Speaking from experience with overseas memberships, I became enamored with Ireland on my first trip in 2009 when I did a five week trip that in included the Southwest, travel out to the west and up to Donegal, Northern Ireland, and Dublin. I returned two years later and did a trip up to Donegal and back to Dublin. A year later I did a flight to Scotland with ferry to Belfast and a loop to Ballyliffin, Rosapenna, Dublin, and Northern Ireland. The following year I played at Ballyliffin, Rosapenna, Murvagh, and in Dublin.
I thought about the issue of joining a club in Ireland for the convenience of having access to a quality links golf experience at a club I enjoyed with welcoming, friendly people. Ballyliffin offered a lifetime international membership and made a non-local annual membership available. I joined in 2014 and did two trips a year through the end of 2018, with one exception in 2017 when I went for two weeks to the Southwest of England. I looked forward to each trip and ended up getting a longer term holiday rental during my stays at Ballyliffin. Having two courses instead of one factored into my preference and I liked the remoteness of the setting. The club had arrangements with other clubs in the North and West Coast Links that allowed 50 percent off the normal rate. Carrying a GUI handicap allowed entry into open competitions.
During the same period, I had been traveling to Australia and had visited the Mornington Peninsula on multiple occasions, along with playing sandbelt courses. In early 2014 I decided to look into a membership at The National Golf Club. Until 2020, I did two trips a year to Australia for a minimum of a three week stay per trip and did routings through Asia beginning in late 2016 on six or seven trips.
Over time, I developed some other travel interests and had things to do here so in 2019 I took a leave from the Ballyliffin Membership. I had intended to do two Australia trips in 2020 and had a full travel schedule so I decided it was time to give up the Ballyliffin membership. Ultimately I ended up in the U.S. due to Australia stopping entry for U.S. passport holders in March. I paid my annual subscription and will return again when travel is permitted.
I'd share that the experiences with golf in Ireland and Australia as a member of golf clubs really added to my enjoyment, due to being more immersed in a cultural sense and making some good friendships. I liked the location of both clubs and the open spaces made for playing environments I liked.
I participated in a thread here a few years ago on self directed overseas golf travel. I developed a good flight tolerance and had ways of dealing with air travel which made that part of the experience manageable. I've now played about 175 different golf courses outside of North America and getting overseas memberships contributed to being able to access more courses. I did multi-country and multi-continent trips on many occasions.
I think there are a lot of areas of England, Scotland, and Ireland that I could enjoy having a golf membership that might serve as a base for more complicated trips that included out and back or loop road travel. A lot depends on personal preferences and no one can say how the experience of being in another country on multiple occasions might change your ideas about how you want to spend time playing golf. Over time, I found that I was playing close to 75 percent of my rounds of golf out of the country and often had limited motivation to play while home.
I'd say that joining a club with an affordable buy in fee or one with a manageable subscription rate is an important consideration. Clubs which have reciprocal play arrangements or reduced rates at other clubs in the country or in other countries adds value to the membership. Facilities are important. I had two lockers at Ballyliffin and kept clubs in one and a clothing in another. In Australia I have a set of clubs that are at the home of a family whose guest house I rented many times.
Different options open up over time. I figured when I got my overseas memberships that the worst thing that could happen would be that I wouldn't like it and then I would respectfully give up the membership.
Charles Lund