Are Golf Memberships Worth It? Pros And Cons Of Joining A Golf Club

Are Golf Memberships Worth It? Pros And Cons Of Joining A Club

Joining a golf course is like moving from a casual friendship with the game into a committed relationship and it is a step that almost all seasoned golfers will cross in the quest of a lower handicap.

Sure, joining a golf course may save you money but for many serious golfers it constitutes so much more. Joining a golf course is like an admission to yourself that you want to make a further commitment in the game. A golf membership is also needed to get a handicap or play in tournaments.

Of course the fundamental question you need to ask yourself is how often do you play golf and if you play at least once a week, it will probably save you money but if only play occasionally and are thinking of getting more involved, getting a membership probably won’t make sense straight away, unless you are sure you will use it.

Pay Green Fees Sporadically Instead?

The other option to consider would be to pay the green fees for the first few sessions until you get into a rhythm and then go ahead and join.

Individual circumstances will vary but you don’t want to end up wasting a lot of money on a membership you aren’t going to use.

Benefits Of Joining A Golf Club

Play As Many Rounds As You Want

One of the most notable benefits of joining a golf course is that you get to play as many rounds as you want included in your fees.

Depending on whether you are joined a club that allows members and green fees or just memberships will usually determine how much your membership will cost and if it is membership only you should have good access to the course at all times.

Membership only golf courses, tend to have a lot less traffic than their public counterparts.

You Need A Membership To Get A Handicap

To get a golf handicap, you need to submit 3 scorecards to the club where you are a member.

An official handicap will allow you to enter tournaments and competitions where you have the chance of victory and possibly even winning some prizes.

Get Use Of The Facilities

Whether you join a members only country club or a public course that allows memberships, the amount of facilities that you have access to might vary quite widely.

Ranging from plush spa resorts and various hotel, beauty and gym facilities to a simple pro shop, changing facilities and a restaurant/bar.

Whatever your particular tastes, you should be able to find a club that suits your needs in the current environment and that includes whether you only want to join for a couple of months so you can get your handicap to play in tournaments.

These days there are golf clubs and memberships to suit anybody.

Networking Opportunities

In a good golf country club or membership area, you should find a lot of societies high fliers, successful businessman and influential people. If that is something you think you could benefit from, then an exclusive golf membership is a great way to put yourself in front of people that matter, make the right kind of friends and find people to play golf with.

Improve At The Game

By signing up for a golf membership, you can force yourself to get more immersed in the sport and become better.

The more we practice at something, the better we become and it has been said that 10,000 hours of practice will make us an expert in anything.

Get Mates Rates For Friends

If you join an exclusive golf course, your friends will want to play it with you and you can usually get a good deal to get your friends on to the course for a round.

If You Live Close You Can Play More Often

If you are living close to the club where you’re going to become a member, then you can visit there more often in the mornings before work or in the evenings after work almost all year round.

More games = more improvement at the sport.

Good Way To Get Out Of The House More

No one wants to be cooped up in the house every day especially during the long summer evenings. Joining a golf club is a great way to get out and enjoy the sunshine, get a breath of fresh air, and work on getting your golf handicap lower.

You Can Play At The Drop Of A Hat

With a public course, it will get really busy and you have to book at least a couple of hours in advance.

With a club membership it should be a lot more quiet so you can just book in at the exact time you want to play and leave it to the last minute, still getting a solid round of golf in.

Courses Are Usually Nicer And Better Maintained

When you pay a membership to a Golf Club, you can expect a course to be in pristine condition. A lot of the better courses that house the professional events will be membership only and by joining a golf club you can get hands on access to the best courses in the world.

A lot of the public courses can get run down and while they will still help you to improve your golf game, if you are going to commit to one club you may as well make it 1 with an awesome course.

Get A Chance To Play Other Clubs

Other clubs in the area will offer reciprocal deals for your members to play at their club and for their members to play your club. This is another advantage of joining a club because you can get to play some of the better courses in the area at annual events and for reduced green fees.

Get A Membership For The Whole Family

Most clubs will have a family option available with a good deal to get you and the whole family playing golf together, spending quality time and teach your kids one of the most important sports games in the world to learn.

Unlimited Practice On A Quality Course

Since the course will be a lot more quiet you’ll be able to practice more effectively and really focus on improving your game rather than worrying about the people coming behind you making you rush and possibly playing worse overall.

Play Tournaments

As a member of a club you will be able to enter in tournaments to improve your handicap, make new friends, win prizes and possibly even go on to Captain the club. You can go on to play with your club all over the world, going on various holidays and having a great time doing it.

Play Only A Few Holes After Work if You Want To

When you don’t have to worry about forking out for a green fee every time, you can easily just show up at the course after work and play 5 or 6 holes without having to worry about the cost.

This can help you a lot to get more time in on the course and improve your game more quickly.

The Downside Golf Membership

It’s Expensive

Joining a golf club is usually not cheap, and the to make it financially worth your while you will have to play quite often. If you don’t get on the course, you are still paying a lot for the privilege of being a member without getting any real benefits.

I do recommend joining a club to anybody who plays regularly but just make sure that your money won’t go to waste.

Lack Of Variety

When you join a club you will tend to play the vast majority of your rounds at that club and you will miss out on a lot of the variety of playing in various different public courses and just paying the cheap green fees each time before you play.

Just paying green fees on various different courses can and ought to be a better decision financially so make sure you do what is best for your personal circumstances.

The Feeling Of Having Golf Available All The Time

If you have a course available all the time the honeymoon period might end and you won’t fancy going out for around half as much as you thought you would or you just don’t have the time you thought you would.

What it always boils down to is how much you use the course as to whether you should join or not.

There Are All Different Types Of Clubs Nowadays

Nowadays it doesn’t make economic sense for clubs to offer a membership only price model as they will be losing money. It is often better to allow a mix of green fee clients along with Membership to get more footfall out on the course and money in to cover expenses.

You can probably find a reasonable priced course for a good membership and actually have decent facilities and you can probably get a very basic membership with just a simple golf course and a inexpensive fee.

You can also go the other way with a more expensive club that lays on all the extras like VIP treatments, spas, gyms and club houses with discounted rates on everything for members.

If your’e a frequent player, joining a club can be a great decision, regardless of what type of course you join.