PSA: Just got notice that Riverbend is going to $10k initiation for Equity members effective October 1st.

If you are thinking about joining you should get our application in now to get the current $6k rate.

I've now been a member for about a month.

My experience so far:

1. I play mostly Wed/Friday mornings. Very easy to get a tee time for the most part. Saturday's have been very easy as well - part of that is because it's so hot no one wants to play golf. I've hit balls on a couple of Sunday evenings and you can play anytime you want. Complete ghost town.
2. Very strong senior group. I've already met six/seven guys I can call to play a round with.
3. On the Saturdays I have been around the club there appears to be a lot of younger executive guys playing money games, in addition to the established games.
4. Course has been in pretty amazing condition considering the lack of rain. One fairway near the #7 green is getting crusty but I'm told it's because that area will not hold water well. Greens are good.
5. I love the course - as someone told me, you have to use every club in your bag at times to get around the course.
6. Pace of play has been very good. Played nine this morning in about 1:40.
7. Food is good in the mens locker room, and on Saturday there is a good crowd of people.
8. I've yet to step in the main dining room, workout facility, pool, or tennis courts. Expect I will play some pickleball once the weather turns, as my wife likes to play.

If anyone is interested you can PM me with specific questions.

Yeah, I got that same notice from the membership director.

Just so happened that I moved to stock last week at my club, so bad timing for me. Buy for anyone on the fence they should take advantage - compared to other clubs in the area its a great deal.

What's the word on new Lakeside redo?

It's done and the course is back open as of mid-December. I'm really happy with it but it does need ~12 months to really grow in and for them to make some tweaks here and there. The greens are tough and with different pin placements, they have the ability to really make you think.

The putting complex and short game area is phenomenal. It is a great addition and something LCC was missing. I haven't played the par 3 yet but I have heard it is really fun.

Not sure why anyone would pay the $150k to join Lakeside. I've got buddies there that will tell you it's not worth it. Always packed & almost impossible to get a weekend tee time

What is the initiation fee/dues since reopened if they are taking on new membership?

Life took a couple of unexpected, unfortunate turns early 2023 that had us hold off on joining anywhere, but we did move to West U. Now that we have made it through, we are back to looking. Looks like it's between Braeburn & Westwood based on convenience. Hopefully playing Braeburn with a member in the next couple of weeks, would like to play WW too before making a decision.

Any insight into the family atmosphere at both would be appreciated. My son just got to the age where I can bring him along and he lasts at least 9 holes.

Can't speak to Westwood, but Braeburn is phenomenal for families. Pool is hopping in the summer, events constantly, junior golf camps, etc. The cap on equity membership keeps it feeling small.

Westwood is a phenomenal golf club in exceptional condition. My neighbor is a Braeburn member so I'm there quite a bit too.

IMO Westwood's golf course has a better layout and is less quirky.

It's a challenging course which often hosts PGA qualifiers (eg. Houston Open Qualifier this past month).

It does not have other things like tennis, pool, gym, etc like Braeburn does. It's strictly golf focused. However Westwood members have reciprocal privileges at the Briarclub which has all those amenities.

The food is good to great depending on the rotating menu and club is very member centric.

I think initiation is $70k right now.

Also, whenever evaluating clubs be sure and ask about upcoming capital assessments when joining.

All the intown clubs have heavy golf usage these days. Lakeside, HCC and ROCC are no different on getting primo tee times on heavy usage days i.e. Friday - Sunday. Each also have their own issues as it relates to tee times, pace of play, facilities, upcoming capital campaigns etc. You kind of have to pick your poison if you are able to try and join one of the Big 3.

Happy to take you around Westwood.

We're childless; however, I can say that the club does put a lot of effort into activities for the children.

Any comments on Sugar Creek?

We live in Bellaire so it's relatively close. Always thought we'd join BraeBurn but can't get buy in for a 75k (I heard going up to 100 and there will surely be assessments for the new clubhouse) initiation.

Sugar has 27 holes. Great greens. Clubhouse needs work.

Are you looking for a family type club or are you focused on golf? If golf them go next door to Riverbend. Good old school course with out all the houses on every hole

Cheaper option being any of the invited clubs which all are golf forward and family friendly.

Hearthstone is pretty golf focused with great member involvement. 27 holes and great chef.

Falcon Point seems to be like a fun layout and pretty tough.

Kingwood has 4 courses…not sure how involved they are from MGA perspective.

Woodlands is on nicer end for sure, really fun tracks with slightly higher end service model.

GCOH has really improved course conditions and easy to get tee times. Much more reasonable than the city clubs. Think initiation is around 35 now.

Member at SC. As Maroon mentioned, it is very family friendly if that is something you're looking for. A lot of younger families have been joining. Renovations to club house and course are slated to start within the next year. There are 3 9s, so the phased work on the course should help minimize impact. Let me know if you have any other specific questions you'd like to discuss.

FincAg13 said:

---

Member at SC. As Maroon mentioned, it is very family friendly if that is something you're looking for. A lot of younger families have been joining. Renovations to club house and course are slated to start within the next year. There are 3 9s, so the phased work on the course should help minimize impact. Let me know if you have any other specific questions you'd like to discuss.

---

That's what I gathered as well. I have a 13yo that may switch over from baseball to golf and SC seems to have a strong youth golf group and ease of getting on for 9 holes at any time.

Falcon Point is NOT a fun layout and is VERY tough.

Great place to go if you want to be terrified to draw it back.

I'm also looking into a membership in the southwest Houston area. I've looked into Sugar Creek, Sweetwater, and Riverbend. Anybody know what the initiation fees look like for those three? Any of them stand out compared to the others?

Give Blackhawk CC a try. Good course and never crowded.

Do you know anything about the fees for Blackhawk?

Initiation was $30k when we joined two years ago. Probably the same or close to the same. You have 4 years to pay.
Monthly dues are $1,050 per month.
Blackhawk membership also gets you access and free golf at GCOH member and tournament courses and the two Blackhorse courses. This works well for me if I am in different parts of town for work, can stop in for a quick 9 holes.

Interesting. Sounds like a decent deal. I reached out to them to see what the cost will look like. Thanks for the info!

That would be great, shoot me an email at dallasag12ta at gmail. Thanks for the invite.

Dobie Ag said:

---

I'm also looking into a membership in the southwest Houston area. I've looked into Sugar Creek, Sweetwater, and Riverbend. Anybody know what the initiation fees look like for those three? Any of them stand out compared to the others?

---

Sugar Creek - $14k (Equity). As of July 2023
Sweetwater - $10k (non-equity) as of July 2023
Riverbend - $10k (Equity) - pretty sure that is our current rate. Just went up from $6k.
GCOH - $30k (non-equity) as of July 2023.

I just went through this last July. You need to consider a few things.

1. What are you looking for - Golf only? Tennis/Pool/Workout/Dinners at Club? Mine was a golf only decision.
2. How far is the club from your home? Are there alternate ways to get there are only one way? For me I had to eliminate GCOH because the only way for me to get there was 59N through downtown - which is a solid beatdown every day. RB was my choice because I have two alternatives to get there and my drive is 22-27 minutes anytime, I want to go out.
3. Equity vs Non-Equity (corporate owned). Advantages and Disadvantages to both. Equity you are a club owner and have a vote on how the club is run and any capital plans. But if there is an assessment you have to pay or leave. Non-Equity - you have some say but ultimately the club is run by the corporate entity. IF and when they sell to another entity (and they will) you have no voice. Your voice is to leave.
4. If Golf - will you like playing the course every day? Conditions? Ease of tee times?

I can only speak to RB golf. We have one course but it's a great course in my opinion. Very old school design by Press Maxwell, Jr. More of a parkland like setting - we have homes on the left had side of three holes that should not come into play. The rest of the holes have no homes. Conditions are good - greens are fast, sand traps are very good. Pace of play is also very good. If you play 18 in over 4 hours something is very wrong - typically 90 minute nines. Tee times have never been an issue - we use an app. I tend to play Wed/Fri afternoons and Sat/Sun afternoons. I've never not been able to get a tee time. Our men's locker room is one of the best in the city - better than any club in this price range and better than a lot of high-end clubs (just had HCC and Braeburn friends out on Friday and they both were raving about our locker room) and we are redoing all the showers, steam room, bathrooms this month to upgrade all the fixtures and design.

Be glad to answer any specific questions you have.

Poot said:

---

Falcon Point is NOT a fun layout and is VERY tough.

Great place to go if you want to be terrified to draw it back.

---

Depends on your approach going in. We were members there for a few years and I really enjoyed it. Only thing I didn't like was there is only one par-5 you can hit driver on. Other than that, the more I played it, the more I liked it. You will hit every club in your bag most rounds, and your handicap will travel very well. I'm sure some things have changed slightly since we left three years ago, but there was a good group of regulars and no shortage of people to play with. Food was usually good, but a bit slow at peak times, and service was always good. If you are interested at all, go play it a couple of times. They are good about trials for prospective members.

This is all great information! I'm definitely looking for golf. That's my number one priority. But my wife would also be interested in the other amenities (workout facility, pool, etc.)

I live in Iowa Colony so all of the courses in the Fort Bend area are close enough for me where I can get there in 30 minutes or so.

I've heard good things about Swee****er. A buddy of mine plays there quite a bit and says the courses are really nice.

Riverbend sounds intriguing to me, as well. I've never played there or know of anyone that has played there but it sounds great for golf.

Swee****er and Riverbend sound like my best options. $10k is probably the max I could do for initiation fees. I may have to set up a tour at each one and see for myself.

Thank you for all of the info!

Riverbend is a really solid old school course that's always in great shape. Locker room is really, really nice. I know of at least a few Ags that are members out there (late 30s).

Sweetwater has 36, so that's always a plus.

To be fair, I played it when I was a Freshman in high school and it was low 40s and blowing 25 mph from the NW all day. Oh, and it misted quite a bit of the day.

I just don't like that era of Devlin-Von Hagge. As far as handicap traveling… damn straight it would travel.

I completely understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a pretty fun course that plays very differently quite often. My wife and kids didn't enjoy it all that much which is part of why we left. That said, the course layout didn't have much to do with it as much as they didn't play a lot in general, so anything with hazards in play whatsoever was going to be an issue for them.

Live in Katy and play at Sweetwater. It is really hard to quantify the value of 36 holes. Bouncing from each course when you feel like you're over-playing the other is amazing. I wish I lived closer to utilize all of the amenities but the golf is worth it. Greens are some of the toughest I've played. Fast and turny. Only a few holes border each other but all are wide enough to make driver the obvious choice. (my game suffers when fairways are stacked next to each other, fearful of hitting other people)

Any experience with clubs in northwest Houston? Cypress, Tomball, Spring, etc...

I know they just opened up Longwood GC but I've heard the conditions are suffering and they just shut down 9 holes shortly after opening to be renovated

I played Hearthstone a long time ago and conditions were okay. Layout isn't my favorite and I like walking so the course doesn't setup well for that through the neighborhoods

Price range?

I think these are right...

2,500
Hearthstone

5-10k
Blackhorse is semi private
Augusta pines is semi private
Windcrest
Sterling CC
Cypress Lakes semi private

10-20k
Pine forest

150-200k
Houston Oaks
Bluejack

I'm a current member at Northgate…usually in great shape and fun weekly play info groups. Access to Walden and 30+ other course across the US is a nice bonus.

Hearthstone is much cheaper than that right now. Had been $2,500 for a while. Have a bunch of younger families joining that fit in well with the old guard.