What factors were most important to you? Proximity to home, good value, friends already members, good members course. The "friends already members" was probably the key factor. They encouraged me to join so I could play with them regularly at the club.
What factors might have been important to others but didn't matter to you? Social prestige ("status") of membership, fancy clubhouse, fine dining, existence of facilities beyond golf course, such as tennis courts, top flight pro tournament quality course.
How high on the list of considerations was the quality of the course? 6 out of 10
Was inviting guests a factor in relation to choosing a club of certain status/history? No.
If you were tossing up between two or more clubs, what made you choose your club over the other(s)? Proximity to home and good value, considering my only interest is in golf.
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)? No more than approx. 8 miles/15 minutes.
As a footnote, I joined my club 16 years ago and it is much better, attractive to me now in every respect now than it was then, except that it's still the same distance from my home (five miles, 10 minutes, and about the same from my office before I retired), since neither my home nor my club has moved in the last 16 years. In short, I was somewhat lucky to make the right choice.