Ballyneal one time play

[mci711]

Is this still a thing? I came across some articles, and someone mentioned in another thread they allow you to come out 1 time to experience the course but you have to stay in their cabins. I am looking for more information, but I can't find anything on their website.

 

Thanks!

[abergervt]

Well worth the trip. Contact them directly.

[Schley]

That was me and yes it is alive and well. I was there just 2 weeks ago. Simply email them from the website and tell them you are interested in guest play for xyz dates and they will come back with an application for you to fill out for formal application for them to approve on their timeline. Part of the requirement is you HAVE to stay in their accommodation at least 1 night and is $250 per player for unlimited golf per day. You can stay and play Sunday - Thursday and can stay and play any or all of those days.

[berrykicker34]

I took advantage of it last year. I also emailed them and was able to book a visit. I though wasn’t able to stay overnight due to a wedding I was in. So they allowed me to drive up and play without having to stay overnight. Another bonus is the green fee included as many holes as you can play that day, including the par 3 course. Enjoy, it’s well worth the drive from Denver even if it’s just for the day.

[mci711]

That was me and yes it is alive and well. I was there just 2 weeks ago. Simply email them from the website and tell them you are interested in guest play for xyz dates and they will come back with an application for you to fill out for formal application for them to approve on their timeline. Part of the requirement is you HAVE to stay in their accommodation at least 1 night and is $250 per player for unlimited golf per day. You can stay and play Sunday - Thursday and can stay and play any or all of those days.

I took advantage of it last year. I also emailed them and was able to book a visit. I though wasn’t able to stay overnight due to a wedding I was in. So they allowed me to drive up and play without having to stay overnight. Another bonus is the green fee included as many holes as you can play that day, including the par 3 course. Enjoy, it’s well worth the drive from Denver even if it’s just for the day.

 

Thanks guys! Going to try next summer. Looks great.

[tiderider]

is this a "you write and ask them and they might respond"i.e. sand hills, or a "they'll give you a tee time once, regardless, as long as you're not a nebraska fan"? ...

[Schley]

is this a "you write and ask them and they might respond"i.e. sand hills, or a "they'll give you a tee time once, regardless, as long as you're not a nebraska fan"? ...

 

No guarantees on dates, but I haven't talked to anyone who wasn't able to work it out. Just keep in mind it is once in your lifetime, which is Sand Hills model as well. You can come back as a guest or join yourself obviously, but this unaccompanied play is a one time only courtesy so use it wisely.

[Craigstands17]

they are definetly still doing this i was able to set up a time to play on Tuesday while out there for a wedding. Really looking forward to it! ended up contacting them the same way schley did.

[tiderider]

is this a "you write and ask them and they might respond"i.e. sand hills, or a "they'll give you a tee time once, regardless, as long as you're not a nebraska fan"? ...

 

No guarantees on dates, but I haven't talked to anyone who wasn't able to work it out. Just keep in mind it is once in your lifetime, which is Sand Hills model as well. You can come back as a guest or join yourself obviously, but this unaccompanied play is a one time only courtesy so use it wisely.

 

but sand hills is not a guarantee ... you must have a member sponsor you ... this sounds like ballyneal is not requiring a member to sponsor you ...

[Schley]

is this a "you write and ask them and they might respond"i.e. sand hills, or a "they'll give you a tee time once, regardless, as long as you're not a nebraska fan"? ...

 

No guarantees on dates, but I haven't talked to anyone who wasn't able to work it out. Just keep in mind it is once in your lifetime, which is Sand Hills model as well. You can come back as a guest or join yourself obviously, but this unaccompanied play is a one time only courtesy so use it wisely.

 

but sand hills is not a guarantee ... you must have a member sponsor you ... this sounds like ballyneal is not requiring a member to sponsor you ...

 

I didn't say SH was a guarentee for I tried a letter this year and was rejected so far from one. This Ballyneal deal is pretty well known, but again it is a one time visit. Great value but keep in mind walking only and you must use a caddie.

[tiderider]

got it ... thanks ...

 

fairly exclusive club opens its doors for a one time visit ... very neat ... will have to add that to a future trip ...

[berrykicker34]

To add on, I played in the am with a caddie (tipped her) then the afternoon played without one. The course isn’t an ‘easy’ walk so felt it playing my second round followed by the par 3.

[clabarre72]

Great info here folks. thanks

[tiderider]

Great info here folks. thanks

 

yeah, second that ... and the more i think about it, the more i admire what this club has done ... "look, we're a private club and our members pay for that privacy, but we're also aware of how special this course is, so we're gonna give you reprobates a 1 time experience - no letters of inquiry necessary, no lottery (unless there's too many of you) ... just send us an email and we'll give you that one time special, cause this is a fabulous course and we think you should play it" ... sand hills will allow play IF you're letter appeals to someone, but for american courses, i can't think of anything else that resembles what this private club does ...

[raynorfan1]

Great info here folks. thanks

but for american courses, i can't think of anything else that resembles what this private club does ...

 

I think the VAST majority of private clubs would respond favorably to a well written and reasoned request to play. Augusta? Probably not. I wonder how many letters Fred Ridley gets every year...

 

But almost any other club? I think you’d have a pretty good chance.

[CMCSGolf]

Great info here folks. thanks

but for american courses, i can't think of anything else that resembles what this private club does ...

 

I think the VAST majority of private clubs would respond favorably to a well written and reasoned request to play. Augusta? Probably not. I wonder how many letters Fred Ridley gets every year...

 

But almost any other club? I think you'd have a pretty good chance.

 

I would have thought so too, but I've found it not to be the case. I'm 1 for ~75 on requests to play with a letter. Perhaps I'm a bad letter writer, but I've had very little success. I knew places like Shoreacres and Chicago GC would turn me down (I had to try!), but I've also been turned down by very average country clubs. The one course that let me on was North Shore in Chicago.

 

For the record, I always offer to pay the guest fee and request to play a weekday in October in the midwest, so not a peak time.

[tiderider]

well, highly ranked private clubs would not permit nonmembers to play ... shinnecock? ... cypress point? ... heck, birmingham country club (a ross course)? ... a well written letter that entails ... what? ... "i like your course and i'm affable"? ... i don't think so, but i'm not blaming them ...

[raynorfan1]

Great info here folks. thanks

but for american courses, i can't think of anything else that resembles what this private club does ...

 

I think the VAST majority of private clubs would respond favorably to a well written and reasoned request to play. Augusta? Probably not. I wonder how many letters Fred Ridley gets every year...

 

But almost any other club? I think you'd have a pretty good chance.

 

I would have thought so too, but I've found it not to be the case. I'm 1 for ~75 on requests to play with a letter. Perhaps I'm a bad letter writer, but I've had very little success. I knew places like Shoreacres and Chicago GC would turn me down (I had to try!), but I've also been turned down by very average country clubs. The one course that let me on was North Shore in Chicago.

 

For the record, I always offer to pay the guest fee and request to play a weekday in October in the midwest, so not a peak time.

 

With all due respect...you might not be a great letter writer. I suspect that churning out ~75 of them impacts quality...

 

At my middling home club, I know we get/accept a handful of letters each year, because I’m often asked to host the group. In fairness, most are overseas visitors, so it may be that a local letter writer has no chance.

[jerebear21]

You got to start your letter with “dear kind sir, I’m ____ and a member of ____”

 

And the finish line of “thank you kindly”

 

Not even joking.

[AUTIGER07]

Great info here folks. thanks

but for american courses, i can't think of anything else that resembles what this private club does ...

 

I think the VAST majority of private clubs would respond favorably to a well written and reasoned request to play. Augusta? Probably not. I wonder how many letters Fred Ridley gets every year...

 

But almost any other club? I think you'd have a pretty good chance.

 

I would have thought so too, but I've found it not to be the case. I'm 1 for ~75 on requests to play with a letter. Perhaps I'm a bad letter writer, but I've had very little success. I knew places like Shoreacres and Chicago GC would turn me down (I had to try!), but I've also been turned down by very average country clubs. The one course that let me on was North Shore in Chicago.

 

For the record, I always offer to pay the guest fee and request to play a weekday in October in the midwest, so not a peak time.

 

I fly over Chicago GC 6-7x a month coming back into ORD. Since I’ll likely never get on there I like to play it my mind during the flight. Last flight I shot a 26 on the front 9...really was hitting the ball well that day.

 

What Ballyneal is doing is very cool and I imagine is much easier to pull off when you are a remote destination. Daily member play will always be low when you are ~3-4 hours from the nearest major city which makes it easy to pull off this type of program.

[puttnforthe8]

In case anyone wants to get out an play: https://www.ballyneal.com/about-us/chop-hills-classic/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Chop%20Hills%20Classic%20to%20Non-Members&utm_content=Chop%20Hills%20Classic%20to%20Non-Members%20CID_4846ddf5081dea45b05f6e4aa9e437f5&utm_source=Front%20Porch%20Soltuions%20Email%20Marketing%20Software&utm_term=Ballyneal%20Foundation

[drscott266]

That was me and yes it is alive and well. I was there just 2 weeks ago. Simply email them from the website and tell them you are interested in guest play for xyz dates and they will come back with an application for you to fill out for formal application for them to approve on their timeline. Part of the requirement is you HAVE to stay in their accommodation at least 1 night and is $250 per player for unlimited golf per day. You can stay and play Sunday - Thursday and can stay and play any or all of those days.

 

Does anyone know what it costs to stay there for a night?

[Schley]

That was me and yes it is alive and well. I was there just 2 weeks ago. Simply email them from the website and tell them you are interested in guest play for xyz dates and they will come back with an application for you to fill out for formal application for them to approve on their timeline. Part of the requirement is you HAVE to stay in their accommodation at least 1 night and is $250 per player for unlimited golf per day. You can stay and play Sunday - Thursday and can stay and play any or all of those days.

 

Does anyone know what it costs to stay there for a night?

These are per person..... $250 for a single room, $165 for a double. Pretty reasonable. Very nice rooms in the on site lodging.

[drscott266]

Thanks. They responded to my email with a kind response, but said I needed to go through a sponsoring member. No such luck with an unaccompanied play request

[CDM]

Thanks. They responded to my email with a kind response, but said I needed to go through a sponsoring member. No such luck with an unaccompanied play request

 

They probably get so many request that they had to start following the industry "standard" in the USA. Its so odd to me that a decent amount of the top ranked courses in the world but "across the pond" allow public play on certain days.

[Dancin]

Thanks. They responded to my email with a kind response, but said I needed to go through a sponsoring member. No such luck with an unaccompanied play request

 

They won't be letting the general public book something way ahead any more now that they have a waiting list to join and a charity event the general public can play in to support their foundation. That is going to be your best bet and I can tell you the rate for that is pretty much the same as what a member's guest pays when factoring in the money for the tournament and food: https://www.ballyneal.com/about-us/chop-hills-classic/

 

With a limited number of rooms, they can't take the chance of running out of rooms when a member wants to come out with a group. You might still have a chance maybe in July or early August when it is really hot out there and offer a week or two ahead to come out on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. It's unlikely a big group is going to schedule something within a week, so maybe you'll get lucky with a day there aren't many members scheduled to be out there. In general though I think that option will be pretty rare for the general public outside of the foundation event. As CDM said they get lots of requests from other private club pros calling for their members in addition to the general public. Those unaccompanied rounds are going to be offered to other private club members.

[geochitown]

A Chicago golfwrx’er Has an auction up now which includes play at ballyneal

 

Ends tomorrow night

 

https://m.biddingforgood.com/auctions/341691125/items/341783755

 

 

[Dancin]

They probably get so many request that they had to start following the industry "standard" in the USA. Its so odd to me that a decent amount of the top ranked courses in the world but "across the pond" allow public play on certain days.

 

They can do that over there because the courses were built so long ago that there isn't any debt remaining, their members aren't clamoring for lush conditions or new, huge expensive club houses every 20 years, they play fast and often play alternate shot or other team combinations instead of 4 ball stroke play so the course can support more members paying dues and they have the weather and sand base where the grass can grow well without a huge maintenance budget. Thus the dues for members are ridiculously low. The residents of St. Andrews have the best membership deal in the world at about $1200 for all seven courses unlimited golf for a year. Even Royal Dornoch which is one of the more expensive ones is a $1300 initiation and $600 a year.

 

If you're paying less than what public course annual passes go for in the US, letting the public out a day or two during the week isn't going to bother you. If you're dropping tens or hundreds of thousands for initiation plus high annual dues, you're not going to be happy you paid all that money if the public can go out and play every week. Because of the higher maintenance budget and the amount of money it costs to build and run a club in the US, it is very hard to have that model here.

[CDM]

They probably get so many request that they had to start following the industry "standard" in the USA. Its so odd to me that a decent amount of the top ranked courses in the world but "across the pond" allow public play on certain days.

 

They can do that over there because the courses were built so long ago that there isn't any debt remaining, their members aren't clamoring for lush conditions or new, huge expensive club houses every 20 years, they play fast and often play alternate shot or other team combinations instead of 4 ball stroke play so the course can support more members paying dues and they have the weather and sand base where the grass can grow well without a huge maintenance budget. Thus the dues for members are ridiculously low. The residents of St. Andrews have the best membership deal in the world at about $1200 for all seven courses unlimited golf for a year. Even Royal Dornoch which is one of the more expensive ones is a $1300 initiation and $600 a year.

 

If you're paying less than what public course annual passes go for in the US, letting the public out a day or two during the week isn't going to bother you. If you're dropping tens or hundreds of thousands for initiation plus high annual dues, you're not going to be happy you paid all that money if the public can go out and play every week. Because of the higher maintenance budget and the amount of money it costs to build and run a club in the US, it is very hard to have that model here.

 

100% agree. The conditions are the biggest difference (cost) it seems related to US courses. Great example of conditions IMHO is the British Open...they play it however it is. =) Last year was the best example in years. Not alot complaining like they do with the US Open. BUT Issue is the Europe courses are designed to be maintained like that as you note VS here they designed to be played in "perfect" conditions and when you remove those conditions the course(s) can be almost unplayable.

 

Being lucky enough to play Ballyneal with a gracious member it is a great example of how to build a course that can maintain. You dont need to have "perfect" conditions to have an amazing course. Another good example to me was Kingsley Club.

 

BUT we as americans get pretty spoiled (so to speak) when it comes to how we expect the course conditions. Even public tracks get ripped for not being perfect and typically from someone who paid $30 on a Golfnow special and goes nuts about it having a few dry patches. =)

 

Edit: I dont think we will ever see it like in Ireland or EU on cost to play / membership. The St Anderews member cost is sooo crazy good its scary. Not just for the OC...but the fact you get all 7 courses!

[Dancin]

All you have to do is look at Sawgrass on TV this week to see what is wrong with golf in the US. What should be a firm and fast tournament this time of year is going to be so soft balls will be hopping and stopping in the fairway and spinning back 10 feet on greens and TV announcers will be praising how great it looks. They dumped so much over seed, fertilizer and water on it, it's going to look as green as Augusta.

 

I played Country Club of Orlando a few weeks ago where the membership gets it and they don't over seed. They've had a lot of rain this year so it was pretty lush for this time of year, but the ball still ran in the fairway and you could run shots up on the greens.

 

The other big issue in the US is cart golf whereas everybody walks over there. High numbers of cart rounds on clay based fairways pretty much requires soaking the course and using more chemicals. If more people walked they wouldn't have to spend so much just to keep the fairways alive.