[Duncan Cheslett]

I'm vaguely aware that there is a tradition amongst many golf clubs in the UK of 'Artisan' sections, whereby golfers with a useful trade or skills to offer do work in exchange for limited playing rights rather than paying for their membership in hard cash.

The subject cropped up in the bar after our afternoon round today. A large proportion of our membership are tradesmen of one sort or another, and the feeling was that it could well be in the individual's and the club's interests if some such scheme could be put in place in the right circumstances.

So do any golf clubs still have artisan members, or are they a throwback to the Edwardian era?

As a carpenter and cabinet maker myself, the idea of building new lockers and honour boards in exchange for my full membership over the next few years does have a certain appeal!

[David_Tepper]

Duncan -

There have been at least a couple of threads on clubs in the UK that have Artisan members. If you do a search, you might be able to find those threads.

There was a lengthy article about Artisan clubs in Travel & Leisure Golf magazine that was published several years ago. It featured the Artisan club affiliated with Walton Heath.

Here is the website for the Artisan Golfers' Association: http://www.agagolf.co.uk/

Here is a link to the T&L Golf article on the Artisan club at Walton Heath:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-clubhouses


DT

[Dub_ONeill]

Wallasey and Birkdale both have artisan members.  They have separate clubhouses at both courses and limited playing privileges.  They do not participate in club events with the non-artisan members.  When i played there we had caddies who were artisan members at both clubs.  I got the impression that the work they did was more on course than carpentry etc.

[Scott Warren]

Mate of mine is an artisan at a top surrey club and for about 300 quid a year and an hour or so of divoting once a month in summer he can play at any time other than between 8am and 4pm on weekends.

Artisan club has its own clubhouse (with VERY cheap beer) and runs its own comps, including an interclub with the other top surrey clubs.

The only terms are that he must live within a certain distance of the club (5 miles, I think) and cannot be a member of any other club.

All the artisans I've ever met are very happy with the arrangement they have, which trend to be much the same as what I have detailed above.

[Tim Martin]

When I first joined Royal Mid Surrey I heard about the "artisans" occupying a separate clubhouse and got the impression they were treated as second class citizens and full time servants of the club. I later realised that they spend a couple of hours a week doing some basic course maintenance tasks in return for being able to play usually early in the morning or late. I spoke to someone recently who was an artisan at St George's Hill - he basically runs his own business but replaces divots for 2 hours every Friday evening in return for playing rights (and not insubstantial ones at that). The catch is you need to be living within 5 or so miles of the course. But what a great option if you live really close to a great course and either have flexible hours or work for yourself (or are unemployed). At some of the better clubs (like SGH), there is a proposing and seconding system but presumably not as rigorously enforced. I wish I lived closer to Swinley forest. I might consider a 4 day week if I did!

Gents-Sounds like a great deal for both the club and the artisans. Having a separate clubhouse with cheaper beer must be a gigantic hit with the artisans and not so much with regular members. The 5 mile radius sounds like a good idea or there would be more artisan members than regular`s. Barter is age old where everyone seems to come out ahead.

[Scott Warren]

Tim,

At a couple of the Surrey clubs I'm familiar with there is as much of a wait to become an artisan as to become a member of the full club!

The artisans sure know how to enjoy their cheap beer. My round at Woking I was a single and caught up to two artisans. They invited me to join them and then post-round apologised that they wouldn't be able to join me for a beer in the main clubhouse. I said "sod the main clubhouse, where are you drinking?" and they took me to the artisan clubhouse and I spend a fun couple of hours with them. I eventually grabbed my phone to call a cab to take me back to the train station and they wouldn't hear it and one of my new mates drove me to the train. Never felt more welcome in my life.

[Tim Martin]

Tim,

At a couple of the Surrey clubs I'm familiar with there is as much of a wait to become an artisan as to become a member of the full club!

The artisans sure know how to enjoy their cheap beer. My round at Woking I was a single and caught up to two artisans. They invited me to join them and then post-round apologised that they wouldn't be able to join me for a beer in the main clubhouse. I said "sod the main clubhouse, where are you drinking?" and they took me to the artisan clubhouse and I spend a fun couple of hours with them. I eventually grabbed my phone to call a cab to take me back to the train station and they wouldn't hear it and one of my new mates drove me to the train. Never felt more welcome in my life.

Scott- That`s a terrific story and shows that when golf is the common denominator some great things happen as well as some great friends made albeit completely unexpected. I would be willing to bet that you will share a game and some more beers with these guys in the future. Awesome.

[Mark Chaplin]

Duncan - Artisans stem from an age where gentlemen played golf and working people caddied or were not welcome. Usually the artisan clubs had and still have access out of peak hours, have to live within a set distance of the club and have to work a number of hours per annum on the course.

At Deal the artisans have their own clubhouse, can use the tee before 0800 and after 1600 in the summer and always beat the main club in the annual match! I believe the waiting list to become a member is very long. With public roads and paths through the course the artisans not only police the course out of hours but if there is any trouble or damage usually know where the problem lies.

The closest I've heard to artisans abroad is "boundary members" at one or two prestigous Australian clubs

[John Kavanaugh]

Memberships like these are very common in the states.  You just got to have something the club wants besides money.

[JC Jones]

I disagree, John.  We have very few artisans left here in the states because we've adopted a culture of "Cheap."  We'd rather buy imported crap from China or Sweden that we can throw away than pay money for true craftsmanship. 

Duncan says he is a cabinet maker.  That is amazing because there are probably less than 100 left in the states.

[John Kavanaugh]

I disagree, John.  We have very few artisans left here in the states because we've adopted a culture of "Cheap."  We'd rather buy imported crap from China or Sweden that we can throw away than pay money for true craftsmanship. 

Duncan says he is a cabinet maker.  That is amazing because there are probably less than 100 left in the states.

If you consider intellectual property I play with artisan members every week.  I played with one just yesterday who wouldn't stop whining about how much money he was losing.  When we set up the game I thought if he could afford to be a member he could afford to lose a hundred bucks.  Poor bastard never saw it coming.

Raters are artisan members, they trade their expertise and influence for free golf. 

As far as cabinet makers, my bud who just traveled to Dismal with me is Amish.  I have 100 cabinet makers within 100 miles of my home.  You should move back to a climate with workable wood.

I know at least ten individuals who trade their expertise for memberships, how they handle that with the IRS is their business. That is why it is a dirty little secret.

[Kalen Braley]

This is true.

Just ask Gillette Silver..he is the Artisan who rules them all and has secrets more numerous than the grains of sand in the ocean. 

[Tim Martin]

I disagree, John.  We have very few artisans left here in the states because we've adopted a culture of "Cheap."  We'd rather buy imported crap from China or Sweden that we can throw away than pay money for true craftsmanship. 

Duncan says he is a cabinet maker.  That is amazing because there are probably less than 100 left in the states.

If you consider intellectual property I play with artisan members every week.  I played with one just yesterday who wouldn't stop whining about how much money he was losing.  When we set up the game I thought if he could afford to be a member he could afford to lose a hundred bucks.  Poor bastard never saw it coming.

Raters are artisan members, they trade their expertise and influence for free golf. 

As far as cabinet makers, my bud who just traveled to Dismal with me is Amish.  I have 100 cabinet makers within 100 miles of my home.  You should move back to a climate with workable wood.

I know at least ten individuals who trade their expertise for memberships, how they handle that with the IRS is their business. That is why it is a dirty little secret.

Does the Amish guy have anything to do with the wood stove industry? Those guys are buying full page adds in USA Today and raking in a boatload. I`m sure it`s well within their religious confines.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I know at least ten individuals who trade their expertise for memberships, how they handle that with the IRS is their business. That is why it is a dirty little secret.

I suspect you're quite right and that an awful lot more of this goes on than anyone imagines - and not just at the 'tradesman' level. The potential advantages to both club and member are obvious, if a little murky legally.

I'll shut up now before I incriminate anyone (or myself!)

 

[Mark_Rowlinson]

There is usually a limit on the number of artisan members, no more than, say, 40. It's very difficult to get in.

As for doing things for the club, at the Conwy AGM the other day it was decided to circulate members to see what skills they had that might be of use to the club. This was aimed at those members who didn't have the time, or wish, to put those skills at the club's disposal through regular committee work. It wasn't intended to put staff out of work by replacing them with unpaid volunteers.

[Mike Sweeney]

I have 100 cabinet makers within 100 miles of my home.  You should move back to a climate with workable wood.

JC is going to take a hit on this one. 

291 within 10 miles of me.

http://www.yellowpages.com/queens-village-ny/cabinet-makers

There are a number of off-season memberships in New England including a well known "Island Membership" at The Vineyard Club:

"There are 160 Island members, year-round residents who pay $500 in annual dues. "

http://www.mvtimes.com/news/2007/10/18/vineyard_golf_club.php

[JC Jones]

Oh no!!  Not the dreaded "hit."  How will I recover?

[Mark Chaplin]

Artisans are not members of the club, they are members of their own seperately affiliated club.

[Dub_ONeill]

The artisan clubhouse at Birkdale is a small wooden building between the 4th green and the 5th tee.  When I played there my caddy, a member, unlocked it and gave us a brief tour.  It had a storage room for clubs and equipment, a bathroom, and a small bar/kitchen area. The neatest thing was that during the Opens at Birkdale the members open the clubhouse during practice rounds and serve the players and caddies from their kitchen. The walls were covered with pictures of the artisan members  (including my caddy and his kids) with about every famous golfer to play at Birkdale.  The artisan members were terrific guys who were very proud of the course.

[John Kavanaugh]

This is the snobiest policy I have ever heard. In America we treat all members equal no matter what they pay to belong. This is why we love the 4th!!!

[JMEvensky]

 In America we treat all members equal no matter what they pay to belong.

If the lesser paying members get all the goodies without restriction,aren't they more than equal?

[Kalen Braley]

If I'm reading some of these comments correctly, sounds like the American system could adopt a thing or two from the UK model.

Have a "lower class" of members where:

1)  They have limited tee time slots Mondays thru Thursdays only.
2)   Thier clubhouse is the break room in the maintaince shack.
3)  They can do a partial pay/partial maintence gig to earn their playing privileges.  For example minimum 10 hrs per week weeding flower beds, valley parking, raking leaves in the fall combined with $50 green fees to play a course they wouldn't otherwise have access to.
4)  $50 monthly minimum snack purchase from the machine in the break room.
5)  Parking only by the maintaince shed....no clubhouse privileges.

[Mark Chaplin]

John K - tell me how many local "working" people get to play at Merion, Cypress Point, Chicago Golf or National Golf Links on a regular basis?

In the UK the local butcher, sparky or truck driver maybe a member of a club with access to courses such as Royal St Georges, Rye, Walton Heath, Swinley Forest and many more great tracks.

Artisans are not inferior members but members of their own club with access to a great course out of peak hours for a minimal annual sum. Part of the deal is usually an hour or so a month divoting or working on the course. Some of the longest waiting lists to join clubs in the UK are at artisan clubs.

[Dub_ONeill]

Are artisan members a UK phenomenon or an English phenomenon?  I have not seen them in Scotland, Wales, or N I..

[John Kavanaugh]

John K - tell me how many local "working" people get to play at Merion, Cypress Point, Chicago Golf or National Golf Links on a regular basis?

In the UK the local butcher, sparky or truck driver maybe a member of a club with access to courses such as Royal St Georges, Rye, Walton Heath, Swinley Forest and many more great tracks.

Artisans are not inferior members but members of their own club with access to a great course out of peak hours for a minimal annual sum. Part of the deal is usually an hour or so a month divoting or working on the course. Some of the longest waiting lists to join clubs in the UK are at artisan clubs.

Mark,

I have a strict policy of never asking a man what he does for a living.  I find it rude and boring so I have no idea if members are "working people" or not.  I find your caste system of defining a man as disgusting. What is most strange is that I care far more who plays on my course than who enters my clubhouse.  If I were to be a snob I could see allowing the man who paints my barn to seek comfort inside from a passing storm, but for him to ride my horse on a sunny day when he could be painting only seems to promote rot.  This is why I would never ask a man who wants to borrow my horse if he can paint.

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