Least Bang for the Bucks

[Tony Petersen]

95% of the public/resort golf clubs around the Phoenix/Scottsdale area during peak season rates   What you can play for $25 in the summer runs around $150-200 in-season   And then there's the madness of Troon North, Grayhawk and the like coming in at well over $200 in-season    So little bang that Stephen Hawking has yet to hear the murmers

[Jeff Spittel]

At $250+ per round (mandatory fore caddie not included), the Plantation and Retreat courses at Sea Island are pretty disappointing.  

[Ally Mcintosh]

my favourite rip-off (by a country mile) is the k-club which stacks up at a whopping $ 528....

this price has nothing to do with the ryder cup either... it was always high...

...actually, i've thought of a bigger rip-off: the second course at the k-club which also costs $ 528...

[Dan Herrmann]

Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace, MD.  $150 is way too much for this course.   I just don't like this Pete Dye design.  To me, it just seems to lack a soul.

Also, in my opinion, Roger Rulewich's Ballyowen in Vernon, NJ, is a rip off at $140.

[PThomas]

my favourite rip-off (by a country mile) is the k-club which stacks up at a whopping $ 528....

this price has nothing to do with the ryder cup either... it was always high...

...actually, i've thought of a bigger rip-off: the second course at the k-club which also costs $ 528...

if there's a worse one than those two I think i'd be scared to hear about it!

[BCrosby]

At $250+ per round (mandatory fore caddie not included), the Plantation and Retreat courses at Sea Island are pretty disappointing.  

Good point, but that's not the half of it. To get the right to over pay for golf, you have to pay big $$$$ for room and board at either the Cloister or The Lodge.

It has been clear for several years that the Sea Island business plan is to go the corporate outing route. Unless you are a drug baron or a rock star, the old days when families comprised most of their business are long gone.

Bob

[Ally Mcintosh]

my favourite rip-off (by a country mile) is the k-club which stacks up at a whopping $ 528....

this price has nothing to do with the ryder cup either... it was always high...

...actually, i've thought of a bigger rip-off: the second course at the k-club which also costs $ 528...

if there's a worse one than those two I think i'd be scared to hear about it!

in fairness, i just looked up the website and noticed they've reduced the full green-fee for the second course to $ 321... brilliant value then!... ryder cup course still at $ 528...

[Jeff Spittel]

I'm with you, Bob. The greens fees at Sea Island are merely the lubrication in a weekend long financial prostate exam. 10 days in Scotland? No thanks, I'll pass for the three day weekend of inhaling wildfire fumes in Georgia.  

[BCrosby]

"The greens fees at Sea Island are merely the lubrication in a weekend long financial prostate exam."

Great line. I plan on stealing it.

Your point about Scotland is a good one. If your stay is one week, I figure that week in Scotland would be barely more than half as expensive. You'd be missing the bagpiper outside the Lodge at cocktail hour, however.

Bob

[Mike Golden]

ummm...I think the criteria is pretty clear....so-so courses on or near beautiful bodies of water are the biggest ripoffs in golf:

Spanish Bay

Whistling Straits

Half Moon Bay

Bay Harbor

Pelican Hill

Trump National

Dave, would Spanish Bay qualify if the greens fees were $105 (the price for Dukes Club members)?

[John Kavanaugh]

Pine Needles is the most over priced course I ever paid for.

[John Kavanaugh]

I thought Pinehurst #2 was a value...I still remember everything about that day walking 36 straight.  The only thing I remember about Pine Needles is the asst pro who agreed to carry my bag for the second 18 when they fell short on caddies.  The guy even went and got a caddie jumper.  What a trooper.

note: I thought Mid-Pines was a value.

[Tom Yost]

I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned Doral, Reynolds Plantation, Troon North, or Greyhawk (or any number of other AZ courses if you play during the winter). Haven't played any of them but seems like they come up as usual suspects in the overpriced derby? Is that fair or should they not be included?

Completely fair.   Troon N. earns the honors for being the worst bang for the buck in the Arizona SUMMER for their $90 rack rate where most every other top tier course in town was charging max $50.

Tom

[Richard Choi]

I think you can at least defend the courses that have hosted recent majors charging $100+ what they really should charge.

So I would give a pass to courses like Whistling Strait and Pinehurst #2.

But a course like Doral charging $260 just because they host a PGA event is just ludicrous. That course is nothing special except for the #18.

[John Kavanaugh]

Funny that you would say that Southern Pines is a better value than Tobacco Road.  I am an Elk but I have not played Southern Pines.

[John Kavanaugh]

Funny that you would say that Southern Pines is a better value than Tobacco Road.  I am an Elk but I have not played Southern Pines.

John

I love The Road, but its only down to the graciousness of Joe that I keep going back.  I doubt I would pay $125.  I don't know what Southern Pines charges normally - it is all very hazy and one of the problems about the place - things don't seem to be above board, but this could have just been my impression.  I paid $22 and for that it can't be beat.  Of course, its well undersold at that price.  I think a reasonable fee is $40-$50 and maybe a bit more if they spend some money on the place - $60-$70 tops.  Another very cool thing about the club is the very cheap bar.  I don't know why they bother collecting money for drinks.  A round was less than a fiver.  To top it off, the Elks sitting around the bar are pissed so you always have a long lost pal.  Its like stepping back into the 70s - you'd like it.  Yep, I would go back fer sure.  I would also stay in Southern Pines because its actually a nice little town thats real - unlike Pinehurst.

Ciao

Of course I would like my Elks brothers...that is why I am one.

I thought Tobacco Road only cost in the mid sixties...Was that a special rate the day I played?

[Jay Flemma]

at $225 each Atunyote and Kahluyut at Blarney Stone...err...Turning Stone CASINO are tops on my list for overpriced and under-designed.

[Jeff Doerr]

ummm...I think the criteria is pretty clear....so-so courses on or near beautiful bodies of water are the biggest ripoffs in golf:

Spanish Bay

Whistling Straits

Half Moon Bay

Bay Harbor

Pelican Hill

Trump National

Dave, would Spanish Bay qualify if the greens fees were $105 (the price for Dukes Club members)?

I'm at Spanish Bay next weekend. I'm not sure what we'll have to pay, but I'll put my .02 in after the trip. From what I've seen $105 would easily get it out of the category.

[Mark Chaplin]

We hear lots about the rip off courses in GB&I from our overseas cousins and then watch queues of them waiting to play. If Royal Troon and Muirfield are too expensive then don't play them, this does us locals a favour as well. Golf clubs price to the market, if the visitors do not arrive they can only lose money or reduce fees.

[Rich Goodale]

 I am an Elk

Thanks, John.  We always knew that you were not a fully paid up member of the human species.

As to ripoffs, the medicore USA courses (plus their Irish brother Mr. "K") above take the cake.  At least when you are being ripped off at Troon, Muirfield, etc., you know you are playing a real "championship" venue.  And, if you really think you are being ripped off at Troon for ~$450, how much would you be willing to pay (or think it might cost) for a round at Pebble Beach, lunch at Club XIX, and an afternoon round at Del Monte?

Rich

[Tom Birkert]

Tricky one...

Wentworth is extortionate given that the round will take at least 5 hours and while it hosts a couple of European Tour events it's not all that special in my opinion.

Valderrama is seriously expensive and is living on past glories, indeed a lot of courses in southern Spain are not good value at all.

In the US I didn't like Spyglass (personally I'd play Spanish Bay all day long instead).

[KBanks]

"The greens fees at Sea Island are merely the lubrication in a weekend long financial prostate exam."

Great line. I plan on stealing it.

Your point about Scotland is a good one. If your stay is one week, I figure that week in Scotland would be barely more than half as expensive. You'd be missing the bagpiper outside the Lodge at cocktail hour, however.

Bob

How things change.

Not too long ago, Sea Island might have been in the running for best value. In the summer after 4pm, you could play Seaside (then still Colt & Alison) and another nine of your choosing for $45, carry your own clubs, and weren't required to be a guest at the Cloister.

I believe Sea Island Co. regards itself primarily as a real estate company these days. They're targeting a certain demographic to sell property to.

Ken