All of this except for walking is a fight at every club I know. I am a member at an equity club and we go through the same fight. Hopefully the walking doesn’t get killed and the positives out weigh the negatives.
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So here’s what I can tell you about Private V Public courses. Member owned V Corporate owned on the Non-Golf side of the business. A true private club in most states are limited by their Liquor Licenses. We were allowed, by law to have 4 events annually if they are drinking and that includes weddings and such. All other events usually have to be sponsored by current members and those days are drying up because of Liability Laws. You sponsor an event and someone gets hurt, it’s on the sponsor. Golf, in general, loses money, you have to have alot rounds going on to make any sense. Our muni for example in a good year does 50K rounds annually. One semi-private (but open to the public) did 65K in rounds one year when I was a member there. If your club has a Public License, well that opens the flood gates for them to generate cash. Some clubs can generate $5-$7M annually doing events with a Public Liquor License. These events can take home 30-35% of that revenue after all expenses… why do you think they make you pay monthly F&B if you don’t use the clubs facilities other than to play golf. Usually, the Pro gets the Pro Shop and pays a percentage back to the club and the Pro usually gets all his lesson cash (that’s how they supplement income) The pro and super usually split about $2 per cart rental annually, he rest goes to club, Range balls are the same way. Everyone else gets a salary. So, a member owned private course will be more expensive in dues and F&B than a corporate owned deal. The corporation is trying to turn a profit, without these ancillary outings and events you close up shop in todays world. It’s a lot to balance. That’s why I left the PGA ranks, it’s not all peaches and cream, it’s alot and I mean alot of grunt work, you have to split your lessons with the pro, you end up being cart boy, pro shop cashier, outing scorekeeper etc… It’s a tough business. Around my parts Ron Jaworski owns like 5 or 6 clubs… it’s tough to get public tee times because his courses are all semi-private…membership gets advance tee-times, they book alot of outings and weddings (actually beautiful venues) which in turn fills up your parking lot… The name of the game is making money and he does well! Oh yea and non member times can range in to the $150 a round range. I certainly can’t afford that.
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We always hear that BS about the walkers (of which I am one) at my club as well. Our course is difficult to walk (very hilly) and some holes do slow you down because you have to walk around water or gorges, but otherwise walkers keep up fine. I don’t think they will forces us into carts as most players are riding any way.
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Here’s what I will tell you as an avid walker and a former Club PGA asst professional and a former GM. You can walk all you want. You still gotta pay for the cart until 1pm. Those are the rules. My home course is a great walk and a good portion of the Golf Association members do walk. It’s an EZ walk like Augusta from Green to Tee box. The hills and valleys are bit of a challenge some have 60ft drops and what goes downhill…eventually comes uphill, but at least it’s Tee to FW to Green (not including woods ball searches sometimes) Some of these new courses it’s a long walk from the green to the tee box like hundreds of yards… In high heat… no way I would do that. The best part about walking is it gives you the opportunity to enjoy nature, think about your approach and you go directly to your ball. When the weather becomes inclement, cart path only rules really slow you down… sometimes you bring 4 stix with you and then you find you gotta go back and get that 5th stick. As a walker, I have all 14 in my quiver with me!
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That’s a great explanation of the economics, Mike. Thanks for that. Helps me understand the phenomenon of the “semi-private club” a little better. And why dues/initiation for exclusively private clubs are reputedly so damned expensive.
F&B revenues, and the dram shop litigation insurance and certification that goes hand in hand with them, aren’t slight amounts at all.
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Trump Philly is across the street from me… last I heard Initiation Fee : $12K, Annual Dues: $7K, $1000 a year F&B. Philly Cricket club will scare you if you’re not of means: Cost : Initiation fee $10,000 without golf, $36,000 with golf; annual dues $4,000 without golf, another $2,300 for golf; annual food minimum $780. That’s not the expensive one…LOL
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Wow golf is so expensive in America. I am only paying $2535 this year for 6 day membership. that includes a $200 f&b credit for the year. We have a bar and restaurant with 3 big rooms and a wide deck area. Downstairs are locker rooms with lockers, a bathroom and showers. No other activities. We have weddings and trade days plus partial course closures for pennant matches and anyone can come as a visitor subject to some time restrictions. Golf clubs over here tend to be stand alone operations. No swimming pools or tennis courts etc. Perfect if you just want to play golf and have the odd drink or sandwich to use up your f&b credit. Or take home as many wine bottles as goes into $200 as some do.
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Around here the cost varies. There is a club not too far from me and about $1700 gets you unlimited golf. The place is ok, but always packed so no rounds under 5 hours. Other courses (like mine) are about $3K and a bit nicer and many rounds under 4 hours. A few are $10-$20K or more to get in and with more bills to come. Gorgeous places that make the rest look like shacks. I can’t see paying that when our season is so short, but I am not in that tax bracket.
My FIL belongs to a course that was around $150K to join. Gorgeous clubhouse with everything you could want. There are nearby places that cost more than twice as much join. That’s Scottsdale though with year round golf and your club members are retired athletes, CEOS, etc. That’s another world.
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The Muni I belong to works like this. If you are a senior you can purchase a M-F walking yearly membership for $800. I still work so that doesn’t make sense for me. I purchase an annual resident card for $45. I pay a $30 green fee for the day—unlimited golf. I probably play around 40 full rounds a year and another 35 9 hole rounds (we usually play 27 holes every Saturday)… so $1200 a year. If you take a cart, it’s $13 per round. The course is a pleasurable walk. Some very demanding holes, some easy holes. We are coming up on 100 years old, I hope I live to participate in that. The clubhouse is beautiful, our pro is a class A professional, he runs a great shop, he is sweetheart of a guy and is a stickler for following rules, he answers questions, he runs the Golf Association, which I just wasn’t able to join this year; I have ZERO complaints and only praise. I know first hand how hard they all work to provide us with a great facility. The food and drink are top notch. They have very nice practice facilities. If they wanted to they could build another 9, but I’m not seeing that anytime soon. The fees have gone up a couple of bucks, but for me, as a senior, it’s the best deal around. The other courses around here are double to quadruple that with no senior discounts and they are packed. The private clubs around here are very nice, but outta my league in price point. I consider myself very fortunate.
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Ok so not all of the US is pricey. At my club most rounds are 4 hours or less. I have had a horror 5hr round and also had a 3hr round when we had no one in front. That day we were a 4 till the 8th then a 3. On my own I have had a 2 hour 20 round. It all depends on the group in front and if they hold you up
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Our Saturday 18 hole rounds are usually 3.5 hours. We play a second 9 and that avg of 2 hours. It’s a great day with my pods. We’ve been playing in the same group since 2005. My fastest round ever was with my uncle in 1989. I shot a 71 he shot a 74, we were first off, used a cart. We honestly weren’t rushing. When you shoot scores like that pretty much str8 down the shoot every hole. 1 hour 42 minutes. When I was working at the course years ago. We’d do quick 9 b4 closing in about 40 minutes. Last ones out. I don’t like 5.5 hour rounds, BUT no matter where I play it’s always crosses my mind, it’s better than work. Here’s another tidbit about our course. Bring your starter ticket in after the round and enjoy a pint on the house! It’s always a great day.
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We have some reasonable ones only because the season can be short and they are also usually semi-private. Mine is semi-private as the town owns a chunk of the land and there has to be some public play. Most of the fully private ones around here are pricey considering we can go 5 months or more without golf.
I joined to get earlier tee times and shorter rounds, but I do like the tournaments too. I probably don’t play quite enough golf to justify the cost, but I enjoy it for the most part.
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Mt Osmond would classify as a private club. We own the land thanks to a group of people in 1927 who bounded together to buy the land and build the course. Even though we are private we still take visitor bookings so anyone can play. Supposedly trade days help keep the dues down. Courses down on the sandbelt near the coast are much more expensive. We can see those courses and the coast from Mt Osmond up at an altitude of 400m. $2535 is a lot of money but I play 6x a week and don’t spend much else so I accept it. It is the closest course to my home and I can get there without going though any traffic lights. Stunning views and lots of wildlife
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Thanks for all the responses to my rant 
It’s interesting the variety of types of memberships in different areas.
For me, here on the North Shore of Long Island, NY … with its generally well-to-do suburban neighborhoods … I didn’t think I’d join a private club due to the very big $$$.
But… the last two years we were really scrambling to get tee times at our area munis that we previously could often walk onto … and ended up driving up to an hour many times.
So… this year I looked around at nearby clubs and this one seemed … relatively! … reasonable on an all-in basis…
- no capital assessments (initiation goes into the capital budget)
- no F&B minimum
- no locker fee
- no shop minimum (actually do not yet know if the shop is the pro’s, or run by the owner Corp.)
- reasonable push cart fee ($15; walk & carry N/C)
- includes practice range, two small putting greens that you can chip softly onto, plus pool, tennis, year round workout room, indoor simulator (by appointment)
I fully understand the Corp likes to have catered events to generate revenue, but I just wasn’t expecting quite as many quite so often.
And hearing about the potential restriction on walking feels like a bit of a betrayal, really. Oh well… 
As summer progresses I’ll try to speak with more walkers, hopefully some who have been there a few years, and try to get a feel for what they see going on.
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ck— they really restricted walking on the course completely? We never restricted walking back when I was involved in Golf course management. You just had to pay for the cart, usually weekends and holidays until 1 pm. And, if you ended up in a 2some or 4some that wanted to ride, and there was no restrictions on riding carts…you tied your bag onto a cart and walked without carrying your bag or using a push cart. I found that, on a warmer day to be a godsend. I just walked to my ball and I basically had a caddy. Because I paid for the cart I could also jump on it to limit having to walk up and down severe hills. I’d like to hear what your course managers would say about that. Remember, CARTS are just a revenue driver, in summer they can turn up to 3x a day at like $15 to $20 a round. Do the math right… if they are about your membership and profits, those carts can really assist in keeping other costs down.
Thanks and good luck!
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No! No sorry if that wasn’t clear - they’re now considering adding “some” (quote -unquote) restrictions on walking … possibly related to the tee times you can go out; eg. no walkers before whatever AM, or before whatever maybe PM on weekends.
It’s a whole 'nutha discussion, of course, about playing ready golf regardless of walking or riding … but in my observations both on munis and here at this club it’s all too often two people in one cart who can negatively impact pace of play…
*With the important note that GOOD players know what to do! But GOOD players with GOOD golf course etiquette are the minority… 
For the riding carts, they have a different schedule of fees for 9 vs 18, weekday vs weekend, and there is a slightly lesser fee for using a push cart. On a busy day there they probably turn over the whole cart inventory twice, so yeah plenty of recurring revenue there.
That’s fine - the carts cost them something to lease and re-charge and maintain; plus there should be something of a “user fee” to maintain cart paths plus turf damage in those spots where they all roll over.
Anyway, again my disappointment here is that I was given the initial impression that they completely welcomed walkers … anytime … (sidebar: IMHO golf courses should encourage more people to walk) … so if there are changes to the current policy that just seems unfair.
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Carts can be fast if the 2nd person gets out to play a shot while the driver keeps going to his/her ball. When the cart drives from ball to ball that really slows them down. With our course being soggy they have painted a blue line around the course which carts have to stick to. If everyone followed this it would be ok but people are driving off the blue line to get to their balls and off the highline into the really soft ground.
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Just to put things in perspective, here in AZ the cost of private clubs has sky rocketed . DC Ranch initiation costs ( market based pricing) are rumored to be around $300,000 with a 2-3 year waiting list. Superb facility but……
Desert Forest up in Carefree , a highly rated golfers golf course ( golf and clubhouse only) is going for $68,000 initiation fee with a 3 year wait list.
The monthly dues are something really special but I won’t bore you with that.
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Should have the tracking function with the onboard GPS in the cart. Where the location of the cart could be monitored from the pro-shop. We have several golf courses have this monitoring capability and the GPS will issue a voice warning if the cart is wondering off the designated route.
Very useful especially in the Winter and Spring months when the fairways have soft turf.
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It would be useful…if the GPS were accurate and if the geofencing was programmed adequately. Since often neither of those are true, it’s a reviled feature by many golfers. “I’m driving on the f^*$ing cart path! Why is it telling me to back-up, and it’s dropped to 1 MPH?!”
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