Even when I get back into the office next year, the club is only 10 minutes from there as well, another big reason I went with it!
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When I was still working, we had a regular Friday morning game. We would get the first tee time at 7:30, play in 2 1/2 hours, shower, and be in the office by 11:00. There’s nothing like being the first group out in the morning.
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If you’re going to travel any amount of distance like that you’d almost have to make it an all day thing. Golf, lunch/dinner, maybe gym or pool time. That’s a lot of road time to hammer through 18 in 3-4 hours then head back. I guess LA folks are probably used to long car rides, but two hours round trip every time you want to play seems like a lot and would deter you from playing as much as you’d like to. May not get your moneys worth that way.
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Does anyone have an end of season Greenskeeper’s Revenge tournament at your club?
We did this year… it was hardest pin… I think half the pot went to the grounds crew to thank them for the work they did this season…
I’m not a big fan of such events… I love miniature golf on its own, and if I’m in the mood for that, I’ll go play it.
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What’s that? I’m unfamiliar with the concept… 
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Ha ha. I get to have an end of season in the north before moving south for the winter.
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I think it’s fun to see what they could do to you throughout the year if they wanted to.
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I joined a golf club about two years ago. Up to this point, I have enjoyed it BUT this Covid-19 pandemic has affected my feelings towards golf.
I had high hopes this year of keeping my index below 10. No such luck! The course is not that easy, but this club has made it hard for me to get professional help. They laid off most of their professional staff and replaced them eventually with lower level personnel. Also, they hindered me from practicing as much as I need to by cutting out many of the slots on the practice tee for social distance.
Very little social contact other than just playing.
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Welcome to the community.
It’s a shame they were forced to lay off staff, especially those in a teaching capacity. This pandemic has been difficult to navigate. There just isn’t any right way to do it. A lot of courses are struggling along with everyone else.
Are there no other ranges or teaching pros in the area where you could have gotten extra practice in?
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Welcome, and sorry to hear that. This is a bizarre time to say the least and I know a lot of clubs are handling things very differently. Hopefully you’ll learn some new ideas on here that will help your approach to the game!
Some of the best instructors in the country are now offering video lessons. You might try that and even improve the quality of the lessons over your club teaching pro.
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Yes, I found help at a driving range I used to go to. It has really helped. I just wished I had dealt with it earlier in the year.
One thing I forgot to mention was that opportunities to play other courses has dwindled. I limit my playing of my club to 2-3 times a week.
I feel more positive now, but the main season is almost over. A case of ‘what could have been’!
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Here in Adelaide there are no country clubs just private golf clubs and public courses. I joined the closest course a private course. The 2nd closest course is a public course. My course cost about 2.5 times the season card at the public course but I can get to my course with only 1 traffic light with a large carpark vs crossing the city and difficult parking arrangements in a residential area. I also hoped for a better looked after course.
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Quick update, coming up on finishing my first month at the club and I got out there to play 24 times (probably evenly split between nine holes and eighteen holes). Add in pool time for the kids once or twice a week and a bit of tennis, I feel like the cost has definitely been worth it, even if the pandemic continues to prevent the social/community events at the club from happening.
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We had it last weekend. I shot a million mainly due to bad tee shots (ob/hazard)
I’ll say the pins were generally “fair” but some were on the line. There was never a putt where you had no chance, but would have to be nearly perfect to be within 2 feet, otherwise it was rolling down a slope. I’d say maybe 6 pins were ones that would be acceptable to use in a tournament setting, the rest were too tucked or close to a ridge. I think maybe 1 pin could have been used for every day play without pissing off too many people.
I enjoy it once a year.
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Sounds like they did it right… I think too many times those events turn into “haha, you can’t make this putt” and it’s not fun.
There are tough pin placements, and I think those are fine all the time… there are unfair pin placements and those are OK for events like this… and then there are just dumb pin placements when you don’t have an out, and that’s not fun and kills pace of play.
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Growing up caddying the course did it a little harder. There were definitely more “on the edge” holes, but when you got to 18 the pin was dead center of the green and with a big cup that was a foot in diameter.
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I was a member at Snoqualmie Ridge in WA where they play the Boeing Classic on the Champions Tour. It’s a Nicklaus design that is so spectacular that I never got bored and would have been happy playing only that course forever. Everything about that club was great.
Now I am playing public courses in the afternoons and that allows me to get around under 4 hours. I’m still meeting great people but I usually don’t see them again after that round.
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OK so despite what I said earlier in this topic, we (wife and I) ended up taking the plunge…
Nice course - natural looking, good layout, easy to play just 9 or even any random number of holes, challenging enough without being overly so, decent practice area with the ability to work on short game stuff, and … very walkable!
Has all the fancy country club amenities … including a pretty decent workout room! … and what seems to be a decent kitchen and good IPA and wine selections at the bar - and no F&B minimums.
Also no capital assessments 
Club was bought out / taken over by a golf club property management group called Concert Golf Partners. They buy distressed private clubs, recapitalize them and put in money for repairs, rehabilitations and set up new membership fee tiers.
This org structure was appealing to me - kind of a hybrid between member-run with corporate governance.
So far we’ve met several friendly, outgoing members and are starting to feel comfortable there.
And - it’s only about 15 or so minutes, depending on stop lights and traffic, from our house.
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