9-hole Country Club 5 minutes away or 18-hole Country Club 29 minutes way

[golfpractitioner5]

This is not a question I need answered for myself.  It is one that I am asking for my brother-in-law.  They will be relocating, so he will be leaving his current country club.  The place they will be moving to has a 9-hole country club 5 minutes from his house, and 18-hole that is 29 minutes away in the larger town north of them.

 

In context, his current club is 6 minutes from his house, so he is used to it being close.  But, he is, also, used to having access to an 18-hole course with his club.

 

He is curious as to what people would rather have.  9-hole but the convenience of being right down the road which makes it easy to get in a quick round or range session, or 18-hole that is 29 minute drive to the town over?

 

The 9-hole is much cheaper and pretty basic layout with 4 public courses within a 20 minute drive if he wanted some variety.  The 18-hole is a very well kept course with a lot more character to the course.

 

Which would y'all go with?

[ShortGolfer]

I prefer to play on a less busy course.  Public courses then to be more busy than private courses.  When you can play makes a big difference.  I can get up before sunrise to play on a public course as the first one off the tee.

[golfpractitioner5]

2 hours ago, ShortGolfer said:

I prefer to play on a less busy course.  Public courses then to be more busy than private courses.  When you can play makes a big difference.  I can get up before sunrise to play on a public course as the first one off the tee.

Most of his golf would be at whichever country club he decided on, so there shouldn't be an issue with crowds on the course.  He'd probably just hit up those public course for some variety on occasion if the 9-hole course got old.

[nanerman]

I wouldn't join a course I couldn't be excited to go to every single time. It sounds like the 9 hole may fit into this bucket. 

[golfpractitioner5]

37 minutes ago, nanerman said:

I wouldn't join a course I couldn't be excited to go to every single time. It sounds like the 9 hole may fit into this bucket. 

It is hard to say as he has not actually played or seen either course yet.  He just researched it online when he found out about the move.  I told him he needs to play both first which he agreed.

 

I guess his thought is what if he really likes both the same.  Then, the choice is between convenience the 9-hole offers close to home or the full 18-hole experience the course 29 minutes away offers.

 

I based the basic looking 9-hole description off of what I could tell on SwingU and the more character of the 18-hole course of of SwingU, too.

 

For all I know, I could be wrong in my assumptions.

 

 

Edited July 7 by golfpractitioner5

[WesternRacing]

18.

[Shilgy]

A wise golfer that knows he wants to join a private club would have considered this when house shopping…not after especially considering how limited the options are where he’s moving.

 

That said… I would definitely do the 18 hole club unless I hated the course.

[ALX]

Aside from loving/hating one course over the other, I think it depends on his life situation.

 

Is he tight on time due to family responsibilities, where that extra ~40 mins of driving to the 18 hole course is crucial and he will play MORE golf by being close?

 

Or does he not have much else going on and can drive an hour every time he wants to play?

 

[golfpractitioner5]

22 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

A wise golfer that knows he wants to join a private club would have considered this when house shopping…not after especially considering how limited the options are where he’s moving.

 

That said… I would definitely do the 18 hole club unless I hated the course.

Yeah,

 

The location of house was dictated on family interests.  They are big into water sports as a family, and he's the only golfer.  They could have been closer to the 18-hole course but opted for a house with with a dock for easy lake access.

[golfpractitioner5]

10 minutes ago, ALX said:

Aside from loving/hating one course over the other, I think it depends on his life situation.

 

Is he tight on time due to family responsibilities, where that extra ~40 mins of driving to the 18 hole course is crucial and he will play MORE golf by being close?

 

Or does he not have much else going on and can drive an hour every time he wants to play?

 

The drive to play 18-holes is not a concern at all for him.  I think he just wonders if he will miss getting to just hop over to the range anytime he wants or catch a quick 3-6 holes anytime he has an hour to kill like he does with his current club being so close.

[LongNwrong27]

So reading between the lines the 18 hole course is nicer? 9 is tough. With that few holes too it can prob get slowed down fairly easily as lots of folks prob gonna try to play 18 and they have to “ turn” with new folks teeing off.

 

proximity is highly important esp with a fam but unless the 9 hole conditions were significantly better with a great practice facility I’d prob drive for the 18 

[bcjim]

I play 2 places. They are about those same times from my house as the options you present, and I actually play the further one more often. The drive time is not a factor really. There is a base "cost"/effort to getting ready, dressed, loading up, etc such that the added time driving is not all that bothersome and in fact I often use the time to mentally preview the goals for the round and reflect on the round after on the drive home.  And to be sure, there are other factors in favor of the far course so some other factors may turn out to make one more or less appealing. Mostly in my case, its management and playing partners that are a factors while the courses are both fine. If I'm alone, I'm more likely going to the closer course. 

 

Also, 9-holes is not really appealing to be honest but opinions may differ on that. Is it cheap enough he could bail if if didn't like it or got bored?

[golfpractitioner5]

7 minutes ago, bcjim said:

Also, 9-holes is not really appealing to be honest but opinions may differ on that. Is it cheap enough he could bail if if didn't like it or got bored?

The 9-hole is extremely cheap.  No initiation and around $300 a month from what we have found.  It appears to have a decent enough range and practice area based on pictures.  Course looks well kept with nice greens.  It looks pretty straight forward.  I joked and said it basically is a tree-lined driving range with nice greens.

 

Where he will be living does have some great 18-hole public courses within 20-25 minutes.  I have actually played a few, and they are great and never really crowded outside of weeks they are hosting tournaments.  I told him that he could look at the 9-hole country club as his practice facility since it is so close to his house, and the other courses as his actual golf rounds.

 

That is the only way I could justify the 9-hole course in my head.

 

I have, also, suggested that he join both.  I told him that both memberships would still come out at less than what he currently pays for his current membership at his club as it is pretty expensive in my opinion.

[Ty_Webb]

For what it's worth, someone once suggested to me that the way to tell if your club is too far away is how would you feel if you drove there, opened the trunk and realized you'd left your clubs at home. If it's a "oh - well I'll just go get them then" that's fine. If it's a "**** no!!! I'm not gonna be playing today now" then it's too far. Where you happen to fall in between the two extremes tells you if it's too far. 

 

I used to live 5 minutes from my club. Joined a different club that was 15-20 minutes away and it was annoyingly far relatively speaking. Fine for going to once or twice a week, but every day it got tiresome. Of course every day is no longer a concern and both of those clubs (at which I am still a member) are now a 7 hour flight and everything that goes with that.

[golfpractitioner5]

2 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

For what it's worth, someone once suggested to me that the way to tell if your club is too far away is how would you feel if you drove there, opened the trunk and realized you'd left your clubs at home. If it's a "oh - well I'll just go get them then" that's fine. If it's a "**** no!!! I'm not gonna be playing today now" then it's too far. Where you happen to fall in between the two extremes tells you if it's too far. 

That is really a great way to think about it.  I will mention that to him.

[Nickb333]

2 hours ago, golfpractitioner5 said:

The drive to play 18-holes is not a concern at all for him.  I think he just wonders if he will miss getting to just hop over to the range anytime he wants or catch a quick 3-6 holes anytime he has an hour to kill like he does with his current club being so close.

If the practice facility is decent I’d join the 9 hole in a heartbeat. We joined a club that’s 5 minutes from our house and zero freeway time. It’s been a Godsend. I was previously a member at a club just 6.5 miles away but it took 35 minutes to get there. There were a ton of lights and school traffic on the route. No fun showing up to play golf already pissed off. 
 

The club we joined does have 18, but I play a lot of 9 hole rounds with my wife. I keep finding new and inventive ways to shoot in the low 40’s. 😎 And I can’t tell you how nice it is to pop down and practice whenever I feel like it. If it only had 9 holes I’d just use different tees each round. 

[tatertot]

I have a really nice 9-hole country club 1/2 hour away. I would love to join ... but they let the public play, and while it's easy to get a tee time, there is always a wait when you try to play your second nine.

[raynorfan1]

Pretty similar situation for me. 9 hole club basically at my doorstep (first tee is 700 yards away 😂) vs. 27 hole club ~20 minutes away (<20 minutes with *no* traffic, but often 35 - 40 minutes with traffic). The 9 hole club has a long waitlist (7 years right now); so while we were on the waiting list, we joined the 27 hole club. The 9 hole course is a really fun, well maintained facility; the 27 holes are also really good. The way the waitlist works at the 9 hole club, they tell you a year ahead of time that "next year" your number will be called.

 

We got the call that next year would be our year, and my wife suggested that I put a sticky note by the door and make a check every time I wanted to play a few holes but didn't feel like I had time to make the commute. It was great advice - by the end of the year I had accumulated *four* checkmarks and it was obvious that it just wasn't worth it.

[Cavey]

If these are really Country Clubs, and not just Golf Clubs, then he would be joining for more than just golf.  There is no such thing as a "no initiation fee, $300/month Country Club".  Those do not exist, as they are impossible.  So I assume these are semi-private golf cources, that may have a few other amenities, they create a "membership" with tee time privileges and call themselves a club.

 

Basically from what you describe, it doesn't make a difference, he should just spend more time with his family and play the public courses, or just join them both.

[phizzy30]

18.  I have a buddy who's a member at Chevy Chase CC and he's grown tired of it after a year.  He finds himself playing at other 18 hole courses more often than his home course.  He's put up his membership for sale and is looking at joining a private 18 hole CC 15 minutes away.  

[NursingZombie]

I assume your “brother” is married. The correct answer is then thus:

whatever house his wife likes. 

[golfpractitioner5]

1 hour ago, Cavey said:

If these are really Country Clubs, and not just Golf Clubs, then he would be joining for more than just golf.  There is no such thing as a "no initiation fee, $300/month Country Club".  Those do not exist, as they are impossible.  So I assume these are semi-private golf cources, that may have a few other amenities, they create a "membership" with tee time privileges and call themselves a club.

 

Basically from what you describe, it doesn't make a difference, he should just spend more time with his family and play the public courses, or just join them both.

9-hole is a completely private club with pool, tennis, clubhouse and grill. Talked to a guy a little earlier about it, and it sounds like a small community focused club you come across in some small towns in the South.  Apparently, they redid the greens this year completely, and the entire membership helped with the process in assisting the greenskeeper and small crew they employ.  The guy confirmed no initiation, so I did more digging and found out the country club is non profit and basically breaks even every year and has been in operation as a private country club since the 60’s.  I’ve come across this type of club about 5 times in my life and they all seem to last as they know what they are and don’t try to be more than that. Keeps the overhead down I guess. The one in my hometown like this has been going strong for almost 70 years.

 

The 18-hole course is more what I think about with country club in that it has an initiation fee that I understand to be around $5,000 with monthly dues around $600. It has pool, tennis, pickleball, and restaurant. I’m basing the financial information off second hand knowledge as the course has not gotten back to my brother-in-law yet.

 

But yes, both courses are completely private country clubs so no competing with the public for tee times.

[StalefishFS3]

Answer is right in front of him if the 9-hole is really only 300/month with no initiation fee:

 

Join both.  

Edited July 8 by StalefishFS3

[Hawkeye77]

LOL, if he can’t figure out what is best for him how does he even pick out a pair of socks in the morning? 

[golfpractitioner5]

1 hour ago, StalefishFS3 said:

Answer is right in front of him if the 9-hole is really only 300/month with no initiation fee:

 

Join both.  

I agree with this as it is a suggestion I’ve made considering the cost for both is nothing compared to the cost of what his current club costs a year.

 

50 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

LOL, if he can’t figure out what is best for him how does he even pick out a pair of socks in the morning? 

 

Honestly, I think it comes down to facing a decision he never thought he’d have to make. He absolutely loves his current club, and I can say, after playing it a few times, that it is gonna be hard to live up to with where they are moving.  Hard to transition from upscale Atlantic coast country club to mid- to low-tier southeast country clubs. As mentioned above, I told him to join both. If he absolutely does not like one, drop it. If he loves both, keep them both. If he doesn’t like either, join me in the full time public golf world.

 

He wanted me to post on here to see if people found themselves in similar situations and how they came about their decision on club choice.

[st1800e]

Closer is definitely better.  If it’s no cost to join, then really no risk.  If he doesn’t like it, he can join the other.   Definitely play both before deciding.  

[Nickb333]

1 hour ago, golfpractitioner5 said:

9-hole is a completely private club with pool, tennis, clubhouse and grill. Talked to a guy a little earlier about it, and it sounds like a small community focused club you come across in some small towns in the South.  Apparently, they redid the greens this year completely, and the entire membership helped with the process in assisting the greenskeeper and small crew they employ.  The guy confirmed no initiation, so I did more digging and found out the country club is non profit and basically breaks even every year and has been in operation as a private country club since the 60’s.  I’ve come across this type of club about 5 times in my life and they all seem to last as they know what they are and don’t try to be more than that. Keeps the overhead down I guess. The one in my hometown like this has been going strong for almost 70 years.

 

The 18-hole course is more what I think about with country club in that it has an initiation fee that I understand to be around $5,000 with monthly dues around $600. It has pool, tennis, pickleball, and restaurant. I’m basing the financial information off second hand knowledge as the course has not gotten back to my brother-in-law yet.

 

But yes, both courses are completely private country clubs so no competing with the public for tee times.

Well that’s a no brainer then. Join the 9 hole and play anywhere else when he feels like it. 

[Cavey]

10 hours ago, golfpractitioner5 said:

9-hole is a completely private club with pool, tennis, clubhouse and grill. Talked to a guy a little earlier about it, and it sounds like a small community focused club you come across in some small towns in the South.  Apparently, they redid the greens this year completely, and the entire membership helped with the process in assisting the greenskeeper and small crew they employ.  The guy confirmed no initiation, so I did more digging and found out the country club is non profit and basically breaks even every year and has been in operation as a private country club since the 60’s.  I’ve come across this type of club about 5 times in my life and they all seem to last as they know what they are and don’t try to be more than that. Keeps the overhead down I guess. The one in my hometown like this has been going strong for almost 70 years.

 

The 18-hole course is more what I think about with country club in that it has an initiation fee that I understand to be around $5,000 with monthly dues around $600. It has pool, tennis, pickleball, and restaurant. I’m basing the financial information off second hand knowledge as the course has not gotten back to my brother-in-law yet.

 

But yes, both courses are completely private country clubs so no competing with the public for tee times.

Interesting.  As past president of a well known private club in Florida, I'm not sure how this would work without any capital influx from membership initiation fees, unless there is an annual capital assessment to go with the monthly fee.  Even a small course has a lot of operational expenses and capital needs, but if the quality is low enough and the members are also doing work at the club with their own equipment, maybe it could work.

 

At any rate, if your friend is willing to join the 18 hole course anyway, why not join both for $300 more a month!  I don't see the issue unless there are hidden annual assessments on the 9 hole course.

 

BTW, I did a search on top notch 9 hole courses and most of them were in Scotland, Ireland and New England which I guess is not really a surprise.

[ChaosTheory]

I’ve belonged to a couple of 9 hole clubs, and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.  Looking back, the golfers were more friendly and close-knit than at the bigger clubs.

 

It seems like he should start by joining the 9 holer, because there is no risk to trying it.

[Lions1988]

That's easy, 18 hole private club.