

 

 

[crodriguez]

Primarily private. The club I am at is member owned and golf is the priority. Divots and ball marks are repaired, as everyone has a vested interest in the quality of the course. There are, of course, some bad apples that do not fix their divots and ball marks, but they are a small minority and it is addressed. Anything more than 4 hours and you are hearing about it. No club is perfect, but the culture matters. I am thankful to be at a club that takes tremendous pride in its culture and pride in the faculty. 
 

I am also in an area with great a quality public golf system and get out to those courses as well. 

[6 Aces]

Living in the High Oregon Desert which is a golfer's playground, I'm surrounded by about 30 public and private courses.  Fortunately, they're split about 2/3 public, 1/3 private.  I play my public home course 80% of the time with an annual membership ($1,870 walking, $2,640 w/cart) the rest of my time paying daily fees among other public courses.  The private courses are just too costly.  Our men's club is good at policing themselves and generally keep it to 4 hours or less.  Again, with all the visitors we get there's no escaping the un-raked bunkers, ball marks, divots, long rounds especially on weekends, etc.  Found the same conditions at the private courses.  Heaven forbid you should say something to anyone....

[Richard Fahrney]

I belong to a semi private course. We have similar issues but attempt to resolve them with a men's, women's and senior's associations to reduce all of the issues you have brought up. I have belonged to 3 other clubs in the past and it comes down to the club management and the members working together every time.

We have different leagues and tournaments that attempt to engage all the members to come play with different members, guests and coed. The leagues and membership associations communicate to the membership about the issues you defined. We help the superintendent with divots by having the senior association meet once a month early in the morning and fill divots. We send out videos on slow play, why repair a divot (we have Bermuda fairways and rough) raking bunkers and how to repair a ball mark. 

Next time you join a club, ask in advance about leagues, associations and does the club have the staff to meet your standards. Some people think because they belong to a country club they think its Augusta National. Good luck. 

[Headhammer]

Public, but thinking about joining one of the semi-private clubs in town.