Golf Club Atlas

GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Tommy Williamsen on October 23, 2007, 12:04:13 PM

Title: longest waiting list
Post by: Tommy Williamsen on October 23, 2007, 12:04:13 PM
I don't know how or why I was looking at Radrick Farms at the U of MI but noticed that the wait list for alumni is between 20-25 years!!

http://www.umich.edu/~radrick/passes.html

The only wait I know that is longer is when I get into Augusta National.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Ken Moum on October 23, 2007, 12:11:09 PM
I think your math is about as good as mine...

No.1 on the Alumni list is from 1995, that's 12 years.

Ken
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Jason Connor on October 23, 2007, 12:59:24 PM
I played Radrick for the first time earlier this month and thought it was great.  Though I preferred (and fell in love with) UM's Mackenzie course.

I live 0n another early Pete Dye course (#7 of Harbour Trees) so it was fun seeing Radrick which was from the same time period.

But I too had noticed that wait when I was checking out the course website before my Michigan trip.  Wow!

Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Sean_A on October 23, 2007, 01:00:33 PM
I was on the list at Radrick for something like 14 years before my name came up!  I am now back near the bottom because I chose not to take my spot.  Life in the fast lane........

Ciao
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: PThomas on October 23, 2007, 01:05:22 PM
i was told 8 years for one club in Chicago
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Dan Boerger on October 23, 2007, 01:09:51 PM
I can't imagine there is even a wait list at Augusta National. You are invited or not when you are considered.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Bob_Huntley on October 23, 2007, 01:10:07 PM
Sankaty Head was something like 15 years a couple of years ago.

Bob
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: David Mulle on October 23, 2007, 01:56:28 PM
One of the amazing things about Radrick is not only how long the waitlist is but also how many active members there are.

When I was in law school there I played with a number of people who were members at Radrick but were playing the MacKenzie course that day because there weren't any tee times available at Radrick.  

Personally, I agree with Jason.  I really enjoyed Radrick but I prefer the MacKenzie course.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Dan Kelly on October 23, 2007, 02:02:34 PM
When Rick Shefchik got into Stillwater (Minn.) Country Club, this year -- after being on the waiting list for about 15 years -- it was an above-the-fold front-page story in the Stillwater newspaper!

...

Well, actually, that's a little misleading; the story was about the club's amazingly long and enduring waiting list (the golf course is a lot of fun, and the price is extremely right); the reporter led with the most recent new members, who happened to be Mr. Shefchik and his wife (a fanatical golfer in her own right).

Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Eric Franzen on October 23, 2007, 02:20:49 PM
Stockholm GK is around 60 years if no one in the family already belongs.
Falsterbo is around 40 to 50 years.

Cheers,

Eric
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: JESII on October 23, 2007, 02:27:58 PM
Stockholm GK is around 60 years if no one in the family already belongs.
Falsterbo is around 40 to 50 years.

Cheers,

Eric


?


This seems to imply that there are actually people on the list...is that possible?

I didn't realize life expectancy was so much longer in Scandanavia...
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Eric Franzen on October 23, 2007, 03:04:42 PM
Stockholm GK is around 60 years if no one in the family already belongs.
Falsterbo is around 40 to 50 years.

Cheers,

Eric


?


This seems to imply that there are actually people on the list...is that possible?

I didn't realize life expectancy was so much longer in Scandanavia...

The waiting list is open for these clubs. Anyone can sign up for a small fee. So there are thousands of people on each list with only 10 -15 spots or so becoming available for each year.

There are ways around it, like honorary memberships or having someone in the family that belongs.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Tom_Doak on October 23, 2007, 03:34:38 PM
Eric:  Thanks for sharing that.  It's one of the more interesting case studies I've heard -- talk about a cultural difference!
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: HamiltonBHearst on October 23, 2007, 04:33:11 PM


I strongly discourage any of my clubs from having a formal waiting list as it can only lead to trouble.  

The best answer to Q. "how long is the wait?"

is always, "whose asking".
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Dan_Callahan on October 23, 2007, 04:41:35 PM
Actually, the best answer would be, "Who's asking."
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Dan Kelly on October 23, 2007, 04:47:37 PM
Actually, the best answer would be, "Who's asking."

Or maybe "Who's asking?"
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Mark Chaplin on October 23, 2007, 06:56:19 PM
The toughies over in the UK often tend not to have a waiting list but let members know when they are accepting applications.

Rumour has it the HCEG is not taking some people who get to the top of their 19 year'ish waitlist if they are over a certain age.

Marylebone Cricket Club is around 22 years for full membership.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: TEPaul on October 23, 2007, 07:21:10 PM
I've been waiting to get into Cypress for about 47 years.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: wsmorrison on October 23, 2007, 07:24:34 PM
Mark,

I played golf with a bunch of great guys from the golfing society of Marylebone Cricket Club this Summer.  I don't recall asking them, so does the Marylebone Cricket Club have its own golf course?  These guys were all members of various clubs in England and Scotland, but never did mention a club course.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Mark Bourgeois on October 23, 2007, 07:39:51 PM
Insert Bob Hope CPC membership-drive joke here.

Mark, last year I washed cars at a fund raiser with other dads and fell into conversation with an Aussie I knew, but only a little.  We talked about this and that and he let on that he'd just gotten into "MCC."  I then congratulated him on getting into Melbourne Cricket Club at which point he went a little bonkers and said no no no it's Marylebone Cricket Club.

I could tell this was going to be fun, so I told him I'd never heard of it and did he join because it was less strenuous than joining "MCC --  I mean, Melbourne Cricket Club?"

Surprise surprise, that earned me a 30-minute answer that ranged well beyond the real MCC, but unfortunately remained wholly and soporifically on the history of cricket....

Mark
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: John Kavanaugh on October 23, 2007, 08:30:15 PM
i was told 8 years for one club in Chicago

Sorry buddy, turn that sideways and you got the truth.

I was told the same thing when I called St. Louis CC back when I was a naive sportster myself.  I do think it is nice when "guests" inquire about memberships.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Jason Blasberg on October 23, 2007, 08:37:59 PM
about 8 years ago I know Westhampton's list was over 25 years b/c there was a party for a guy on his 50th B-Day at the club to celebrate two things: 1) half a century of living and 2) his getting into the club.  He got on the list right after he graduated college.

 
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Mike Sweeney on October 23, 2007, 08:42:11 PM
about 8 years ago I know Westhampton's list was over 25 years b/c there was a party for a guy on his 50th B-Day at the club to celebrate two things: 1) half a century of living and 2) his getting into the club.  He got on the list right after he graduated college.

 

FYI, they were advertising for members in the Southampton Press in 1990-91. I ignored the ads but they were there. My buddy Greg joined and then left for Westchester CC.
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Jonathan Cummings on October 23, 2007, 08:49:33 PM
Football tickets for the Vikings.  They count the waiting list in terms of generations......
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Tony Petersen on October 23, 2007, 08:55:04 PM
Fortunately, we've had season tickets to the Vikes since I was an wee lil boy  ;)

My question is do they even have wait-lists for the grand and the greats:

SFGC
CPC
Merion
Pine Valley (The members I know were invited long after showing an interest in the club, but they have never mentioned a list)

Just curious... ;)
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Kalen Braley on October 23, 2007, 08:56:35 PM
Football tickets for the Vikings.  They count the waiting list in terms of generations......

Football tix for the ND Irish....after this season there will be plenty of good seats available for next year..  ;)
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Doug Siebert on October 24, 2007, 03:06:17 AM
The first time I played Prestwick my dad and I were told that the waiting list was measured in decades, so fathers were putting their sons on the list after birth, so they could become members in their 30s or 40s.  I can't remember if it was the caddie or the pro who said this, I'd probably trust the latter more, some of the Scottish caddies must have some Mark Twain in them :)
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Joe Bausch on October 24, 2007, 05:16:08 AM

The only wait I know that is longer is when I get into Augusta National.

Dear Tommy,

You're right about the very long wait to get into Augusta National.

Sincerely,
Martha Burk
 ;)
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Ally Mcintosh on October 24, 2007, 07:34:05 AM
there are certainly some long waiting lists in scotland... usually very small entrance fees when you get there... my local course in aberdeen when i was growing up was a very, very average track called royal deeside... 25 years to get in...

...that said, i'm sure there were short cuts...
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: wsmorrison on October 24, 2007, 07:54:13 AM
Doug,

I understand you have to get into the HCEG at Muirfield first and then begin to have aspirations to get into Prestwick  ;)
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Tom Dunne on October 24, 2007, 08:04:06 AM
Actually, the best answer would be, "Who's asking."

Or maybe "Who's asking?"

Dan, this form commonly appears on Presidential correspondence. "Its the Yale grammer."

Mkay?
Title: Re:longest waiting list
Post by: Mike Sweeney on October 24, 2007, 08:17:28 AM

...that said, i'm sure there were short cuts...

Also known as the "A" and "B" list.