Did you get your membership money's worth?

[edingc]

My season is not quite over (and down south you can play all winter), but for the first time ever I tracked both rounds and number of range buckets trying to figure out an average cost to my golf.

I have a playing membership at one course and a range membership at another. My playing membership this season was $725 for unlimited walking rounds, while my range membership was $440 for $32/day in range balls.

My playing totals (not quite finished with my year yet):

• 26 weekday walking 18s - $24/each = $624 rack rate
• 1 weekday riding 18 (+$10 additional cart fee) = $32 rack rate
• 11 weekend walking 18s - $28/each = $308 rack rate
• 1 weekend riding 9 (+$5 additional cart fee) = $27 rack rate
• 37 weekday walking 9s - $16/each = $592 rack rate
• 26 weekend walking 9s - $18/each = $468 rack rate

Total Rack Rate: $2,051
Membership + Cart Fees: $740

My range totals (hoping for another month on and off):

• 77 large buckets - $16/each = $1,232 rack rate
• 28 medium buckets - $8/each =$224 rack rate
• 20 small buckets - $4/each =$80 rack rate

Total Rack Rate: $1,536
Membership: $440

So, overall, my memberships worked out well in my favor, giving me $3,587 rack rate worth of golf for $1,180. I should note that throughout the year I only paid to play two other courses away from my membership and also got two range buckets at another range before I filled in on a few leagues.

How does this stack up with everyone else?

[GolfSpy_APH]

I don't have the same breakdown you have, but can assure you I have gotten my moneys worth without question!

The membership is 1800 CHF and the membership card is 300 CHF. The card allows some cheaper rates at other member courses and my membership is weekday only. No worries for me as weekends are for family and work more often then not. Range balls aren't free, but are offered at a 1 CHF cheaper rate per 20 balls. 

Rounds at the course are 100 CHF weekdays 90 CHF with the card only and as I don't play weekends they don't really matter... but they are more expensive. 

Bottom line I needed to play 21 rounds to make my money back and I do believe I did that in April. I kinda rushed through and played a lot to make sure I got the rounds in and with the baby being born in June I wanted to make sure I got as many rounds as possible prior to then. I honestly don't know how many rounds I have played, I don't use Arccos anymore and I haven't kept track as there have been rounds I have stopped after 9 or 15 due to weather or time. However I am close to 50 or there abouts on the season as I usually get at worst 8-10 in per month. The season also goes right till December so I hope to get another 30 in before then meaning if I get to the 80 mark on the year I am down to 27 ish CHF per round which is freaking amazing!

I definitely did this season and hope to next year as well!

[xOldBenKenobiX]

1 hour ago, edingc said:

My season is not quite over (and down south you can play all winter), but for the first time ever I tracked both rounds and number of range buckets trying to figure out an average cost to my golf.

I have a playing membership at one course and a range membership at another. My playing membership this season was $725 for unlimited walking rounds, while my range membership was $440 for $32/day in range balls.

My playing totals (not quite finished with my year yet):

• 26 weekday walking 18s - $24/each = $624 rack rate
• 1 weekday riding 18 (+$10 additional cart fee) = $32 rack rate
• 11 weekend walking 18s - $28/each = $308 rack rate
• 1 weekend riding 9 (+$5 additional cart fee) = $27 rack rate
• 37 weekday walking 9s - $16/each = $592 rack rate
• 26 weekend walking 9s - $18/each = $468 rack rate

Total Rack Rate: $2,051
Membership + Cart Fees: $740

My range totals (hoping for another month on and off):

• 77 large buckets - $16/each = $1,232 rack rate
• 28 medium buckets - $8/each =$224 rack rate
• 20 small buckets - $4/each =$80 rack rate

Total Rack Rate: $1,536
Membership: $440

So, overall, my memberships worked out well in my favor, giving me $3,587 rack rate worth of golf for $1,180. I should note that throughout the year I only paid to play two other courses away from my membership and also got two range buckets at another range before I filled in on a few leagues.

How does this stack up with everyone else?

Oh wow that's is an awesome breakdown of your year and costs, that makes a good case for a membership.

[Josh Parker]

This is an interesting topic as I have been looking at the memberships around me trying to determine if I want to join or if I would play enough to justify prices. The 2 courses that are super close are on the cheaper side for the area at around $2800-3200 a year with a cart. (Walking the courses is out of the question with the hills) 

One is a 9 hole course in great shape and about 10 min away.  It runs about $45 a round.  It gets backed up on weekends and is a short course even from the back tees. The other one is less than 5 min away and is the one I currently have the driving range pass at. (Well worth the $50/mth - $300/yr)  This course runs about the same price but is a full 18.  The issue with this course is the greens and condition of the course is terrible right now. They are waiting on November for a vote for a bond in order to redo the greens and irrigation.  There are about 4 greens currently that you can actually putt on and the others are it's a 2 putt max in my book.  

I would need to play around 70 plus rounds to break even and currently think that is achievable but you never know what pops up. 

The positives are I could go play a quick 9 anytime I wanted and it's conveniently close to the house. (Self-employed)

The negatives are condition and pace of play. If the one closest to the house doesn't get the bonds it's going to most likely go under. 

I have been playing twice a week for the last month or so but have met a few folks that work there and have been getting my rounds thru golfnow at around $20. 

Decisions decisions....

[JerryB]

I bought the weekday pass (M-TH) at my local course for $378.  We put in more than 60 nine hole rounds this year which are usually $16, so roughly $1000.  I'm actually happy to have calculated this as I'd been thinking about going with the unlimited pass next year at $740.  Now it looks like it'll be a no-brainer to pull the trigger!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

I should have tracked mine but didn’t. I am going to be very close to breaking even but may not quite get there. With a 6 and 3 year old and busy weekends, hard to get regular 18s in (also don’t blame my wife for not wanting to be saddled EVERY weekend for 4 hours with the kids alone on top of Tuesday night leagues). My membership dues include my fee for league plus three member events, which the fee for the member/guest I played in was $275. So just between league and the tournament, that accounted for $725 of the $2,000 fee. 18 and a cart runs $89, 9 and cart $49. I’ve played only a handful of 18 hole rounds but more to come, and have played a lot of 9 hole rounds with my oldest. Even if I don’t break even this year, the convenience of being able to jump on with living on the course is worth it. Also includes unlimited range and I have been going twice a week and hitting 2 bags of balls at a time which would run me $16 a time. 

[gingerbeast87]

I have to do 120 hours of marshall duties across the year, and £50 for the society at the driving range. Since I got approved for my membership I have played about ten times. Definitely getting my worth from it and happy to exchange sweat for play time

[Kanoito]

I used to have a $1800 membership, 27 hole championship golf course, all you can play (no carts), 7 days a week. Handicap-relevant rounds cost $10 each. They are part of a group with other 7-8 courses in the vicinity and you can play those for 50% the green free during weekdays.
It was worth it when I was willing to wake up at 5am to play quick 18 holes and be home by 10am to spend the day with the kids... but I've gotten lazier and also prefer to be home for the kids, make them breakfast, watch Saturday cartoon together, etc...

So I quit my membership and got a green fee membership for about $600, 10 green fees included and they'll manage my handicap. So I split those 10 green fees into 20 x 9 holes and get to play with the kids when they want to.

Right now, I don't play enough to justify a membership.

[MattF]

Mine was easy. My 2 year unlimited golf membership was $400. $48 per round on the weekends and it takes 8.5 rounds to pay for itself. I've been playing for "free" for the last couple of months and will play every round at my home course next year for "free".

[DiscipleofPenick]

I have the same membership as @MattF though I'm a little behind him. I've played enough that this year I've got my money worth. I need 2-3 more rounds this season and that will make all of 2024 gravy as well.

[revkev]

This has been an interesting and difficult read for me.  Clearly the cost of golf is much different where I live than it is elsewhere in the world.  Many of the season long rates sighted here are between monthly to quarterly at the private clubs in my area.  All of them are above $500 a month and to the best of my knowledge mine is the only one in the county without a significant 5K plus buy in. 

 

We do have two nice "semi private" clubs in our area that run about half that amount.  Each feature solid golf courses that have hosted either PGA tour silly season or a regular LPGA tour event.  Each also feature rounds over 5 hours year round - I almost pulled the trigger on one last year and said, "No thanks."  

 

The difficult part of this assessment for me is that my membership is not solely about the golf.  We (particularly my wife and daughter) use the amenities at the club frequently 2-3 times a month.  I've been able to move two or three large events from my congregation or for my family there a year at a large savings.  The food/beverage prices are much less than a comparable restaurant and there is a pool that is often private when my wife uses it.  It's hard to quantify.

 

In regards to golf I'm figuring that I'm at about 80 usd a round.  That's about what the going rate is for a course like mine - Fazio, often in tip top shape, under 4 hour round, two ranges, 3 practice greens, practice traps - very nice facility.  

 

Gol fhas boomed in Florida since COVID.  We've gone from closing courses to building new ones and the private ones have full memberships, raised their buy ins, upgrading their courses and facilities and of course raising their monthly dues.  The public courses have all raised their rates significantly.  The muni that my league plays on goes for $45 in the summer and $65 in season - it's tee sheet is always packed.  That would be the cheapest golf around.  I will say that it is always in incredible shape.  But it's also going to be an all day affair if you play there - even off season.  

[KC Golf]

18 minutes ago, revkev said:

This has been an interesting and difficult read for me.  Clearly the cost of golf is much different where I live than it is elsewhere in the world.  Many of the season long rates sighted here are between monthly to quarterly at the private clubs in my area.  All of them are above $500 a month and to the best of my knowledge mine is the only one in the county without a significant 5K plus buy in. 

 

We do have two nice "semi private" clubs in our area that run about half that amount.  Each feature solid golf courses that have hosted either PGA tour silly season or a regular LPGA tour event.  Each also feature rounds over 5 hours year round - I almost pulled the trigger on one last year and said, "No thanks."  

 

The difficult part of this assessment for me is that my membership is not solely about the golf.  We (particularly my wife and daughter) use the amenities at the club frequently 2-3 times a month.  I've been able to move two or three large events from my congregation or for my family there a year at a large savings.  The food/beverage prices are much less than a comparable restaurant and there is a pool that is often private when my wife uses it.  It's hard to quantify.

 

In regards to golf I'm figuring that I'm at about 80 usd a round.  That's about what the going rate is for a course like mine - Fazio, often in tip top shape, under 4 hour round, two ranges, 3 practice greens, practice traps - very nice facility.  

 

Gol fhas boomed in Florida since COVID.  We've gone from closing courses to building new ones and the private ones have full memberships, raised their buy ins, upgrading their courses and facilities and of course raising their monthly dues.  The public courses have all raised their rates significantly.  The muni that my league plays on goes for $45 in the summer and $65 in season - it's tee sheet is always packed.  That would be the cheapest golf around.  I will say that it is always in incredible shape.  But it's also going to be an all day affair if you play there - even off season.  

I don’t think I have gotten there, but it’s been a fun Summer so it was worth it.  

I played other courses more this year, so that obviously doesn’t count towards getting your moneys worth per se, but the weather has been great, so I am still pretty happy about that.  

Also I did get to play inter clubs and club tournaments, so that was a bonus.  The great lessons I got paid dividends too.

The dollar per round metric would not be that favourable.  I prefer not to calculate that one!

[edingc]

2 hours ago, revkev said:

Clearly the cost of golf is much different where I live than it is elsewhere in the world. 

We've not been immune to the COVID bump as well. It's getting exceedingly difficult to find "affordable" places to golf in Michigan. I have a very advantageous situation (no kids, more than average vacation time, flexible course ownership and proximity to course/range) that allows me to maximize my time on the course. Even then, yes, these rates have more than doubled since before COVID. In 2019 I paid $175 for basically the same range membership and less than $500 for the golf membership. A lot of our affordable courses have called it quits and are being replaced by housing developments, which is making tee times tough to come by as well.

If you start looking at clubs with membership value beyond golf, you're looking at $5k+ for a year membership for the accessible ones. The truly private "country clubs" are $10k-$15k with some crazy initiation fees as well.

[ParFore74x]

Cool topic @edingc

So my membership includes 3 munis with unlimited walking rounds for $900/year. The three courses are all well cared for and have three completely different styles which provides plenty of challenges to keep the golf game fresh. 

Rates are $25 for an 18 hole round and $18 for a 9 hole round. A cart would add an additional $16 per 18 holes and is not included with the annual membership. I generally walk so this doesn’t come into play for me. I am usually able to play at least through October and sometimes into November or maybe December depending on if the snow falls so these numbers will increase. 

So far in 2023 I have played:

11 walking 9s x $18 = $162

39 walking 18s x $25 = $975

Total as of 9/12/23 = $1137

So I would definitely say that I’ve gotten my money’s worth so far and fully intend to add to it. The goal is for 50 rounds of 18 holes before putting the clubs away for winter.

Truth be told, having the membership has several benefits for me. First off, I feel that I almost need to go play golf to make sure that I get enough rounds in to justify the cost of the membership. It doesn’t take a lot of convincing for me to go play so that comes easy. Second, if something comes up while I’m playing and I need to leave, I do not feel like I wasted time or money playing however many holes that I did that day. Lastly, having three courses to choose from helps keep the rounds fresh which in turn makes it easy to play the minimum number of rounds to break even for the season.

 

[cksurfdude]

Fun topic but also a bit different and depressing for me, vs apparently so many other parts of the country and the rest of the world.

I live on the north shore of Long Island - not too far from NY City - where everything has always been more expensive and life has gotten a little more crowded and a little more crazy each year.

I didn't think I'd join a private club while we lived here - i.e. $$$$$ - but starting a few years back .. even before the COVID craze .. as my wife and I were getting more and more into golf we found ourselves driving further and further from home to places where we could get a tee time. 

So I looked around my area and last year we took the plunge at a private club, about 15-20 minutes from our house. But now if I had to really try to calculate the per round cost it would be pretty sad.....

OTOH there are many perks included in the membership such as, of course, unlimited range balls, two putting greens that you can chip (not lob) onto, bag storage, locker, pool, tennis and pickleball, a pretty well equipped fitness room, a few different spots to sit and have a cold one after your round and no extra capital assessments (after initiation).

Walking is allowed (one of the main reasons I picked this place) tho we do pay an extra fee to store our push carts there (worth the convenience).

Most of the members I've run across seem nice and are friendly. There are competitions and leagues (entry fees not included in membership) but I haven't joined in any of these (yet? ..maybe next season?).

One of the downsides is it seems to have gotten a bit oversold this year .. there are a lot of new golf members vs last year, but even so a slow round is still about 4:15. They have added starters and marshalls to keep things moving.

Other "soft" pluses... the pro staff are good and are helpful, the cart / bag guys are great (and apparently a few are pretty good golfers, too!) and the kitchen is excellent!

So:

• cost per round =

vs.

• overall ease and convenience of getting a tee time, of getting to the course and warming up; of having a place to go and practice whenever I want; of having basically a full gym membership included; etc =

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Easily paid for itself.

Rack rate $38.00. Monthly membership $110 for first year. $150 after that. All the golf, swimming and tennis you can play. Adder is a cart. $20.00 for a cart, walking is free. Range is $9.00 a bag. I’m not a range rat.

I walk between two to three rounds a week. So let’s say 10 rounds a month. 
That’s $11.00 a round versus $38.00.

Even next year when it goes up to $150 I’m only looking at $15.00 a round. But There was no initiation fee and the club is member owned. 

 

[Rob Person]

I bought the RTJ trail card this year for roughly $60.  it allows me deep discounts and access to all the RTJ courses with advanced tee time scheduling.  I have played several courses on the trail this year and after the 3rd round it has paid for itself. average price per round per course is 108-150$ without it. with the card is average of $60 per round. range ball token is discounted as well. I also earn member point perks on all purchases too. 

[RTH1]

Easily, using the annual fee vs. book rate, but many years to go to balance out the initiation fee.

[RTH1]

33 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I bought the RTJ trail card this year for roughly $60.  it allows me deep discounts and access to all the RTJ courses with advanced tee time scheduling.  I have played several courses on the trail this year and after the 3rd round it has paid for itself. average price per round per course is 108-150$ without it. with the card is average of $60 per round. range ball token is discounted as well. I also earn member point perks on all purchases too. 

Always been curious about how the RTJ trail investment works out for the state of Alabama, always thought it was an interesting approach.

[Shapotomous]

We have a couples membership that works out for us.  Not only for the # of rounds but also the free range balls for me.  It is also nice to go in the evening and get as many holes as sunlight and crowds allow without paying.

[Parshooter36]

My Tuesday night mens league and our Thursday night couples league covers 85% of our couples membership.  I'll probably be right around the break even point as I have not played a lot of weekend rounds at this course this year.

[PrismFlopper]

Some of these are actually very useful. Wife can’t argue with stats. 
As someone without a membership the biggest savings seem worth it when the price to play is getting somewhat out of hand on some courses and with the popularity of golf seeming to explode, range prices are creeping up too.

Has anyone seem to get bored of playing the same course or is it just as good every time you play?

[cksurfdude]

8 hours ago, PrismFlopper said:

Has anyone seem to get bored of playing the same course or is it just as good every time you play?

Good question. I was concerned about that at first, but over time I've come to look at it differently - and believe there can be some advantages that have helped me in my game.

Now I love the challenge of trying to "read" a new to me course; e.g. studying the design and layout, and figuring out where to try to hit my shots towards vs away from, where I may be able to go for it vs playing it safe, etc. 

But after playing the same course (and notwithstanding that environmental conditions change every day, and that the way your body feels and your energy level changes every day, etc) .. but after getting "used to" my home course I'm less nervous and tense about the where of the where I'm going to try to send my shot .. and more able to focus on the how of the execution of the shot at hand.

 

 

[JerryB]

9 hours ago, PrismFlopper said:

Has anyone seem to get bored of playing the same course or is it just as good every time you play?

 

This question is why I went with the weekday pass rather than the unlimited one.  The plan was to go elsewhere most weekends.  Turned out to be a nearly 50/50 split instead.  I've come to really enjoy the familiarity and therefore comfort of my local course.  For me there's also a time factor:  a five minute drive to this one versus 25+ minutes to any other course

[revkev]

On 9/12/2023 at 10:34 AM, edingc said:

We've not been immune to the COVID bump as well. It's getting exceedingly difficult to find "affordable" places to golf in Michigan. I have a very advantageous situation (no kids, more than average vacation time, flexible course ownership and proximity to course/range) that allows me to maximize my time on the course. Even then, yes, these rates have more than doubled since before COVID. In 2019 I paid $175 for basically the same range membership and less than $500 for the golf membership. A lot of our affordable courses have called it quits and are being replaced by housing developments, which is making tee times tough to come by as well.

If you start looking at clubs with membership value beyond golf, you're looking at $5k+ for a year membership for the accessible ones. The truly private "country clubs" are $10k-$15k with some crazy initiation fees as well.

Thanks for that further insure.  I always enjoyed playing in Michigan because it had a really great set of high quality upscale courses along with affordable mini types. Northern Indiana, where I lived, was like that as well. Michigan also had the pricey country clubs while Indiana did not.

 

Many parts of Florida are all or nothing although if you are away from the east coast there are very few of those old school country clubs - not that I’m in that category just that I’m into all the available options. The Orlando area has a nice range of courses but those “upscale” courses that used to be affordable as a special opportunity for folks are now all north of $100 per round.  The cost of golf is getting outrageous again. And that’s coming from someone who while not wealthy can still comfortably afford 5-8k a year. Good thing - if I couldn’t I wouldn’t be able to play where I live. 

[Shifty]

I live in a small community 20 minutes out of the city.  We have a beautiful 9 hole course.  The membership is $600/season or $660 with the range pass, lol.  So ya got my moneys worth a few times over haha.

Perfect for 9 holes after work.