I admit to being in the dark on "subscriptions" in the UK. I only know of the U.S monthly dues system that are at least $350/month for an average course in the wrong part of town.
How can private clubs exist over there on $1500/yr? ( assuming a pound is roughly double the dollar). Lot of members, low maintenance, meager facilities?
I ask b/c I'm trying to figure out why that couldn't work in the U.S. I would love to start a club based on the U.K. model.
Essentially, because American preconceived notions of quality are not only misplaced but unrealistic. Without wishing to misrepresent him, Tom Doak has been saying much the same for some time.
In Britain, I'm afraid to say that we have an ever growing band of golfers that can talk about nothing other than conditioning, and they don't mean it in an educated, architectural sense. For this very reason, many of these people find themselves unhappy members at lesser private or proprietary clubs, clubs where they look at Augusta ever April and wonder how they can replicate the same for £800 (circa $1,200) per year. Simple answer, of course, is that they can't. That won't stop the impenetrably ignorant however from moaning that the greens aren't holding or that the rough looks a bit, well, rough.
And this is why if you find yourself in Britain you are better off either treating yourself to green fees at top tier or second tier clubs or, as a very pleasant cheap and cheerful alternative, go to a local track which has too little money to mess anything up too badly.
The really good clubs which really 'get it' can provide genuinely good conditions by focusing on those famed firm and fast conditions and general playability. The local 'gems' will be rudimentary affairs but you can pretty much guarantee that they won't have fairways which look like they've been cut by drunk teenagers studying for a degree in art and there won't be a fountain or sprinkler in sight. Humble golf is usually good golf.
Essentially, if you focus on golf, rather than artificial aesthetics, you can do good golf on any budget in Britain. Eye candy however is never an efficient undertaking.