Doing my homework right now and asking around about National Golf Club membership. Looking for a good deal anywhere in the US. Anyone know of a great deal or have a recommendation?

Prairie Dunes, Sand Hills are both great national options.

Medinah has a national membership that allows you to play 12 times a year plus participate in some of the events. I don't know the financial details but it would be easy enough for me to get them.

It kinda depends upon your price point and what part of the country you are interested in visiting.

Prairie Dunes and Sand Hills are great options. Lots of other good options in North / South Carolina, midwest, north east, etc.

Another interesting option with a bit more variety is the Dormie Network. https://www.dormienetwork.com/

A few other questions to help narrow things down:

• What kind of course are you looking for? Old school or modern?
• Lodging on site?
• A club in a good sized city or a destination club where national members make up most of the play?
• What will drive you to visit? Are you bringing a game or are you wanting to join a place that hosts tournaments and events?

There are a lot of options but the best fit will depend on what you are looking to do with it.

30 year old looking at anything under $25k

Ok? That's still really vague....

Sorry, no preferences really. I'm just a golf course junkie. Love great architecture by Mackenzie, Tillinghast, Raynor, Thomas or Nicklaus but bentgrass greens are my favorite.

Ever thought about the Outpost Club?

http://outpostclub.com/

With Outpost you're relegated to their schedule, which is largely middle of the week events at the better clubs. You can also network there, so that's a plus.

Prairie Dunes is relatively inexpensive, especially when you annualize things to spread out the initiation. It's easily accessible from most Of Texas' larger airports and is a good value once you get there. They have onsite lodging but plenty of motels if you want to make a last minute trip. It's a very good course, but once the gunch grows up (it's burned every winter), anything off the fairway is dead.

Sand Hills is a lot tougher to get into without a connection.

Another outfit to look into is the Dormie Network. Rumor is they recently purchased Wolf Point down nearly Port Lavaca.

1872walker said:

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Another outfit to look into is the Dormie Network. Rumor is they recently purchased Wolf Point down nearly Port Lavaca.

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True. If it turns out Wolf Point joins DN, I may finally pull the trigger and join.

1872walker said:

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With Outpost you're relegated to their schedule, which is largely middle of the week events at the better clubs. You can also network there, so that's a plus.

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Btw... that's not entirely true.

Wow, the outpost club looks phenomenal. Not sure they would let me slip through the cracks though. Will have to reach out to them. Have put in an inquiry with the dormie network, didn't realize they were in the Wolf Point bidding war. Had heard Prarie Dunes national membership was full. Thank you for the great suggestions. Will have to inquire about Medina as well

Well you do get Yale and Chechessee as your "home" clubs, but the scdheduke I saw for last year's events had the majority of the events at the better clubs during the weekday (I.e. Oakmont on a Monday or Tuesday). I'm sure it would be a great club for a retiree with a flexible schedule but I'd you work and have a family, making their events would be challenging.

If you want to make your own schedule and go when you want to, other options are likely better.

1872walker said:

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Well you do get Yale and Chechessee as your "home" clubs, but the scdheduke I saw for last year's events had the majority of the events at the better clubs during the weekday (I.e. Oakmont on a Monday or Tuesday). I'm sure it would be a great club for a retiree with a flexible schedule but I'd you work and have a family, making their events would be challenging.

If you want to make your own schedule and go when you want to, other options are likely better.

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That's very true. If you are looking for access on a Saturday morning, the OC isn't going to do much for you.

The networking is pretty top notch though....

No doubt, there are some heavy hitters who are members. However, you'll largely be at the mercy of someone else's schedule, whether it's the Outpost Club or your host of another club you've networked with.

It's really a golfing society more than a club membership.

If you want to set your own schedule, your own membership at a National club would likely be a better option. And there are plenty of choices out there who will likely be looking for members in this economy.

It really depends on what you're looking for. A place where you bring your own game, or a place where you can show up, meet some locals and make some connections and bring your boys as well.

It also depends on how long of a golf season you're looking for. Prairie Dunes is pretty good. The Pinehurst setup shouldn't be overlooked either.

I guess my one box to check off is a great golf course or courses. Don't care about when or where, I can move my schedule around most times or use one of the 20 vacation days I've yet to use. Not looking for quantity but quality.

For that criteria, Prairie Dunes is a great option, as is Kingsley Club. Both are outstanding courses, economical L, easily attainable without connections and a great place to hang out and bring your buddies.

Kingsley is harder to get to and a shorter season but there's fishing and other activities and plenty of stuff to do in Traverse City.

Prairie Dunes has a pool, fitness, tennis, etc that may be more attractive to spouses and kids but it's in the middle of BFE Kansas so once you're there you're there and staying on Campus.

If you don't get out there more than 2-3 times a year, you may be better off looking at trips to Bandon, Pinehurst, Monterey, , Kiawah etc. it gives you flexibility, variety and plenty of great golf at architecturally interesting courses.

Kingsley Club is one of my favorites, but as noted, it is tough to get to. An added bonus is Crystal Downs is just a stones throw away.

FWIW I like Kingsley better than Crystal Downs, though admittedly part of that is atmosphere. Crystal Downs gets a few low marks in that dept. as does any club where they do not allow drinking on the golf course. Contrast with Kingsley where they have a bottle of Jameson on the 18th tee box.

How in the world did you get on at Crystal Downs? I vacation up here in Michigan every summer and that course is known for being next to impossible to play as a non-member!

Definitely different vibes. Kingsley is a true Nationa Club whereas Crystal Downs is more of a community of locals and Summer residents.

Wanna spend random long weekends? Kingsley is the place. Want to buy a second home and spend the entire summer up there? Crystal Downs is a better fit.

Both are great courses.

I agree with all of that, especially the part about both of them being great courses.

Regarding access to Crystal Downs, our pro was able to hook us up. It was strange though. Had to pay with a personal check for $250. No cash, no credit card.

Dreaded triple post

Dormie is $15,000 initiation, $9,600 a year dues.

That's way higher than I was offered in September of last year. I was offered:
Initiation: $7,500
Annual dues: $4,000

AeroAg2003 said:

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That's way higher than I was offered in September of last year. I was offered:
Initiation: $7,500
Annual dues: $4,000

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Was that Dormie Network or Dormie Club?

I think you can join their clubs individually too. But I could be wrong about that.

I think they were offering a lower price when they were getting it off the ground. The dues could be 100% offset by spend at the clubs on food and lodging. Was a pretty good deal.

Legend said:

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AeroAg2003 said:

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That's way higher than I was offered in September of last year. I was offered:
Initiation: $7,500
Annual dues: $4,000

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Was that Dormie Network or Dormie Club?

I think you can join their clubs individually too. But I could be wrong about that.

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That was the Dormie Network.

$4000 per year is pretty typical for most national memberships I have seen. $9000 seems pretty high. If they have upped their rates that much, they must be doing well.

Same when we played it. Checks only for the green fees but CC for the merchandise. It's a pretty sweet deal for them. They probably got $2k from four jabronis between tee times and Peter Millar shirts for a throwaway round on a random weekday in the middle of summer.

Loved the course though. The front nine is perfect.

Highly recommend Prairie Dunes. I have been a member for a long time. Nationals pay a little over $3k per year. Lodging on site makes it really convenient and the course plays differently every time thanks to changes in wind, pin locations and variety of tees.

Dismal River is another great option. More than golf.

https://www.dismalriver.com/

Prairie Club (very close to Dismal) is a very nice facility as well.

Did the Kingsley, Crystal, Arcadia, Forest Dunes trip a few years ago. Great trip. Front 9 at Crystal was my favorite 9 of all time. Logistics were mixed. Traverse City was a cheap and direct flight from DFW. But it was quite a bit of driving on Farm to Market roads in between rounds with pretty stark accommodations.

Probably a better trip now as the 2nd course at Arcadia has now opened. Also could at the Loop and maybe even Treetops if you went for a week.

Highly recommended.

This summer I played The Harvester about 30 miles Northeast of Des Moines, IA and it was a special place. When I checked into membership it was $20k initiation and $10k/yr. If it's not your primary membership the initiation was $7k initiation and $4000/yr for 20 days of play and $2500/yr for 10 days of play.

The Prairie Club in Nebraska was mentioned earlier. Would be tougher to get to for people, but you have 36 holes (+10 hole Horse Course pitch and putt) that provide a nice variation of play. It's a lovely, isolated place and all about golf. National memberships for person under 40 are $7300 initiation, $1525/yr + $500 minimum/yr spending. You pay for lodging and $25 cart fee per day. I live locally and have considered this place for some time, but it's a 5 1/2 hour drive for me. It's semi-private (one course exclusively for members each day).

I just "joined" Dormie Network. One of the courses is 50 minutes from my home. I won the membership in a charity auction but had been looking at it for a while. Last I'd heard it was a $10K initiation and $6000/yr (no other fees). The initiation sounded fairly negotiable. As they acquire more properties they intend to raise the yearly fees by $1000/course (they own 6 courses currently = $6000/yr). I'm excited to partake in this membership and will try to remember to report back after a while.

Arbor Links is a very nice course but just doesn't have the character of the Prairie Club in my opinion. But a much closer drive for you from Omaha.

I'm headed to Dismal next month. Looking forward to comparing it to Prairie Club and Sandhills.