[Mike Sweeney]

Will country clubs eventually adapt to economic and social realities? Or will they continue business as usual and hope (against hope, IMO) that the golden days of the 1950s-90s return!

Great question, and in terms of the greatness of golf ….. it depends.

One of the problems with golf, and all sports now, is kids get too specialized too early. At the top of my competitive career in golf, I was the #4 man on my high school golf team. Here I am today, I played basketball with legends and yet I argue with "Morons" like Pat Mucci over the future of golf   Reality is I suck at golf, and yet I love GCA.com!

See Jaka's thread about the 5 senses.

Now I know that there is no way that my squash playing son does not reach his status today without:

• specialization (golf/squash only)
• focus (golf/squash only)

and I know that he would not have achieved his status without:

• a love for squash
• an early in his life diversity of sports which exposed him to a variety of sports (country club)

Will he ever love golf the way that I do? Probably not, so maybe Sleepy Hollow or The Creek will be the right spot for him as they are country clubs with squash and golf. Or maybe he just plays at NY Sports, NYAC (public and private squash) and plays golf at Bethpage (fabulous golf) 6 times a year.

As Shelly mentions, this is all speculation….

[Jim Tang]

Black Sheep, a hour west of downtown Chicago, is strictly a golf only private club.  27 holes of prairie golf on rolling terrain, a clubhouse which was original to the property (farm house) that was redone very nicely with a bar, eating area.  Small locker room, awesome practice facility.  Not much else there.

The owner built the course with the intention of running a bare bones club, so to speak, in order to keep debt low, and thus, dues low.  It is mostly a second club for guys who already have membership at other clubs (Medinah, Olympia Fields...) and do not need Black Sheep to provide a pool, social calendar or weight room since their other club serves this function.

I believe Black Sheep is doing very nicely.

[Phil Lipper]

In the NY area there a quite a few clubs that are strictly golf clubs and many of them have the same thing in common they are second clubs for much of the membership. Pine Valley, Metedeconck, Bayonne even Baltusrol to some extent fit into this category. I would guess that is also the case for the two SC clubs mentioned Chechessee Creek and Succession.

[BHoover]

But my question and reason for bumping this thread was about whether any traditional country clubs (i.e., golf, pool, tennis, other activities) have begun to offer members the option of picking and choosing what types of activities that are included in their membership?  In other words, would a prospective member (or current member) be able to choose a "golf-only" membership that eliminates the cost of paying for the pool, tennis, etc.?  My guess is no because then too many members probably would choose to opt out of things other than golf, but it seems like an idea that should be available.

[David_Tepper]

Brian H. -

As a practical matter, isn't the cost of operating facilities such as tennis and a pool at a country club rather marginal compared to the cost of operating a golf course? How much cheaper would the dues of a "golf only" membership really be?

Also, as a practical matter, isn't it much easier for a club to monitor who is using the golf course than it is to monitor who is using the pool or the workout facilities?

DT  

[BHoover]

Brian H. -

As a practical matter, isn't the cost of operating facilities such as tennis and a pool at a country club rather marginal compared to the cost of operating a golf course? How much cheaper would the dues of a "golf only" membership really be?

Also, as a practical matter, isn't it much easier for a club to monitor who is using the golf course than it is to monitor who is using the pool or the workout facilities?

DT  

You could very well be right.  I just don't know.  But let's assume for the sake of argument that the monthly cost of a social membership is $300, whereas the monthly cost of a full golf membership is $650.  Why not offer the option of a golf-only membership for the difference?

[BCowan]

...

[Phil Lipper]

Brian

My club annual dues gets me clubhouse privledges (also known as a minium) and golf. If I want to play paddle or swim at the pool or play paddle  there is a very small (around $200 pa) activity fee for those. I actually think we did that to enhance the paddle and swim program not to make it cheaper to play golf, but it is effectively the same thing.

[Jason Thurman]

Brian, Standard Country Club in Louisville has started offering a la carte memberships this year. It's a strategy they've implemented in hopes of surviving the harsh golf economic environment in Louisville. Time will tell if it works or not.

http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2013/03/21/sources-standard-country-club-members-closing-clubhouse-discussing-possible-redevelopment/

[BHoover]

Ben,

I'm asking more as a general question rather than for me personally.  Yeah, it would be great if such an option existed in my hometown, but I'm hoping more than anything else to foster discussion about the idea of ala carte membership in general.

Phil,

I think that your club seems to be on the right track in terms of what I am talking about.  It's great to have a variety of activities from which to choose, but I think that the "right" approach is to offer members the choice of what they want to use (think of it almost like an insurance plan with optional riders).  There is a club in Cleveland that has a curling facility, which is an optional feature that members can choose to add to their membership (at least, that is my understanding of how it works).

[SL_Solow]

Black Sheep is a Men's only club well outside of the city.  It was intended to be the anti country club and is located where a full service family club would likely fail.  Dave Esler designed 27 really good golf holes.  Additionally, many clubs offer some form of a la carte membership with extra fees for tennis, paddle etc.  But as noted, the vast majority of expense comes from course maintenance and the clubhouse.  I don't know of any club that allows a golf only membership with nothing for the clubhouse/food.  More typically, there are food minimums.  the ancillary and less expensive activities are usually where the options, if any, exist.

[Dan Boerger]

David - That's an excellent point.

And - as has been discussed here many times - one size certainly does not fit all. I belong to a full service club, and was sober to all the risks and rewards of joining such a place. One advantage I've observed is that when you have a full service club (Paddle, Tennis, Trap, Swimming, Fitness, family and regular dining areas, full social activities, etc.) you have the opportunity to engage a family in a pretty significant way. The result has been a strong feeder system of new members coming from the junior ranks. And, engaged members makes for an engaged staff, robust functions, etc.

[BHoover]

One advantage I've observed is that when you have a full service club (Paddle, Tennis, Trap, Swimming, Fitness, family and regular dining areas, full social activities, etc.) you have the opportunity to engage a family in a pretty significant way. The result has been a strong feeder system of new members coming from the junior ranks. And, engaged members makes for an engaged staff, robust functions, etc.

I don't disagree with your statement, but it assumes that the entire family makes use of the facilities that the club has to offer.  But for single guys or members whose families don't use the club facilities, that may not make the most sense.

[Joe Leenheer]

Little place south of me called The Golf Club I hear is doing pretty well...

...and there is a men's only club about 5 miles from my house with just golf...and I'm pretty sure they are the only club within 50 miles with a waiting list.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()