[Scott Szabo]

Ballyneal is a very special place and a very special golf course.

Like Sand Hills it has a developer, Rupert O'Neil, who totally loves the land that occupies the golf course and is dedicated to giving members and guests a very special experience with every visit. A highlight of my trip was an ATV tour of the surrounding land that is possibly proposed for another golf course.  Ballyneal can and will stand on its own as one of the best golf courses built in "modern times" and with its maturation it will only get better. I drive 1 hour or 1 hr. 15 minutes each way in CT traffic to go to Yale 25 times a year.  Driving 2 1/2 - 3 hrs to get to Ballyneal from Denver is a pittance and once there the accomodations and food are top shelf all the way. It is NO BIG DEAL at all.

To compare it with Sand Hills, the #1 modern golf course and possibly the greatest course on the planet with terms like Sand Hills lite is a disservice to Ballyneal just as it would be to call Pacific Dunes, The Ocean Course, Whistling Straits or Victoria National   Sand Hills lite. I understand the comparison and it is frankly a compliment of the highest order just to mention them both together BUT it was not meant that way and so I too take some offense in that comparison. Frankly there are only two private club opportunities in the US that offer a totally secluded world class links experience with great accomodations, food and golf.  One of them, Sand Hills has a fully booked membership.  The other is Ballyneal.  If I had the means I would join myself.

The members are lucky.  Their guests are lucky.

Great post, and I couldn't agree more with your last two sentences.

[John Kavanaugh]

Scott,

If you only live an hour you would play 3 or 4 times per week.  I guess that is why they need the high initiation.  Then again caddies fees would add up real quick.

Would you pay the monthlies and agree to only play 4 times per year plus events like member/guest and club championships?

[Scott Szabo]

John,

I would likely play 1 or 2 times per week (possibly more), but would likely bring 3 or more guests each time I come, which would equate to quite a few dollars over the course of a year.  Personally, I think that non-member fees are needed to help Ballyneal along in the initial stages and are part of Rupert's model.  

I know of a handful of young guys like me here in Sterling who find themselves in the same financial situation as I am - not having the upfront dollars.  That is what is keeping us from joining Ballyneal, no matter how much we'd like to.  

My understanding is that annual dues equate to about $5,000, which would be too much to only play 4 times a year plus the other championships you mention.   I would assume that would be about 10 rounds per year, and to me, that's too high a price tag to pay for 10 rounds.  More importantly, that's too high a price for my wife to see me play 10 rounds per golf.  

Also, Ballyneal's initial deposit is much lower than most of the newer clubs that we keep hearing about in GD, GW, etc. that are making the "Best of" lists.   For me, Ballyneal came along about 5 years too early.  But hopefully there is still room for me when it becomes financially viable.

Scott

[John Kavanaugh]

Scott,

There is a hidden value in being a member of a club that helps with the cost per round.  It is the knowledge that you have everyday of the year that you can play if you want.  I promise you that if you only live an hour away you would be at work after lunch and just get in the car and drive down.  Even if you don't, just knowing you can is sometimes priceless under the pressures of the day.

[tlavin]

Being favorably compared to Sand Hills is undeniably a good thing.  For someone to use the term lite is both pejorative and inarticulate.

[Scott Szabo]

Scott,

There is a hidden value in being a member of a club that helps with the cost per round.  It is the knowledge that you have everyday of the year that you can play if you want.  I promise you that if you only live an hour away you would be at work after lunch and just get in the car and drive down.  Even if you don't, just knowing you can is sometimes priceless under the pressures of the day.

Couldn't agree more.

[George Pazin]

This seems like an appropriate thread to mention a show I saw the other day on HD Theater (I think that's what it's called, it's a Discovery Channel HD offering) called The Fragile Heart of the Prairie or something like that. There are tons of amazing shots of land that looks like golf dream land. I recommend it to anyone who has a chance to see it.

[Matt_Ward]

How Ballyneal finished 6th in the Digest "Best New" assessments last year makes me shake my head in disbelief. When you assess the characteristics of the overall land, the sheer diversiry of holes that the superlative routing creates and the high benchmark of shotmaking that is called upon clearly elevates Ballyneal to a very special place among all the courses I have played.

Given the traffic tie-ups I've put up with in going to and from Jersey to play Bethpage Black over the years I'd have no hesitancy to make a comparable trek to and from the greater Denver area if I was ever invited to consider a membership there.

[Mike Mosely]

Jim and Matt I agree...I think Ballyneal is every bit as good as sand hills...and maybe has some more interesting greens.  But we're lucky to have either, so having both is a downright blessing.

[rchesnut]

I live in CA and looked pretty closely at clubs in the western part of the country before signing up at Ballyneal this past summer.   I think it's the finest golf course and "experience" in the country that still has open memberships, and at $50,000 to join, it's priced below a lot of other places that aren't as good.  Scott, the $50,000 is fully refundable at Ballyneal, unlike most clubs that will keep a substantial portion of the upfront fee when you leave the club....so you aren't spending $50K, you're simply losing the use of that money for as long as you're a member.  I can't imagine that it will stay at $50K for a lot longer.  I hope that you can find a way to make it work, it's a special place.

As for the annual, there are a lot of benefits that come with being a member of a club like Ballyneal...you can't do the math and just come up with a price per round.  When a guest and I arrived at Ballyneal at 9:00pm one night, we found that we were the only ones at the place, and the chef was waiting just for us so we could have dinner.  You can't put a price on that kind of experience, and playing a course like that without tee times, virtually by yourself, is pretty amazing.  So I don't think of it just as golf.  

And for the east coasters, the drive from Denver is no big deal...the club is NE of the airport, which is itself well NE of the city.  This means there's never, ever any traffic, just an open road.  As 2 1/2 hour drives go, it's a breeze.

Rob

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