[John Kavanaugh]

It's not just the green fees that are going up so are the flights, lodging, and rental cars. I don't think the caddies are getting a cost of living adjustment though.

FTTG

[Mark Chaplin]

Already busy caddying at an Open venue and not an overseas visitor in sight, home based demand is huge at the moment.


When the county card was introduced it was for your own county only and a high percentage of clubs took part. I think in Kent only RSG and RCP didn’t take part and in Sussex only West Sussex wasn’t on the list. You could only play once in a year and the usual fee was members guest rate. Now the scheme is England wide and there’s 100s of courses, but even less of the good’uns, restrictions on times and the discount is often only £10 or £20. I’ve been a life member of my county for 30+ years and probably used the county card 5 times.


Anyone over this year will notice a HUGE increase in the price of hire cars. A friend was quoted over £4500 to hire a medium SUV for a month, he used to pay £1500.

[David_Tepper]

"Anyone over this year will notice a HUGE increase in the price of hire cars. A friend was quoted over £4500 to hire a medium SUV for a month, he used to pay £1500."

Yes, this is a real issue. The type of car I rented in Scotland last August-September is being quoted at almost twice that rate for a rental this coming May and almost 3 times the price I paid pre-COVID.
 

[Ian Galbraith]

In case anyone else is curious why car hire prices have rocketed,  google found me this short article which I found interesting


https://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/news/why-are-car-hire-prices-so-high

[Shane Derby]

Have you priced a ton of sand lately?

Links courses don’t purchase sand.

Hi Michael


Regarding your point above, whereas in the main this is true, it does require the club in question to have a sand pit onsite and what sort of environmental designation covers the site in question. My club is located in a Unesco Biosphere in the middle of Dublin Bay and is therefore precluded from using sand from the site for bunker filling, top dressing etc so has to purchase from a supplier.


I suspect due to historical environmental derogations from Europe (now obviously not a consideration for the UK) the UK and Irish (where we very much are required to follow EU environmental regulations and directives) approaches are likely to be very different.


Best


Shane Derby   

[Shane Derby]

Have membership dues gone up a lot as well or is this just a "Soak the Yanks" strategy since they know there will be a ton of demand from overseas this year?

Hi Wayne


I can only speak from personal experience and the annual membership dues for my club have been increased and will probably be increased again in subsequent years,


The supply issue (in an Irish context) is a lack of inventory, understandable when you are attempting to fit bookings from 2020, 2021 and 2022 into timesheets that have been rammed full of members for the past few years (member play has been through the roof over the past 2 years for obvious reasons).


All of the 'trophy' courses in Ireland are now pretty much closed to visitor bookings for 2022, if you're still keen on Ireland you should head to County Donegal - reducing inventory up there, however, better value and it's arguably now the best county for golf!


Best


Shane

[Peter Sayegh]

*gasp* The cost of golf is matching inflation?!


How shocking.

Is this an attempt at humor?

[Jeff Schley]

Already busy caddying at an Open venue and not an overseas visitor in sight, home based demand is huge at the moment.


When the county card was introduced it was for your own county only and a high percentage of clubs took part. I think in Kent only RSG and RCP didn’t take part and in Sussex only West Sussex wasn’t on the list. You could only play once in a year and the usual fee was members guest rate. Now the scheme is England wide and there’s 100s of courses, but even less of the good’uns, restrictions on times and the discount is often only £10 or £20. I’ve been a life member of my county for 30+ years and probably used the county card 5 times.


Anyone over this year will notice a HUGE increase in the price of hire cars. A friend was quoted over £4500 to hire a medium SUV for a month, he used to pay £1500.

Chappers holy shishkabobs! Makes for holing up somewhere for a week more attractive.

[Thomas Dai]

.... if you're still keen on Ireland you should head to County Donegal - reducing inventory up there, however, better value and it's arguably now the best county for golf!

Maybe best keep it secret Shane! As Capt Mainwaring said "Don't tell him Pike!"
atb

[Jonathan Cummings]

Ardfin may take the cake.  1500 pounds for a required 1-night stay and 500 pounds for green fees.  Essentially $2500 for a round of golf.

[Jeff Schley]

Ardfin may take the cake.  1500 pounds for a required 1-night stay and 500 pounds for green fees.  Essentially $2500 for a round of golf.

Woah it is 1500 PLUS 500?  I thought it was all inclusive combined for 1500? Also you have to get yourself there, which isn't next to any major airports. The adventure is worth it.

[Daryl David]

Actually it’s 1540 pounds a night now due to recent price increase.  It says it’s an all inclusive rate. I wonder if meals are included in that rate.


For comparison a one night stay at Kauri Cliffs or Cape Kidnappers is 1586 pounds and includes all meals. Golf is 300 pounds a round.

[Mark Chaplin]

Daryl no meals aren’t included, I messaged them a few weeks back.


Jeff a little like air and train fares it’s worth messing around. A local place in Dover was £4600 for the medium SUV 1-31 August. Hire the same car 1-15 and 15-31 August and it was £2600, save two grand for an hours round trip in the middle of the month to complete another contract. I suggested a car service to and from LHR, taxis locally and choose a week or couple of weekends to hire a car when you want to do some visits. You’d struggle to spend £20 a day on taxis which is far better than having a car costing circa £100 a car doing less than 5 miles.

[Niall C]

I've just received an email from one of the golf mags that do golf booking on the side. The offer is to play Prestwick on Monday 25th April for the "unbelievable price" of £129 per person. Apparently the normal rate is £180 although not sure if that is the peak season rate. Anyway, compared to some of the other prices being spoken about it possibly is a good deal but I think if you'd have suggested that price to me about 6 or 7 years ago I would have agreed it was unbelievable, but just not in the way meant in this email.


Niall

[JohnVDB]

Daryl no meals aren’t included, I messaged them a few weeks back.


Jeff a little like air and train fares it’s worth messing around. A local place in Dover was £4600 for the medium SUV 1-31 August. Hire the same car 1-15 and 15-31 August and it was £2600, save two grand for an hours round trip in the middle of the month to complete another contract. I suggested a car service to and from LHR, taxis locally and choose a week or couple of weekends to hire a car when you want to do some visits. You’d struggle to spend £20 a day on taxis which is far better than having a car costing circa £100 a car doing less than 5 miles.

You probably won’t even need the round trip.  I’ve done that with Avis and they will just let you call in the mileage. 

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