Duncan, You're new to the golf scene around Manchester and what you see today is something different at almost every club. But thirty years ago every single club had a full membership, there was very little municipal provision (still true) and pay-and-play operations had not appeared on the scene. But when they did appear, driven partly by farmers' need to diversify and also by the buoyant corporate golf market, many traditional clubs found members leaving in droves. The members who left were those who played only a few rounds per year and realised that they were paying £100 a round for their golf. Suddenly they could go to Styal, Antrobus, Heyrose and pay a greenfee. They had adequate facilities should you want a beer afterwards and there were perfectly decent changing facilities. You didn't have to queue for hours at Altrincham Muni or Heaton Park and very likely take 5 hours or more for your round. Drink-driving laws also ensured that few members dropped in for a beer or a gin on their way home for work. Retaining a catering operation became a big problem. Clubs such as Delamere Forest, which is never going to be on the way home for anybody(!), had learned how to cope with that aspect in the inter-war years.
But what you get now is a situation in which there is a great choice, as you discovered when you were looking to join a club. There are still the traditional clubs such as Wilmslow, Prestbury, Delamere, Sandiway, Stockport which have retained their ethos while actually changing quite subtly and quicker than you might imagine. They have full memberships but given natural wastage ut would be relatively simple to join - if you know enough members and can afford not far short of £4,000 for your first year's membership. The joining fee at Wilmslow, incidentally, is not used as 'income', being ring-fenced for development.
If you think these are stodgy clubs, but you have money, you can walk into Mere, Portal, Carden Park or Mottram Hall and indulge in the country club-style life.
As you know most Manchester suburban clubs are crying out for new members. Rumours abound as to which of them will survive or crumble. You can get some great deals. The clubs will get round the introduction policy if you don't know anybody and they'll tailor a membership package that's right for you. A friend of mine is the Organist and Director of Music at Manchester Cathedral. He can't play when most others can, but he got a weekday package tailored for him at Chorlton and he's able to go down most mornings in the lighter months at dawn to play a few holes before chorister practice. He's a happy bunny. He has Friday morning free and has always been invited to join others for a social round. It's a friendly place.
Then there are the many different packages at the proprietary clubs/courses with various annual subs and related green fees according to how much and when you want to play. It seems to work at Styal which always has a buzz about it, even if the course is a bit ordinary even for me!
I'll not tell you exactly how much Wilmslow costs to run per year, but its annual income and outgoings are significantly under a million, which I think is about on a par with similar clubs around here. We have 312 full male members and 117 full lady members. With juniors, non-playing members, country members, life members, intermediate members etc there are 597 males and 171 females. We get anywhere between 75 and 100 competitors each week for the men's Saturday competition, more for the board events. The ladies turn out in considerable numbers on Wednesdays and there's always a good turn out of mixed pairs on a Sunday afternoon, maybe 40 couples in the summer. There are a few days per year on which the course is unavailable because of large visiting societies, but they are only a few. When we host an important event such as county championships we are very generously given courtesy of the course at many local clubs, including Royal Liverpool. We do the same for them.
There is a big programme of course refurbishment under way at the moment. The Steward, Simon Ward, is North-West Steward of the Year and our Professional, Matthew Gillingham, has been voted Professional of the Year at a big PGA event at Wentworth and also runner up as Teaching Professional of the Year. His assistant, Sam, came second in the Assistant of the Year category and has, not surprisingly, already got his first Senior post.