How did you choose your club?

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

1. friends
2. like or love course
3. club within budget

big space
4. club run in manner that allows use and enjoyment for all members
5. club fiscally sound

[Lou_Duran]

Challenging course, proximity to home, good value.  All are intertwined and unseverable (is that a word?- all three factors must be satisfied).  Time is always the most important factor- 30 minute drive would be excessive for me- but I would not join a club whose course I didn't really enjoy.

Finding a good game is possible at most places that would interest me, though because most players want to ride and I prefer walking, that can be a problem.  Also, I prefer playing longer tees than most in my peer group, so that too can be an issue.

After being a member of a club for well over 20 years, my last seven have been as a golfing vagabond.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find the romance in public golf and I miss not having a gangsome and a course to call home.

  

[Dan Byrnes]

What I am finding interesting is how short a distance many people believe is acceptable.

I was expecting anything under 40mins to be a typical response, but it seems many don't want more than 15 mins drive.

Just to add some color to this.  Travel time is somewhat related to where you live.  Say in the metro NY area I think many would be hard pressed to both work and have thier club within a 30 minute drive.  In my area that would be excessive but some do it.  Even worse say in the DC area.

In my case I like to hang out at my club, grab lunch play a couple holes, practice etc.  If I had to travel each way 40 minutes for that it would happen so infrequently it likely would make membership not worth it financially.  Now I might still do it but I wouldn't be nearly as satisfied.  If I only wanted to play 18 holes there are some very nice public courses within 40 or so minutes drive that I could play for around $100.  So I would have to play 60 times, which I don't in my limited 6 or so month season to break-even on a club membership.  So proximity means use an use is why I want to be a member.

Dan

[Scott Warren]

Some good points, Dan.

I live about 15-25mins from my club depending on traffic, but from my office to my club is an hour (40mins from home in the opposite direction).

So I'd never be able to drop in for lunch and have a practice putt, even though I'd love to. My employer does have an office about 5mins drive from my club, so perhaps I will just have to start angling for a transfer!

[Anthony Butler]

What factors were most important to you?

No waiting lists as legacy applicant.

What factors might have been important to others but didn't matter to you?

Fact it is the world's top 50 seems to spin everyone's top. Not mine.

How high on the list of considerations was the quality of the course?

More important now that I have been a member for over a dozen years.


If you were tossing up between two or more clubs, what made you choose your club over the other(s)?

True Story: My father's best friend was the outgoing capt at Royal Sydney. He had me lined up for an interview in about a month. My grandfather called me up the next week and said, "I hear you're thinking of joining a golf club. if you're going to do that, why don't you join a real golf club...  If you need a swim after golf, stop at Bronte on your way home. If you want to play tennis, give up golf." Two weeks later he called me up and said; "You have an interview Thursday. Z _______ (life member) will handle it. You sit there and shut up unless someone asks you a question. If you can manage that, you should be in by Christmas." It was November 10 at the time.

Acceptance letter came on December 15. Check for Initiation Dues arrived in the mail on December 17.  

That about explains it.

[Steve Kline]

I agree with Dan about the proximity being so important. I regularly go out at lunch to work on my short game or hit balls. Be ause it takes 3 minutesto get there i can practice for a good hour on my lunch break.

[Scott Warren]

You're making me jealous!

[Daryl David]

Most important to me is quality of design, vibe of membership and no tee times.  I won't consider a club that if I have to "schedule" golf.  It is worth paying a premium to avoid the whole scheduling thing.

[James Boon]

Scott,

I hope you are enjoying Bonnie Doon as much as you did Deal?

As I've recently changed club...

What factors were most important to you?
- The course was already one of my favourites that I’d ever played.
- It combines great fun with a great challenge and has a good variety of style, setting and challenge of holes.
- Remote setting means its great to get away from it all.
- Some interesting heritage in the courses design.
- Also, my previous club was a large membership so I didn’t know as many people as I should have done, it was always busy, and it was run for the benefit of the owners, not the members, so a smaller membership with the club run for the members was critical.

What factors might have been important to others but didn't matter to you?
- The clubs reputation as the “place to be a member” in the area.

How high on the list of considerations was the quality of the course?
- Quality of the course over all other factors... Critical!

Was inviting guests a factor in relation to choosing a club of certain status/history?
- I'm wanting to say no, but after seeing the difference when mentioning that people were welcome to come to my old club "Where?" or where I've been a country member for several years and their eyes light up and say "That would be great!" it did factor a little. Also, I was more concerned with it being easy to get guests on. No restrictions, even on competition days.

If you were tossing up between two or more clubs, what made you choose your club over the other(s)?
- I knew guys who could propose and second me as well as a few others to throw in their support. But as I said before, its been a long time favourite.

How far were you happy to drive from your home or office to get to your "home" club (not talking about destinations or country/national memberships)?
- Its about 30 mins drive for me, but has been closer to 40 with traffic on a couple of occasions.. The others I was considering are 10, 40 and 45 mins drive away.
- Also, though its 30 mins from home, it’s pretty much the only one I could get to for a round after work in the summer.

Cheers,

James

[Stewart Abramson]

What factors were most important to you?
Cost - I work in NYC and live in the northern suburbs. I would love to join a club in Westchester, but both the initial and annual costs are more than I care to spend. I found a club 35 miles from my home (a 40 minute drive) that is a good value. I hate the drive, but it is worth it.
Walking - a substantial majority of the members walk. Push carts are permitted which is rare in the area
Golf Only - It is strictly golf, no swimming pool or tennis
Not crowded  -  I can walk on without much wait even on weekends
Fast pace of play - we play fast


What factors might have been important to others but didn't matter to you?
These are mostly negative factors that didn't deter me: minimal amenities, no fancy club house. Since I have a long drive the social scene and comaraderie are missing for me. It's not that it doesn't matter, I'd prefer it, but it was less important when weighed against the cost and the ability to play at all.

How high on the list of considerations was the quality of the course?
Quality in the sense of the Doak scale was not important. Quality in the sense of having a fun course that I would not tire of after hundreds of rounds was important.

Was inviting guests a factor in relation to choosing a club of certain status/history?
No. I don't need to impress my guests. Some belong to pretigeous Westchester clubs and others play six hour rounds at local munis. We play to have a fun morning together. They all seem to like the course other than the time it takes to get there.

If you were tossing up between two or more clubs, what made you choose your club over the other(s)?
Cost and enjoyablity of playing the course.

How far were you happy to drive from your home or office to get to your "home" club?
Happy would be 15-20  minutes rather than 40.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I joined a golf club for the first time six months ago, so have only just been through this process.

What factors were most important to you?

Cost - both in terms of joining fee and annual subscription. A large number of clubs in my area have no joining fee and annual subs are all around £850. I was thus able to eliminate all those clubs which were more expensive.

The Course. I played several local courses and chose my club on the basis that I didn't ever want to become bored with playing a humdrum track week in week out.

What factors might have been important to others but didn't matter to you?

As an inverse snob I have no interest whatsoever in belonging to a fancy 'prestigious' club. Instead I was delighted to discover that the club with the finest course in my area was populated mainly by blue collar tradesmen like myself. Vans often outnumber cars in the parking lot!


How high on the list of considerations was the quality of the course?

Very. Ours is an excellent early Mackenzie design which is largely unchanged in 100 years. This pedigree attracted me enormously.


Was inviting guests a factor in relation to choosing a club of certain status/history?

Not really.


If you were tossing up between two or more clubs, what made you choose your club
 over the other(s)?

The 3 C's - Cost, Course, and Convenience


How far were you happy to drive from your home or office to get to your "home" club

10 - 15 minutes from both my home and my workshop. I have at least ten golf clubs within a 15 minute drive and my club is by no means the nearest. It is however, close enough for a few holes before or after work, or during the day if I have an hour to spare. I would not be willing to compromise this convenience.

[Niall C]

Scott

Having just joined my fifth club, I guess I've had more practice than most in choosing a club. The one essential ingredient is the quality of the course, it has to be good and one that I like. I tend to have a definite preference for links golf. It also has to be affordable, thats another factor.

One thing I'm not too fussed about is whether I know any members. I was invited to join one club by a group of my pals who were all members, which I eventually did but only after I'd played the courses (2 of them) a few times. In my experience, that if you don't know anyone in the club you enter the comps and fairly quickly you get introduced to a wide circle of people, so going where your mates are already members isn't the be all and end all.

In terms of access, ideally I want a club that I can get to readily to for an evenings round of golf after work. That said I was a member at Glasgow Gailes for a number of years which was 45 mins away and I also retained my Silloth membership for a couple of years after I moved back to Glasgow.

Niall