Would you rather play 100 or more rounds a year where 95% were at the same course or 50-75 rounds a year split evenly between 10 or more different courses?

[golfortennis]

On 6/19/2025 at 6:32 PM, Johnny Biarritz said:

Given the options, I'd rather play 100 rounds with 95 of them being at a single course. Just because it's more golf. If I had to option of 100 rounds with 75 of them being at a single course and the other 25 all being at different courses, I'd pick that one. 

 

To the real question at hand, which I believe is cost-value of joining a private club. There is virtually no way the math works out to make it cheaper per round at a private club. I've done the whole spectrum. I was a member of a club in Virginia from 2019 through 2021, dues were $330 a month, I believe. That was with their under-40 discount. I had to play 8 or 9 times a month to work the cost per round down to the same level as the public courses nearby; without the 25% under-40 discount, it would have been 10-11 times a month to break even on money. I never broke even. Eventually I would like to be at a point where that math works out, but it'll be a long time. Being a member of a club is its own thing. Do it because you want to be part of the club. 100 rounds in a year is likely not enough for the math to work out.

 

We have guys who push 160 rounds a year at our club.  Our GM said the average number of rounds last year was 65.  The thing is, and more power to them if that is what they care about, but it's always show up, tee off, complain about their game, not practice... and in some cases, be aware of every spent in the bar so that they just meet the minimum for the year.  In their case I suppose the "math" works out, but that is no way, IMHO to handle a club membership.  If all you ever care about is getting the rounds in, well.... let's just say I have taken to asking about practice and lessons when these guys complain about their game.  

 

Like the others said, there is value in being able to make a tee time, having access to practice facilities, and all that other stuff that can't be quantified.   But it is worth something, just matters how much to you.  

[mshills]

9 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

We have guys who push 160 rounds a year at our club.  Our GM said the average number of rounds last year was 65.  The thing is, and more power to them if that is what they care about, but it's always show up, tee off, complain about their game, not practice... and in some cases, be aware of every spent in the bar so that they just meet the minimum for the year.  In their case I suppose the "math" works out, but that is no way, IMHO to handle a club membership.  If all you ever care about is getting the rounds in, well.... let's just say I have taken to asking about practice and lessons when these guys complain about their game.  

 

Like the others said, there is value in being able to make a tee time, having access to practice facilities, and all that other stuff that can't be quantified.   But it is worth something, just matters how much to you.  

That is a lot of time spent on a hobby just to complain about it. 
 

I am with you on this. A club is a GREAT way, one of my favorite ways, to spend money.

“Getting your moneys worth” or “breaking even” is the wrong way to approach a membership, and I’m not surprised at all the same type of guys are the professional complainers. No room in my life for those guys.

[ShortGolfer]

It is too much work for me to learn how to drive to 10+ courses.

 

It is great to be able to play a private course just 4 minutes away!

It has nicely maintained greens and bunkers for me to get really good at playing those parts of the game.

 

I think I'd be happy with just one easy nine hole municipal course and a challenging 18 hole private course.  

 

Edited July 9 by ShortGolfer

[me05501]

For me it comes down to who I want to play with most of the time.  

 

There's a country club close to me. IMO it's more expensive than it should be and I don't have very many close friends who are members. The guest fee is about $95 per round so my usual crew is probably not coming to play with me there more than a few times per year. 

 

If I joined that club I would definitely start playing in their weekly money games. It's the only way I'd get my money's worth. But that would take me out of circulation on the Saturday and Sunday rounds I play with my pals. 

 

Among the 10-12 guys in our usual rotation, a handful belong to a few scruffy local clubs that have generous guest policies. The same guests can play as many times as they like and the guest fees are only $55-60. Hardly a weekend goes by that we don't have a group lined up to play either Saturday or Sunday or both. 

 

Those are the guys I go on trips with and compete with all the time. We have our own money games and we know each other's games very well. They're my golf family. 

 

I don't think I could walk away from that. So I remain unaffiliated. 

 

[Johnny Biarritz]

2 hours ago, golfortennis said:

 

We have guys who push 160 rounds a year at our club.  Our GM said the average number of rounds last year was 65.  The thing is, and more power to them if that is what they care about, but it's always show up, tee off, complain about their game, not practice... and in some cases, be aware of every spent in the bar so that they just meet the minimum for the year.  In their case I suppose the "math" works out, but that is no way, IMHO to handle a club membership.  If all you ever care about is getting the rounds in, well.... let's just say I have taken to asking about practice and lessons when these guys complain about their game.  

 

Like the others said, there is value in being able to make a tee time, having access to practice facilities, and all that other stuff that can't be quantified.   But it is worth something, just matters how much to you.  

Certainly the math works out for some people, if that's what they're going for. When I was in high school my course had a member who'd play 18 holes a day every day of the year except during December and January when the days were too short and he'd only play 9. And he'd play at least 27 every Saturday and Sunday. And we had a group of guys who'd play every day all year round. But those people know their drive to play that much. The cost per round thing only works if you're already playing more than that. A person isn't suddenly going to pay 3x a week, most likely, if they're not already. Same with the range. People want to justify club fees by saying it has unlimited range...yeah, bro, you went to the range 3 times in the last year, so you're going to pay $400-500 a month to join a club to save maybe $40 on range balls? My point was that people aren't going to play more than they're already playing and trying to break the number down on some cost-per-round thing is pretty much never going to work out in their favor. 

 

I do think there is something where a person needs to get their money's worth from a club. However that happens. If it's being able to hit 800 balls on the range and play 18 holes every day, cool. If it's one round a month and hanging in the clubhouse for a couple hours afterwards with the fellows, cool. But a person has a "break even" at the club in some way, otherwise why be a member at all?

[Mullenboy]

20 minutes ago, Johnny Biarritz said:

Certainly the math works out for some people, if that's what they're going for. When I was in high school my course had a member who'd play 18 holes a day every day of the year except during December and January when the days were too short and he'd only play 9. And he'd play at least 27 every Saturday and Sunday. And we had a group of guys who'd play every day all year round. But those people know their drive to play that much. The cost per round thing only works if you're already playing more than that. A person isn't suddenly going to pay 3x a week, most likely, if they're not already. Same with the range. People want to justify club fees by saying it has unlimited range...yeah, bro, you went to the range 3 times in the last year, so you're going to pay $400-500 a month to join a club to save maybe $40 on range balls? My point was that people aren't going to play more than they're already playing and trying to break the number down on some cost-per-round thing is pretty much never going to work out in their favor. 

 

I do think there is something where a person needs to get their money's worth from a club. However that happens. If it's being able to hit 800 balls on the range and play 18 holes every day, cool. If it's one round a month and hanging in the clubhouse for a couple hours afterwards with the fellows, cool. But a person has a "break even" at the club in some way, otherwise why be a member at all?

Very wise.  A great man once told me that when it comes to a private club, if one has to think about the money, don't do it.  It never works out.

 

One pays for the convenience.  Or camraderie.  Or both.

[golfortennis]

53 minutes ago, Johnny Biarritz said:

Certainly the math works out for some people, if that's what they're going for. When I was in high school my course had a member who'd play 18 holes a day every day of the year except during December and January when the days were too short and he'd only play 9. And he'd play at least 27 every Saturday and Sunday. And we had a group of guys who'd play every day all year round. But those people know their drive to play that much. The cost per round thing only works if you're already playing more than that. A person isn't suddenly going to pay 3x a week, most likely, if they're not already. Same with the range. People want to justify club fees by saying it has unlimited range...yeah, bro, you went to the range 3 times in the last year, so you're going to pay $400-500 a month to join a club to save maybe $40 on range balls? My point was that people aren't going to play more than they're already playing and trying to break the number down on some cost-per-round thing is pretty much never going to work out in their favor. 

 

I do think there is something where a person needs to get their money's worth from a club. However that happens. If it's being able to hit 800 balls on the range and play 18 holes every day, cool. If it's one round a month and hanging in the clubhouse for a couple hours afterwards with the fellows, cool. But a person has a "break even" at the club in some way, otherwise why be a member at all?

 

Agreed.  I can understand using the monetary aspect as justification to give it up if you don't use it as much as you want.  I think anyone could.  But trying to get the break-even, as you say, is just a fool's errand.  You might be able to "justify" it monetarily, but there is a cost somewhere.  Family?  Health?  While golf isn't the most strenuous sport, playing that much can have effects, especially if your mechanics are poor(and of the 160 plus round guys, only one is whom you would call a good golfer).    

[Mullenboy]

It's odd to me that 160 rounds is being set out as a lot.  That's 3 times per week.  I play 5 at least.  🙂

[NDSwim]

Original poster hasn’t responded in almost three weeks…..

[golfpractitioner5]

9 hours ago, NDSwim said:

Original poster hasn’t responded in almost three weeks…..

I’ve just been reading everyone’s comments. All make valid points.

 

I'm honestly amazed at how much some people play golf. 2 rounds a week would be tops for me. Granted, I do have a home simulator that I’m in quite regularly. Maybe if I didn’t have that, I’d want to get out even more.

Edited July 10 by golfpractitioner5

[david.c.w]

For me more golf > less golf assuming the courses in question are of similar caliber/experience.  There would have to be a large discrepancy for me to go with less golf.

 

[golfortennis]

On 7/9/2025 at 3:40 PM, Mullenboy said:

It's odd to me that 160 rounds is being set out as a lot.  That's 3 times per week.  I play 5 at least.  🙂

 

😀

 

When your course is closed from November through March, with April and October being very sketchy to play, the math changes.

[mshills]

On 7/9/2025 at 3:40 PM, Mullenboy said:

It's odd to me that 160 rounds is being set out as a lot.  That's 3 times per week.  I play 5 at least.  🙂

If you have year round golf…

 

This “get your moneys worth” I don’t really understand. I look at a club as a great way to spend money. I enjoy writing that check behind only my sons’ educational and athletics costs. 

[Petethreeput]

I mentioned the positives earlier, but want to expound on them.  Golf is a game, I am an amateur, and it is also a social event for me.  I'm done going out and grinding hard for the best score, I want to laugh, I want to play with friends, I want to know I have a consistent game.  We have a couple of days at our place with tee times at the same time that I can schedule for and we all convene and play golf (both days consist of probably 30 folks on the text chains).  Folks whom I would never know outside the golf course.  It's more than the game itself, it becomes familiarity.

 

Here are the people I have met and have a moderately professional relationship with (simply because I am not professional), and have used them for help:

 

Flooring, legal stuff, insurance stuff, accounting, money, real estate, plumbing, HVAC, electric, roofing, construction, auto sales/maintenance, auto body work, and medical care.  And, they all use me, so the money I spend (whether it is more than what I would pay on multiple publics) comes back to me one way or another and I know they have my back and aren't trying to take advantage of me.  I can't imagine having a project (or whatever) and having to get multiple bids, what a PITA.  I want people I have known and trusted for years to take care of me, and they feel the same way.

 

I should also say, network golfing isn't what I do, these relationships have grown over the years organically and none of this happened in the first few years, but it is a perk that is often overlooked when deciding to make the jump to private.  

[golfortennis]

On 7/11/2025 at 10:51 AM, Petethreeput said:

I mentioned the positives earlier, but want to expound on them.  Golf is a game, I am an amateur, and it is also a social event for me.  I'm done going out and grinding hard for the best score, I want to laugh, I want to play with friends, I want to know I have a consistent game.  We have a couple of days at our place with tee times at the same time that I can schedule for and we all convene and play golf (both days consist of probably 30 folks on the text chains).  Folks whom I would never know outside the golf course.  It's more than the game itself, it becomes familiarity.

 

Here are the people I have met and have a moderately professional relationship with (simply because I am not professional), and have used them for help:

 

Flooring, legal stuff, insurance stuff, accounting, money, real estate, plumbing, HVAC, electric, roofing, construction, auto sales/maintenance, auto body work, and medical care.  And, they all use me, so the money I spend (whether it is more than what I would pay on multiple publics) comes back to me one way or another and I know they have my back and aren't trying to take advantage of me.  I can't imagine having a project (or whatever) and having to get multiple bids, what a PITA.  I want people I have known and trusted for years to take care of me, and they feel the same way.

 

I should also say, network golfing isn't what I do, these relationships have grown over the years organically and none of this happened in the first few years, but it is a perk that is often overlooked when deciding to make the jump to private.  

 

Exactly.  You're not out there hustling for business, or looking to get favors banked, but once you know someone after a few rounds of golf, you know whether or not you would do business with them, and if you do, you will be looked after.  

 

No one ever mentions either the fact that other private clubs can somewhat "open" up to you if things work out a certain way.

[Mullenboy]

On 7/11/2025 at 6:11 AM, golfortennis said:

 

😀

 

When your course is closed from November through March, with April and October being very sketchy to play, the math changes.

Why would anyone live in a place like that?  🙂

[golfortennis]

4 hours ago, Mullenboy said:

Why would anyone live in a place like that?  🙂

 

Answers likely something to do with before AC was invented.