Question:
Reading through many of the strings in RSG I unspoken choices made when it comes to choosing the golf courses you play. I almost used the words ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ in the title of this string and I was going to explain that I was actually talking about choosing to play less expensive courses and playing more often, rather than playing more expensive courses and playing more often. Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget? Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball. Joel Grant
Response:
Yeah, I’m having the same thoughts. The range I have been a member for the last five years, has changed ownership. The new owner has made a few worthwhile changes. The main thing they did is fertilize the fairways. They did add some new yardage signs on the driving range. But now they have raised the yearly fee almost 70%, and they also raised the cart fee $2.00. Good old American Greed. :^( A.T. — "Take away my people but leave my factory and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory" Andrew Carnegie http://www.customknives.com/
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Reading through many of the strings in RSG I unspoken choices made when it comes to choosing the golf courses you play. I almost used the words ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ in the title of this string and I was going to explain that I was actually talking about choosing to play less expensive courses and playing more often, rather than playing more expensive courses and playing more often. Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget? Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball. Joel Grant
Response:
Note: I changed the title of this post as (at least my newsreader) obviously picked up the wrong ‘Subject’. Re: Attached The trade-offs that I have made are ‘the easy ones’, but not trivial in their cost savings. 1) Virtually every club in my bag (and my bag) was bought used (mostly on ebay). I doubt that I am missing much in performance. 2) I play very high end balls (Strata Tour Ultimate), but since they are now out of production I bought 6 dozen earlier this year at $13/dozen (new) on ebay. 3) There is a local trotting track owned by the city where golf is allowed on the infield in the ‘off hours’. I practice more than I play (more cost savings) and shag my own balls for free. I enjoy practicing about as much as playing. Call me wierd. These compromises save me bunches but cost me little in enjoyment. dave
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Reading through many of the strings in RSG I unspoken choices made when it comes to choosing the golf courses you play. I almost used the words ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ in the title of this string and I was going to explain that I was actually talking about choosing to play less expensive courses and playing more often, rather than playing more expensive courses and playing more often. Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget? Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball. Joel Grant
Response:
I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season.
That pretty much sums it up. The local courses here are quite enjoyable for me and the cost is not terribly steep. When I am on vacation, I play the expensive courses as a sort of luxury. Several of us had a discussion about the selection of courses for RSG events and the thoughts ran along two lines: 1- the purpose of the events is camaraderie so keep the green fees low and more people will be able to attend and 2 – if someone is going to take the time, effort, and expense to fly to another city to play golf, the golf itself should be memorable. For me, the compromise is somewhere in between for an RSG event. At RSG-DFW, the local muni was used as a practice round and two more upscale courses were used for the tournament rounds. But the muni (Grapevine) was a nice course, not a goat track. The upscale courses were a bit more pricey than my typical weekend of golf ($70 and $75 for the two courses), but they were not the $125 – $150 you might pay on vacation in an exclusive resort. My day-in and day-out local courses are in the $30 to $40 range. I’d rather play them more often than play the $75 courses. But when I go to Hawaii, I want an experience to remember with great vistas and great golf. Besides, it’s vacation money at that point, not real money.
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My day-in and day-out local courses are in the $30 to $40 range. I’d rather play them more often than play the $75 courses. But when I go to Hawaii, I want an experience to remember with great vistas and great golf. Besides, it’s vacation money at that point, not real money.
The firsttime I went to Maui I had planned to play lots of the great courses there. However, when I got there and realized how many rounds I could play back home for the cost of one round at Kapalua, I balked. I ended up playing crappy Kaanapali at the twilight rate. I regretted that decision for a few years until I went back. That time I played lots of great courses on Maui, Lanai, & Kauai. Of course, Mr. VISA was waiting for me when I got home. Ouch! But I still have the memories (and a few pics) of playing those great courses, long after the Chapter 13 paperwork has been completed. So yes, when on vacation I say live it up. Locally, you’ll probably get as much enjoyment on the local muni as you would the more expensive tracks (unless you live on Kauai).
Response:
I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. That pretty much sums it up. The local courses here are quite enjoyable for me and the cost is not terribly steep. When I am on vacation, I play the expensive courses as a sort of luxury.
Here’s my normal golf "options": 1. I am a member of a local club … a "club golfer". My course is usually in good condition, with grass greens and some attractive holes. It is by no means "championship", nor of a startling design, nor is it very long. Just honest, pleasant golf. It is close, convenient and cheap. I play most Saturdays and perhaps every second Thursday afternoon, and since I pay only A$235 annual fees, it averages out at about A$7 (US$4.50) per round, including an A$3 competition fee. 2. While I can’t get into a strictly private course unless I’m a member’s guest, lots of quite good semi-private courses allow players from other clubs to join the daily club competition, provided you have an AGU handicap. Sometimes I pay only a percentage of the normal green fees, which are usually less than A$20 anyway. It’s also quite good fun if you are on a holiday somewhere to find local golf clubs and join one of the local competitions. 3. Club golfers can play in other club’s tournaments. Most clubs include events like stroke, four-ball, Scramble and Stableford over a week or so. Club golfers can enter tournaments at any semi-private club that advertises as "open to anyone with an AGU handicap". For instance, my own club had a 36-hole Mens Open event yesterday, and we had golfers from about 15 other clubs. The total cost was A$22 (US$15) including lunch! On November 8th, I’m playing a similar 36-hole Open at nearby Gisborne for A$25, again including lunch. A four-ball entry can run as low as A$15 per pair. 4. Then sometimes, every so often, I’ll splash out on a high quality course. I think of these as social or fun rounds … they’re usually outside any formal competition, other than perhaps a small side wager, within the group. I have never paid over A$100 (US$69) for any round of golf on some of the best Australian public-access courses. — Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
Response:
Here’s my normal golf "options": 1. I am a member of a local club … a "club golfer". My course is usually in good condition, with grass greens and some attractive holes. It is by no means "championship", nor of a startling design, nor is it very long. Just honest, pleasant golf. It is close, convenient and cheap. I play most Saturdays and perhaps every second Thursday afternoon, and since I pay only A$235 annual fees, it averages out at about A$7 (US$4.50) per round, including an A$3 competition fee.
Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round? Will you sponsor my immigration? Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes.
Response:
How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget?
I play almost all my golf on the local military course and with a punch card it cost me around $8.34 cents to walk it. Another $8.00 for half a cart but I seem to be winning my latest battle with foot pain (thank goodness) so I’m walking. You’ll never see one of our holes on a golf calendar, but it’s ok for the price. There are a couple of nice courses in town that are private (like Northshore CC which I played recently on a Ken Pitts invite), but there really isn’t much locally to tempt me into spending more. I’m hoping to get up to San Antonio on Veteran’s Day to play Pecan Valley. It;s only $24 for retired military on weekdays–a hell of a deal. Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx Home: http://home.stx.rr.com/dclary RSG Roll Call http://www.rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=claryd
Response:
Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round?
No, it’s not a typo (it’s going up to A$245 for next year). That’s what I pay *all-up*. There is no extra charge per round. If I didn’t participate in the club competitions, it’d be all I’d pay. (Green fee players who are not members pay A$16 (US$11).) Club competitions cost A$3 to enter for the day … for that there are A$20 prize vouchers in three grades … token really … plus a low-priced ball each for the top quarter of the field. Some of the older "retired" brigade play every Thursday, every Saturday, plus they organise their own social competition every Monday. They also play Friday evenings during daylight saving … all for A$235! I reckon that’s around A$1.40 per round! Most of the courses around me have annual fees in the A$230-$300 range. We’re out in the sticks an hour from Melbourne, but that doesn’t mean the courses are total crap. In fact Trentham at present is in really good nick. Will you sponsor my immigration? The queue’s about 18-24 months. You need skills, but golfing unfortunately isn’t one of them. 
Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes.
I realise that. I can play three year’s unlimited golf for the price of *one* round at Pebble Beach. So how much value do you put on quality? BTW, I also play occasionally at Spring Valley where my son is a member. This is a good Melbourne sand-belt course, established in 1952 and designed by Vern Morcom, one of Alister Mackenzie’s Australian "disciples" (http://www.springvalleygolf.com.au). My son pays A$750 per year there for a 6-day "full-time student under-25" membership (it just means he can’t play Saturdays). So I can play mid-week once a month as his guest for A$44 (US$30), and they have a special half-price (A$22) rate after 11 a.m. every Tuesday. We’re going to take advantage of that over the summer holidays. 
— Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round? No, it’s not a typo (it’s going up to A$245 for next year). That’s what I pay *all-up*. There is no extra charge per round. If I didn’t participate in the club competitions, it’d be all I’d pay. (Green fee players who are not members pay A$16 (US$11).) Club competitions cost A$3 to enter for the day … for that there are A$20 prize vouchers in three grades … token really … plus a low-priced ball each for the top quarter of the field. Some of the older "retired" brigade play every Thursday, every Saturday, plus they organise their own social competition every Monday. They also play Friday evenings during daylight saving … all for A$235! I reckon that’s around A$1.40 per round! Most of the courses around me have annual fees in the A$230-$300 range. We’re out in the sticks an hour from Melbourne, but that doesn’t mean the courses are total crap. In fact Trentham at present is in really good nick. Will you sponsor my immigration? The queue’s about 18-24 months. You need skills, but golfing unfortunately isn’t one of them. Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes. I realise that. I can play three year’s unlimited golf for the price of *one* round at Pebble Beach. So how much value do you put on quality? BTW, I also play occasionally at Spring Valley where my son is a member. This is a good Melbourne sand-belt course, established in 1952 and designed by Vern Morcom, one of Alister Mackenzie’s Australian "disciples" (http://www.springvalleygolf.com.au). My son pays A$750 per year there for a 6-day "full-time student under-25" membership (it just means he can’t play Saturdays). So I can play mid-week once a month as his guest for A$44 (US$30), and they have a special half-price (A$22) rate after 11 a.m. every Tuesday. We’re going to take advantage of that over the summer holidays. — Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
What are guest fees?
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round? No, it’s not a typo (it’s going up to A$245 for next year). That’s what I pay *all-up*. There is no extra charge per round. If I didn’t participate in the club competitions, it’d be all I’d pay. (Green fee players who are not members pay A$16 (US$11).) Club competitions cost A$3 to enter for the day … for that there are A$20 prize vouchers in three grades … token really … plus a low-priced ball each for the top quarter of the field. Some of the older "retired" brigade play every Thursday, every Saturday, plus they organise their own social competition every Monday. They also play Friday evenings during daylight saving … all for A$235! I reckon that’s around A$1.40 per round! Most of the courses around me have annual fees in the A$230-$300 range. We’re out in the sticks an hour from Melbourne, but that doesn’t mean the courses are total crap. In fact Trentham at present is in really good nick. Will you sponsor my immigration? The queue’s about 18-24 months. You need skills, but golfing unfortunately isn’t one of them. Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes. I realise that. I can play three year’s unlimited golf for the price of *one* round at Pebble Beach. So how much value do you put on quality? BTW, I also play occasionally at Spring Valley where my son is a member. This is a good Melbourne sand-belt course, established in 1952 and designed by Vern Morcom, one of Alister Mackenzie’s Australian "disciples" (http://www.springvalleygolf.com.au). My son pays A$750 per year there for a 6-day "full-time student under-25" membership (it just means he can’t play Saturdays). So I can play mid-week once a month as his guest for A$44 (US$30), and they have a special half-price (A$22) rate after 11 a.m. every Tuesday. We’re going to take advantage of that over the summer holidays. — Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
BTW–I hope my current jealousy doesn’t have me burn in the bad place.
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What are guest fees?
Spring Valley is a fully private club. You can only play there if you are a member, or if you are accompanying a member (i.e. as a "member’s guest"). If you are a "guest" of a member, you pay a green fee of A$44 (OK … some members might "shout", but someone has to pay it!). I am limited at Spring Valley to playing as a guest once every month (my son can have four guests max. per month). Some competitions (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday) are closed to members only. — Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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BTW, I also play occasionally at Spring Valley where my son is a member. This is a good Melbourne sand-belt course,
What exactly does the "sand-belt" reference mean?? Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx Home: http://home.stx.rr.com/dclary RSG Roll Call http://www.rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=claryd
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What exactly does the "sand-belt" reference mean??
It’s a bit of local terminology that maybe some won’t be familiar with. The whole area south-east of Melbourne, from the suburbs close in to the actual city, down to the Mornington Peninsula a hundred or so kilometres away, has a sand base, basically the remnants of old sand-dunes. It is a fine grey sand, in places many metres deep. It’s ideal for golf course construction, because of the natural topography, and the fact that the sand is an ideal medium for growing turf (before suburbanisation there were a lot of market gardens). Also, on a lot of "sand-belt" courses, you don’t even need to bring in sand for bunkers, you just dig the hole! It has given rise to Melbourne being one of the renowned world cities for golf course design. There is a number of traditional private clubs occupying this "sand-belt" which are of the highest quality … Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath are the two most notable (ranked in the world top 25), but there are a couple of dozen others. There was a big design influence from Alister Mackenzie in the 1920s, before Augusta National, Cypress Point and Pasatiempo were even dreamt of, and other architects have followed Mackenzie’s style. So sand-belt refers not just to the topography but to the high quality of the courses in that region. There are not many *bad* sand-belt courses. — Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Reading through many of the strings in RSG I unspoken choices made when it comes to choosing the golf courses you play. I almost used the words ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ in the title of this string and I was going to explain that I was actually talking about choosing to play less expensive courses and playing more often, rather than playing more expensive courses and playing more often. Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget? Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball. Joel Grant
This is something I’ve wrestled with in the past. I almost didn’t pay $200 to play at Bandon Dunes, but now I’m very glad I did. The experience far surpassed 4 times I paid $50 at other courses. Sure, I play a lot of cheap golf. I pay $80 a month plus $3 a round at my home course (an executive 9 hole course). I use that mostly to practice. But the larger, pricer courses give me better memories (or nightmares, depending on how I play). I’d like to play Pebble once, but I admit I’m put off by the $380 price. If I pay that much, I’d better be playing well. So I keep putting it off, and the price keeps going up.
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Gold Creek country club in Canberra Australia is A$110 (US$77) per month full playing rights. Being a championship course this is pretty good value. If i play elsewhere it is in tournaments on other great courses around the area, which are generally really cheap and good value and the best way to do it.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget?
I’m a budget golfer. Sure, I could afford to spend a lot more on the game, but I reach my own point of diminishing returns at about $35 greens fees (i.e. you can find excellent courses that can be played for that amount of money and what’s added by going higher doesn’t do it for me in proportion to the cost. A lot depends on what you want when you play golf. If you really want the "country club experience", with people there to load and unload your clubs, clean them, shine your shoes, etc. you will have to pay for it (and tip all those people on top of it). If you are just looking for a quality course, well maintained, with a reasonable pace of play you can do a lot to keep it affordable. 1) Avoid the "country club for a day" places, where a lot of your greens fees are going to support amenities you may not be interested in. 2) Walk if you can. The cart adds $15-$25/round most places. No value at all to me, in fact it’s less enjoyable. 3) Play weekdays if you can. We play better courses on weekdays, and on the weekends play on our "all the golf you can play for $350" muni course. I figured my average cost per round there was around $3 last year (I’m semi retired and play a lot of weekdays there too). 4) Look for bargains. Yes, lots of courses have early/late season specials. Others have early bird rates, and virtually all have twilight rates that at the right time of year enable you to play 18 for much less. There are also a lot of coupon deals. One a lot of folks use in this area is the "Lung card", which is issued by some lung disease charity and offers discount. The only negative is most of it’s for discounted golf if you rent a cart, so it’s not much good for people who want to walk. 5) Get away from the big city. I live 65 miles from Chicago, and the further from it I go the more likely I am to find a hidden gem at an affordable price. Lots of the country courses don’t have the reputation that the city ones do, but they don’t have the property taxes, labor costs, advertising expenses, or crowds that they do either. All this bargain hunting leaves me perfectly comfortable splurging on rounds in special places. Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball.
Better yet, learn where to find them and pay nothing. I’ve got a couple dozen very new looking ProV1s in the bag. Last week they mowed a lot of the long grass adjoining the second and third holes, and our reward for being first off the tee in the pre-dawn gloom and cold was first crack at the ball bonanza, filling the pockets in the bag in about 2 minutes taking only the recent vintage titleists and calaways. Top flites? Molitors? I leave those for the kids to pick up and sell to some hacker at a quarter a ball 
Club technology does change, and if your clubs are that old you may want to at least look at what’s on offer. Skip the big brand new this year stuff though unless you like paying more per club than it would cost you to play pebble beach, and check out components, club makers, and second tier brands. — http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery )
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Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round? Will you sponsor my immigration? Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes.
Colin has been posting here for some time and I believe his fees. Look at my post if you don’t want to go as far as the southern hemisphere for rates like that. You do have to get out of the valley of the snowbirds, though on my last trip to Phoenix about 2 years ago in late November, I remember playing twice around an excellent Muni in the southwest side of the city with a guy who was an RSG regular at the time for very little, played a troon golf resort course on a 2-1 card he had for a reasonable fee, and played twice around the 500 club on my own again for a greens fee that didn’t make Mr Visa that unhappy. — http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery )
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The firsttime I went to Maui I had planned to play lots of the great courses there. However, when I got there and realized how many rounds I could play back home for the cost of one round at Kapalua, I balked. I ended up playing crappy Kaanapali at the twilight rate. I regretted that decision for a few years until I went back. That time I played lots of great courses on Maui, Lanai, & Kauai. Of course, Mr. VISA was waiting for me when I got home. Ouch! But I still have the memories (and a few pics) of playing those great courses, long after the Chapter 13 paperwork has been completed.
My first encounter with Hawaiian golf was in 1971, when my father decided to spend our last day on the big island driving up to Mauna Kea to play what then was the top course there. When I looked at the cost and realized it was going to cost $100 I was shocked! Of course that included the rental car, lunch, rental clubs and shoes, and two greens fees. I’ll never forget the day though, especially hitting a long par 3 over the ocean and sinking a rare birdie putt. Years later when I started to go back there with my wife, we opted the first time for a "budget" deal, the Waikoloa Village course on an afternoon special. It met the need of filling an afternoon and being able to say you played in Hawaii, but the course was away from the ocean with many holes lined by condos and nothing all that special. Since then we have splurged on "experience" courses when we go, though we still try to do it economically. (Many of the Hawaiian courses have greatly reduced rates for the second round in a day which you can play on other courses at the resort, while others have discounts you can get in various ways to cut the cost a bit.) The day we went to Lanai to play Manele Bay was great, and cost more than our season passes did back home, but I’m not sure I need to do it again (especially since they were busy building homesites along many holes that will no doubt obscure some of those special views. — http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery )
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is that a Typo? $235 annual fee? $4.50 US per round? Will you sponsor my immigration? Colin, if you visited me and we played Troon North here in Scottsdale, you’d blow your yearly budget on 18 holes. Colin has been posting here for some time and I believe his fees. Look at my post if you don’t want to go as far as the southern hemisphere for rates like that. You do have to get out of the valley of the snowbirds, though on my last trip to Phoenix about 2 years ago in late November, I remember playing twice around an excellent Muni in the southwest side of the city with a guy who was an RSG regular at the time for very little, played a troon golf resort course on a 2-1 card he had for a reasonable fee, and played twice around the 500 club on my own again for a greens fee that didn’t make Mr Visa that unhappy. — http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery )
I’m aware of the local deals–it can be done, but it’s harder when you a) can only play on weekends and are playing in Prime Time b) also have some commitments with the family and cannot drive 1.5 hours each way to play. I’ve got a few places I can play near my home where I can get fairly good deals. I pity the visitors who come here unaware of the rates and are unaware of how to get the better prices. I’ve got a ‘card’ similiar to the Troon Card you guys used. Sounds like yo played with Joseph?
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I’ve opted for the "more golf" solution. The Chicago Park District and the Cook County Forest Preserve have "membership cards" that give you a discount and they run specials every month. Last week they were offering the two best courses in the Forest Preserve system (George Dunne National was the one I got to play) for $14.99 with cart (usual ~$50). The other courses in the system were $9.99. I played 36 holes of pretty good courses for $25 last Wednesday. I get to play 3 times a week during the summer and not go broke. I qualify for Senior Rates in a year or so – can’t wait! :-) I too make a plan to play one of the more pricey suburban courses every year. I also take a "golf tour" – a drive to my family home out in western Nebraska and I play as many golf courses as possible on the way. I’ve had some interesting times on small farm town courses – Curtis, Nebraska’s Arrowhead Meadows comes to mind. 9 holes of beautiful fairways and greens in a creek bottom with mature cottonwoods everywhere. $15 with cart / $400 yearly membership – owned by a bunch of retired farmers in conjunction with the turf majors at the U Nebraska Ag school nearby. Deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, lost balls by the ton! I keep finding good used club bargains and go on trading up at the local used sporting goods places & eBay. Got a set of nearly new Vulcan Golf Z3 Hybrids for $67 and an arm-load of old but good clubs from the basement. I was in heaven. They are so good, I might be stuck with them for a while. Now if I can just find the perfect 3 wood for my swing for under $20 … — Jerry Jerry E. Wesch Chicago
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[snipping almost eveything] Great post. Top flites? Molitors? I leave those for the kids to pick up and sell to some hacker at a quarter a ball
Send those kids my way! ;^) As for having someone haul my clubs around and so on I would be embarrassed and would resist such treatment. There is a very pricey course around here (http://www.seattlegolfguide.com/public/newcast.shtml) that I visited to play their putting course. (It was part of an outing at work) My buddy and I walked into the club house just trying to find where the putting course was, how to get registered, etc. There were three well-dress young ladies behind the counter and as soon as we walked in they obviously pegged us as not rich guys. One of them actually giggled and tried to hide her giggle-face when I asked if this was where we registered to play the putting course. The others visibly rolled their eyes during the entire (but blessedly short) experience. When we left my friend asked if I had also noticed that the kids were obnoxious. Later, a couple other of my co-workers had similar comments. I do not mix well with arrogant rich guys. ;^) Joel Grant
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Well, I grew up in Downers Grove and thousands of years ago I used to play lots of affordable golf in the Chicagoland area. My local course was the 9 hole track in Downers called Belmont. Not sure if it is still there. We used to play a place in DG that had two 18 hole courses called Midwest Country Club. (it was "semi-private" whatever that means) Already by the time I moved away many years ago they had torn it down and put up condos. Lots of great Chicago golf memories, but those winters drove me away. Joel Grant – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’ve opted for the "more golf" solution. The Chicago Park District and the Cook County Forest Preserve have "membership cards" that give you a discount and they run specials every month. Last week they were offering the two best courses in the Forest Preserve system (George Dunne National was the one I got to play) for $14.99 with cart (usual ~$50). The other courses in the system were $9.99. I played 36 holes of pretty good courses for $25 last Wednesday. I get to play 3 times a week during the summer and not go broke. I qualify for Senior Rates in a year or so – can’t wait! :-) I too make a plan to play one of the more pricey suburban courses every year. I also take a "golf tour" – a drive to my family home out in western Nebraska and I play as many golf courses as possible on the way. I’ve had some interesting times on small farm town courses – Curtis, Nebraska’s Arrowhead Meadows comes to mind. 9 holes of beautiful fairways and greens in a creek bottom with mature cottonwoods everywhere. $15 with cart / $400 yearly membership – owned by a bunch of retired farmers in conjunction with the turf majors at the U Nebraska Ag school nearby. Deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, lost balls by the ton! I keep finding good used club bargains and go on trading up at the local used sporting goods places & eBay. Got a set of nearly new Vulcan Golf Z3 Hybrids for $67 and an arm-load of old but good clubs from the basement. I was in heaven. They are so good, I might be stuck with them for a while. Now if I can just find the perfect 3 wood for my swing for under $20 …
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Reading through many of the strings in RSG I unspoken choices made when it comes to choosing the golf courses you play. I almost used the words ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ in the title of this string and I was going to explain that I was actually talking about choosing to play less expensive courses and playing more often, rather than playing more expensive courses and playing more often. Some courses are excellent and relatively affordable. That is the ideal. But for me, and I suspect for many if not most recreational golfers, there are many calculations over the course of a golf season that go something like this: I can play the X course for Y dollars and it is a really nice track and I would love to play there but… there goes my golf budget for the month. My other choice is to play the local muni again and play four times this month. I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower. How about input from others. Do you find yourselves making tough golf choices because of budget? Heck, now that I think about it, my budget choices are not limited to where I play. They affect the clubs I play (same irons 3 – PW since 1987), the bag (same bag since 1985) and so on. I even wait for balls to go on sale and I currently have almost a lifetime supply or Tox Flite XL’s and Molitors because I managed to get a ton for about .47/ball. Joel Grant This is something I’ve wrestled with in the past. I almost didn’t pay $200 to play at Bandon Dunes, but now I’m very glad I did. The experience far surpassed 4 times I paid $50 at other courses. Sure, I play a lot of cheap golf. I pay $80 a month plus $3 a round at my home course (an executive 9 hole course). I use that mostly to practice. But the larger, pricer courses give me better memories (or nightmares, depending on how I play). I’d like to play Pebble once, but I admit I’m put off by the $380 price. If I pay that much, I’d better be playing well. So I keep putting it off, and the price keeps going up.
I think in essence 2 different budgets are being discussed here. You have your recreational golf budget, which decides what you’ll play everyday/week based upon what you want to afford. Then there is the "travel and vacation" budget which will influence how much you’ll pay to play a "destination course". TPC Sawgrass is just up the road. During the summer I can play the stadium course for something like $150. Whether or not I do that will not be a function of how much I’m willing to pay for my weekly 18 at the muni-goat track. In fact, unless TPC drops the price to something in the range of my muni, the two will probably never have anything to do with each other. How much I’m willing to pay to play a course is really more of a function of issues beyond golf. I may be able to "afford" to play a $75 a round place. But I just may not WANT to afford it because of all the other things I want to do in life. My biggest constraint in golf is time, not money. Doesn’t stop me though from looking for a "good deal". The issue then becomes one of what defines a "good deal". At my skill level, a course can only get so good. But it is also true that at some quality level, a course just isn’t any fun, at any price.
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I generally opt for playing more often at the cheaper courses, but I try to sneak in a more expensive course at least once a season. Also, I can play a couple of upscale courses if I play them in March or April (I live near Seattle and technically it is a 12-month golf season) when the greens fees are lower.
I do too, but the expensive courses don’t necessarily offer the best golf. They can offer great views and great service, and are something to talk about – but by doing my homework I can find great golf experiences for much less money.