Made a detour on a drive from Los Angeles to Seattle to pay $495 at Pebble followed by $370 at Spyglass the next day. Tempered my expenses by staying in a $30/night motel in Seaside and eating at Denny's. At least I have my priorities straight!
To throw this in, an acquaintance of mine in Seattle was invited to play at Pine Valley; invited by a local elderly gentleman here in Seattle. He told me they only had one other guest coming leaving space for one - so my thinking was "why not me as the fourth." Figuring this may be the only time in my life the opportunity may present itself, (and never forgiving myself for not taking an opportunity in my youth to go to the Masters; read below), I told my friend if he could get me in as the fourth,
I would pay for his airfare to PV. I never received the invite, and found out a few months later that the trip was canceled when the elderly gentleman became ill. I felt sorry for my acquaintance that he missed the opportunity of a lifetime.
The take away, I am willing to pay for a unique opportunity. I can't take the money with me when I leave this planet, so I spend it on my only vice - golf.
I have told people the only regret I have in life is not saying yes to attend the Masters for the entire week when I was 22. I was young and didn't have much extra money lying around. The reality is that I had some money and could have made it happen, but I was raised to be frugal with money and I would have not had much left if I went. The invite caught me off guard, and I asked how he could make this happen; even in 1985 tickets were sold out and scalped tickets were expensive; my mind already made up that I couldn't afford it whatever his answer. He then answered, "All you have to do is get to Atlanta from LA. I will take care of everything from there. We will stay at my parent's family home in Atlanta and fly daily to Augusta on our family plane with whomever is going to the tournament, just as we do every year for the Masters." I was at a loss for words except "uh-oh" running through my brain. I will let you derive your own implications from his answer.
Never forgetting the opportunity to which I said no, I think about whether or not I will likely ever have the opportunity again, and if the answer is no, then cost is a small factor in the decision making process. I can always make more money; some opportunities are unlikely to ever come again.
When the offer came (an went) for the round at Cypress Point about 1 year ago, the opportunity seized by Alex Miller, I asked my wife if she would have been fine with me going (and the $800 last second plane ticket plus rental car and
hotel motel) to play, she said, "I would have driven you to the airport."
Like Pete P., I would fly to Oakmont for one round at $1000.
Although I guess I have my own limits, I was unwilling to pay for a foursome at Muirfield next year at I think $1200 or $1300 for my son and I; that would have been $600+ per person per round. As much as anything, it was wasting the two open spots that bothered me. So Gullane #2 it will be!
Sorry for the long answer.