GCAer's as guests

[jeffwarne]

  As a guest to one of the top 100 around 10 years ago I had a strange experience. A good friend had done business with one of the members and included me in his guest visit. He told me the member was a great guy and they had made money together. So we made the trip.

  We were told to meet him in a resteraunt parking lot. We did and were told to change into our golf shoes because the club did not permit it in the parking lot or bag drop. Shortly into the round the member was upset with his game. If he was out of the hole he would go to the next tee and tee off before the rest of us finished putting. After the round we went straight back to our car at the resteraunt parking lot. Strange day.

  Anthony

Anthony,
I'm guessing he wasn't a member-or didn't want to pay the guest fees.
At our club we're closed Tuesdays.
I'm always running into guys in town who say they played our course recently.
My reply is always ("on Tuesday with Mr. .........?)

[Chip Gaskins]

But many people, especially in summer may not wear pants.

Talk about an access issue !

want to hear a funny story....at very good private club i was lucky enough to play and my member showed up "a little short handed"

we all arrived and headed out in shorts for an afternoon round, we had a great time, went back the cottage after to shower for dinner, and he walks out and with his best southern draw....he says "shit, i forgot my long pants"....so he called down to the club and they brought him some up to the cottage (several sizes too large, but workable) then i got to looking for my sport coat and realized it was still laying on my bed at home...so we call back down to the club and they have a special coat room for folks that forget their coats....so i sat through a two hour dinner wearing the worlds ugliest seersucker / plaid / four sizes too large sport coat ever seen...and the member wearing the bartender's three sizes to large pants. 

we all had a great laugh and just had fun with it.

needless to say i will never ever not check my bags before i leave again!

[PCCraig]

I was going to try to avoid this thread at first but it took probably a turn for the better and thought I would add my 2 cents.

Another option to avoid the pants/sport coat issue is to just call the club directly before your visit, tell them you are going to be a guest in a couple days/weeks, and ask about any rules in particular you should be aware of, and the applicable guest fees (I have even called ahead and paid fees with a card in advance to make the process more smooth).

[John Moore II]

But many people, especially in summer may not wear pants.

Talk about an access issue !

Why Kirk, you're a nasty thinker lad. I suppose I meant to say long pants as opposed to shorts.

[Mike Golden]

I have a very simple way to avoid any of the access issues at any private club in the world-I don't ask.  If someone wants to invite me, they will, just as I have invited many GCAers to my club when I lived in California.  Maybe I haven't played as many of the great courses around the country that others have, but I've played enough in this manner to make me feel like my participation in GCA has been a rewarding experience for both myself and those of you who have been able to play my clubs.

[Carl Nichols]

On the subject of stories, a few years ago I arranged for four of us to play an unaccompanied, reciprocal round at a top 100 (though not super-exclusive) club.  Three of us went inside to check in, put on our shoes in the locker room, etc.  After fifteen minutes or so, I went outside to check on our 4th.  Turns out he's walked from the car to the clubhouse in his bare feet, and has been hanging out talking with the cart guys right in front of  the clubhouse (the bag drop and cart staging area were right next to the clubhouse) in his bare feet, with his shoes in his hand.  I personally couldn't care less about someone walking around barefoot, but lots of places and people do, and IMHO if you're a guest (either of a club or a member), you should always err on the side of over-formality when it comes to stuff like this. 

Ultimately, I think the cart guys got a kick out of it and none of the members seemed to mind too much, so all was fine.