Playing a lot without a membership

4,560 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by USGA77
AW 1880
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AG
The thread on how many rounds played this year got me thinking. Are there any legit deals out there for golfers who play ~25 rounds a year? It's not enough to justify a membership but it would be nice to save a few bucks. I use the various discount websites to save some money. I'm in the Dallas area if someone has a specific suggestion.
WHOOP!'91
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Generically speaking, twilight is the only thing that comes to mind. However, 25 rounds a year may justify a membership at some clubs. A former golfing buddy that moved to the Kingwood (north east Houston) area said a course up there had a membership that granted him 25 rounds per year.
Matsui
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25 rounds a year. how much per round average? $50? That is $1250, still much cheaper than joining a club.

Since you are in DFW, the IdealGolfer deals let you play plenty of places around the DFW area for cheap.
oldschool87
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If a membership were truly free... IE you pay 300 a month and you play golf that might make a lot of sense...
Nu

But most clubs still hammer you with cart fees... So now it's 300 plus 10 cart fees at 15... Plus you don't want to look bad with your buddies, so you eat 1 or 2 75 dollars green fees a month. Them there are other fees, taxes, food the wife bought the girls, etc...

Being a member never really works!!! Has to be a family thing, but then your paying to use a pool! I love the CC, but it's a horrible waste of money!!!
92TXAG
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87,

I couldn't disagree with you more...

DadAG10
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quote:


But most clubs still hammer you with cart fees... So now it's 300 plus 10 cart fees at 15... Plus you don't want to look bad with your buddies, so you eat 1 or 2 75 dollars green fees a month. Them there are other fees, taxes, food the wife bought the girls, etc...
quote:

So $450 for 10 rounds at a nice well maintained course??

Does your wife buy food at restaurants as well?

Yes it's more economical if the whole family is active and using the membership, but even so there is value in being able to get a tee-time, having 20-30 friends that you can join up with at anytime, as well as range and practice time.
DadAG10
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And you can walk if you want to avoid the cart fee.
God-Family-Friends-Ag FB
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I was a member at a Houston area club (Northgate) for a while and got a hell of a deal on a junior membership...it was like $140/mo with $15 cart fees and no minimum F&B. It started off great, but eventually I kind of got tired of playing the same course over and over again. I have always liked to mix it up for a change of scenery. If the place would have been in my neighborhood maybe things would have been different, but it was a bit of a drive.

I started looking back at my bank account statement each month and eventually I was paying the club fees in addition to 2-3 rounds with buddies at other courses per month and it just added up.

Just something to keep in mind before you lock in on a club in an effort to save money golfing...are you going to remain committed?
jj9000
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Calculating Cost per round of a Private Club vs a Muni will almost never come out in favor of the Private Club.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that if you're using Cost per round as a major determining factor, a Private Club may not be the best option for you.

There are tons of other factors to take into account in the analysis (ex...time per round, amenities, family activities, course condition, skill level of playing partners...etc).
1208HawkTree
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This is exactly why I haven't joined a club thus far. Been close a couple of times, but just couldn't justify it over other things. I play so little these days due to work and family obligations, that it would be like playing Pebble every time I teed it up.
bagger05
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Best bet is a daily round club that offers a "membership." At my home track I pay something like $1500 per year and that gets me unlimited golf and unlimited range balls. I pretty much never ride in a cart so it works out to about $30 per round at the rate I play. And that's not counting the times in the summer where I go play four holes and it's not counting the range balls I hit before rounds or in the evenings during the summer. Normal fees are usually about $45 on average so I saved about $750 before you count up the practice stuff.
Matsui
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What the above poster said is probably your best bet.

There is a social aspect that can't be ignored with joining a private club. Pool gym social events playing partners wife enjoying that as well.
HouAggie
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Enjoying your playing partner's wife is definitely a plus.
Hanrahan
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My club is expensive as heck but worth every penny. And I'm cheap. My last club sucked arse and I hated it and how much it cost (and they still have $40k of mine I may never see again). This one doesn't phase me with the costs because I enjoy it and the people so much. Private club can be a really great thing. Or not. I've obviously seen both sides.
TheGreatScott12
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My two cents is that clubs can be great if you have the time to take advantage of the investment. I used to be a member at the course in my backyard. Problem is, for me and my roommate, once winter comes around and we work till dark and watch football on weekends we couldn't justify paying dues for one round every two weeks to a month. I typically enjoy a change of scenery as well so playing the same club got old. I don't think there is a true right answer here, but things like golfnow are what I've started leaning towards. Also, having buddies in the golf industry helps me cut cost.
1208HawkTree
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quote:
Enjoying your playing partner's wife is definitely a plus.


mavsfan4ever
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Get the Blue Sky Media golf pass. It's for DFW and gives you one free round on the weekend and one free round during the week at like 20-25 different DFW courses. Depending on where you live, some are probably not worth the trip. A lot of times, they don't stamp your card, so you can use it more than once at the course on the weekend. All you have to do is pay cart fee, so you get a weekend round for somewhere around $20.

There are also other deals such as buy 1 get 1 free. They also have deals at a few nice courses or stay and play places.

You can get the card for like $35 bucks if you look at the right places. So once you've played 2-3 times you have already gotten your money's worth.
mavsfan4ever
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On the weekend rounds, you do have to tee off after noon at a lot of the courses. That never bothers me, but may be a problem for some people.
WHOOP!'91
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Player Development programs are also usually relatively inexpensive.

I pay $50/mo and get unlimited range balls and $9 rounds with cart 1 hour before twilight. Twilight changes to 1PM with the time change, so I can tee off at noon for $9.

That's the best deal I have seen in Houston, although many clubs have this type of program. They are just a little more expensive than this from what I have seen.
Aggie1391
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I think some of the Junior Executive memberships are totally worth it. When I was a member, I was paying 200 a month plus cart fees. Over the summer, I was easily playing 18 three or four times a week. It averaged out to about $40/round if a played 10 times a month, which is less than what I would pay on worse courses.

I wasn't even taking advantage of the networking opportunities that happen at these clubs. I was there strictly for golf. If I have the chance to do it again, I'll take it in a heartbeat.
bagger05
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My general dislike of riding in a cart when I play really makes a lot of these deals a no-go for me. The value is just not there if you don't ride.
jja79
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A club only makes sense if there are other amenities you enjoy and use and if you like being able to show up in Saturday afternoon without a tee time and play a 3 hour round and only see 2 other groups the whole time.
BEaggie08
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quote:
Player Development programs are also usually relatively inexpensive.

I pay $50/mo and get unlimited range balls and $9 rounds with cart 1 hour before twilight. Twilight changes to 1PM with the time change, so I can tee off at noon for $9.

That's the best deal I have seen in Houston, although many clubs have this type of program. They are just a little more expensive than this from what I have seen.
This.

The Player Development Program at my local course is a pretty sweet deal as well. $50/mo gets me unlimited range balls, no greens fees after noon ($10/$14 for a cart), and I get a 10% discount in the pro shop. They aren't very strict about the noon timeline.

I'll be the first to admit that the course isn't great, but it's 3 minutes from my house, and at the rate I pay, I don't feel like I'm wasting money if I play a different course every once in a while.
klockness
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Membership Pros:
-If it's close to home you can play any time, play 6, 9, 2 whatever whenever. Great for practice especially if you can get out when it's not busy. That's the thing I miss the most.
-Can be a good deal for a family of golfers or retired folks.
-Some you can bring your own cart, leave your cooler, towels, tees, balls everything in the cart
-Some have other benefits (workout, pool, cheaper lessons, social events...)
-MOST of the golfers have good etiquette

Cons:
-Always playing the same course. That's the thing I hate the most. As a kid I could shoot 75 any day on my home course but almost never broke 80 on any other course.
-Close second there is always someone that thinks they own the place or has a stick up their... Seriously the handful of egos can make up for all the slow playing, foot dragging, drunks in tank tops at the local muni. And you'll run into the same ones regularly.
-If you aren't playing a ton your wasting money
-If you have a group of buddies you play with but they don't want to join

This depends on several factors so you have to evaluate your game/life and the club your interested in. Personally I had access to a club through middle and high school and I don't see myself going back any time soon.
Killin Me Smalls
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For DFW, the Eagle Card is a pretty good deal.

$243 for the card.

11 Rounds of Golf - 1 Round at each of 10 Courses below + 1 Bonus Round at any of the courses + 25% off all Eagle Courses for the entire year. Also gives you a $99 VIP round at Cowboys Club (no date/time restrictions).
-Fossil Creek
-Indian Creek
-Twin Creeks
-Bear Creek
-Iron Horse
-Mansfield National
-Plantation
-Riverside
-Lake Park
-Links at Lands End

I live in Frisco, and I have played all courses except Mansfield and Lands End. Some of the courses are a bit of a hike, but not too bad. Lake Park is really the only BAD course.

http://www.eaglegolfcard.com/-buy-here
USGA77
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If you live in a large enough metro area, the best option for less than 25 rounds a year is to play golf at a high quality daily fee facility. Woodforest in the Conroe area, particularly with their new clubhouse, is a good example. Course conditioning and overall golf experience is consistently very good.
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