Private vs Public

General Discussion
#1

My wife and I have been weighing the cost of joining one of the nicer private courses here in town. I currently play at Indian Creek, which is one of the nicest public courses in the state. They play a Korn Ferry Tour event there. It’s a great course. The problem is they don’t have any kind of membership or season pass you can buy. It’s full price every time I play. At $70 a pop it adds up fast. Granted $70 isn’t bad for the level of course I’m playing.

I’m playing twice a week right now. So all Summer it’s been $140/wk to play my course. $560/mo. It’s crazy spendy considering most of the private clubs in town are around $300-400/mo in dues and that’s for unlimited golf. The initiation fees are anywhere from $3000-$26000 depending on where you join. At the club we want to join it’s $5000 and can be split if you join at the same time as friends or other family. So we’re trying to pitch some friends because why not.

My job is changing soon and I’m going to have a lot more flexibility, which for me means a lot more golf - next year probably since Winter is Coming.

I will also add that I sort of despise public golf. It’s slow. There are a lot of people on the course who don’t know etiquette. It’s slow. It’s slow. It’s slow.

Just wanting to know what your experience has been making the switch from public to private. Have you played enough golf to warrant it? Are the extra amenities enough to make it worth it (pool, tennis, restaurants, club events)?

I grew up on a private course and I miss the community, tournaments, and lifestyle. It feels like an easy choice, but I’m a finance guy, so the numbers have to make sense to me before I do anything.

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#2

I grew up playing public golf courses on Long Island, which is perhaps some of the slowest golf in the country (a lot of people on a small island who love to play golf = packed courses).

I didn’t join a private club until I was in my 30s. The first course I joined is owned by our village, so while it’s private, I wouldn’t say it’s a “country club” feel. However, I loved my time there. I made a lot of friends and the cost was amazingly low for a private club on LI. But they had a ton of members and the tee sheet was usually booked up.

The past two years I’ve paid extra to be at a nicer course with less members. We don’t have tee times (with the exception of this year because of Covid). You just show up and play. The amount of time I’ve saved has been pretty dramatic. And while I was a little nervous about joining because I didn’t want that snooty private atmosphere, everyone is down to earth and welcoming. I now have a ton of friends and plenty of opportunity to play matches and events.

So I would say that the community and time savings of a private club are very important factors to consider. If you play a lot anyways, those greens fees add up pretty quickly!

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#3

I also grew up playing public golf. My wife and I joined a club almost 30 years ago, just as construction was being completed, and we love it. With two of us playing, the cost per round ends up being pretty low. Don’t look at it on a monthly basis, consider that there will be times you won’t play as much, so think about it on a yearly basis.
Even if the money isn’t the big advantage, and amenities can boost the value, but the biggest value comes from the community you’ll be joining. That would be a prime factor in my decision, how easy is it to become part of the big group. Can the pro introduce you to people, are there openings to join regular games, or is the tee sheet booked all the time with pre-made foursomes? At this stage, most of our friends are also golfers at our club.

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#4

I’ve walked home from my course… It’s really nice to have a country club in your backyard (my wife picked the neighborhood, I told her we couldn’t live there and not join the club).

It’s nice to have a club membership… a place where you can play and practice as much as you want. It’s also nice to be at a place with consistent people, meet other golfers and have some competitive rounds.

It also has a pool, which was great this summer for the kids…

It’s not all puppy dogs and ice cream, though… we just did an overly expensive remodel and the one thing they did not complete was the GCQUAD bays they promised (We did, however, spend the same amount of money redoing our fireside room and a secondary bar)… you are stuck with the members there… so make sure you know some people before joining!

I’ve really enjoyed being a member, though.

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#5

I grew up on public courses (thankfully my county had 5-6 good options).

Joined club which is borderline on our budget, but if I didn’t join I doubt I’d play much (not due to lack of good public options, but with 2 young kids it’s hard to get the OK to go play - and also all of the people I’d play with are members). I can go out and play in under 4 hours every time. Get first tee time and be back well before lunch. Also helps that we have 2 courses so variety isn’t much of a problem (and neither is getting a tee time).

Thankfully there are restaurants/pool/other amenities the family can use.

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#6

I love public golf, it’s what I always played and I think having so many varied options is fantastic. Also I think everybody who wants to play should and therefor it’s absolutely essential to have a strong public golf system.
All that said, for how much golf I play and how much I want to play, I would jump all over a private option if it was within our budget. My wife is going to give learning golf a shot and if she enjoys it, we’ll almost certainly join one.
For you there in Nebraska, it’s probably also useful to consider that you’ll be paying year round and only golfing 6+ months, so taking advantage of the other services and the community is important to the value. Sounds like you are looking forward to those things though, so I say it would probably work for you.

#7

When I was looking for a club to join I had to chose between the closest club (6km with only 1 traffic light)which is private or the cheapest course which is public (9km away with a gazillion traffic lights and difficult parking arrangements). I considered no traffic issues vs crossing the city and potential peak hr traffic jams and course care being better at a private club and joined the private club. Great facilities with a driving range hitting off grass, 2 practice bunkers, 2 putting/chipping greens plus warm up nets although people don’t always rake bunkers or fix pitch marks like they should. We also take public bookings and have trade days to boost revenue which I suppose helps keep subs down. I found the club very welcoming and I definitely get my moneys worth. Last year I went a bit crazy and played 416 rounds equating to $4.41 a round.

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#8

WHAT???!!! I say you got your money’s worth :laughing:

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#9

And that was with a 6 day membership only able to play after 12 on Tues and Wed and after 1000 on Sundays.

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#10

For me, if I broke out the cost/round for my private membership, it would never make sense to join compared to just paying to play inexpensive public courses around here. However, all the intangibles make it more than worth it . Such as playing in the men’s league, the various fun tournaments (one-club, red/white/blue, ryder cup, member/guest, etc.), wife plays in the women’s league, my kids have a group that they play with multiple times/wk., the pool, tennis, practice facility and on-and-on.

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#11

I think that’s what it can boil down to. There are a lot of intangibles that end up being valuable at an emotional level when you join a club. So while it might not make financial sense (sometimes it does) based on a per-round cost, it might be something that has so much value in your life that you’re willing to pay extra for it.

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#12

I think this is the deciding factor. If it was just me I’d pick the course I like the best and that would be all that mattered. I have my wife and son to consider and their happiness is more important. The huge draw is the pool. My kid loves swimming and my wife only works weekend nights at the Children’s Hospital, so they could go to the pool every day in the summer. Plus a really great junior program for when he’s a little older.

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#13

This is right, you can’t do cost per round unless you’re like okiwiz and can play everyday. Some months for me it would come out to $700/round (winter). It’s certainly a factor but clubs still charge you to play (cart fee, etc).

You need the full experience to matter to make it worthwhile - pool/ gym/ social/ food/ tennis(blashphemy). It was a lot more reasonable for me before having 2 kids in daycare.

#14

Very impressive! I didn’t think anyone else was near my approximately $2.50 per 18 hole round. I am a member of a public course and walk all of my rounds so no extra fees above my yearly dues. Played 260 rounds last year.

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#15

The clubhouse at my course is only a bar/restaurant and locker rooms. There aren’t really any country clubs down under. Golf clubs just golf clubs, no more.

#16

I’m up to 273 rounds so far this year

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#17

You are crushing me. Our course was closed for 2 months (Covid) and we have had a lot of rain. I will probably be lucky to get to 200 this year.

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#18

Our course only closed for one day due to Covid. Just to check with police that we were still allowed to play. Police were visiting the club to make sure we wern’t breaching restrictions(no gatherings of more than 10) We went to 2 player groups not allowed to touch the pin, rakes removed, taps and fountains removed, don’t exchange cards and preferred lies in bunkers. Then it went to 3 player groups and now we are back to normal. We have just finished winter with only about a month of mushy mud. Luckily here in Australia you can golf all year round.

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#19

I don’t think I could ever justify the cost of a private membership. Plenty of public courses around here offer season passes that are simply much cheaper than private memberships. For me personally, I don’t care much about the stuff outside the golf.

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