Groucho Marx and I would be clubless together, but for the facts that everyone likes my wife and the economics of most clubs combined to pave the way for us to join. My wife picked the one where we live/work because I adamantly was opposed to joining any club (see first clause), and she chose based on convenience (it is five minutes away). For our potential retirement place, I insisted on picking based on quality of the course even though there again is another option just five minutes away. But the one we chose is still less than 20 minutes--I probably would not go for more than 30 minutes unless there were not any other viable choices.
I am extremely glad that she forced us to join because it got me to play golf after a 15 year break. Plus I discovered that as long as I hang out primarily with the pro and bar staffs, the company could be grand too.
Ira