[hoganguy]

About a year and a half ago I joined the 2nd tier country club in town. I have lived in town all my life, knew several members and had played as a guest several times a year for many years. I knew going in it was not as well manicured as the lead club in town but I preferred the people, pace of play and the general feeling of this club.

Cost wise it was a pretty fair deal for a family membership that included golf, pool and dinning priveleges. I actually got the first four (winter months) free just having to pay the food minimum. At first it was great, 3 hour rounds, people with golf etiquete it felt like it would be home for some time to come. I am a good member, I buy what I need primarily from our pro, I bring guests several times as well as potential members.

All was good until this past spring. Like many clubs the ecomomy hurt us, and the board offered a membership level 66% of the cost of the lowest available plan at the time. Club management stated in wrtiting they would limit the number of the "cheap" memberships to no more than 150 and they would limit the amount of time they would offer the plan. To date the plan is still available and there is over 250 people on it. Additionally when I expressed my concern they assured me they would limit the access of the new members to the course, because they had the last priority in tee times. That did not hold true either, the "cheap" members have the same access those of us paying more do.

Add to that the quality of person who took the deal has made playing the course no fun. People will pick up your ball right out of the fairway while playing an opposite hole. They jump in front of you when your turning nine because the back nine is preferred by most. Play is slow, fivesomes are common and sixsomes are not unheard of. There has been zero attempt to improve the course with the new monthly income and there has been no reward for patient commited members who have stayed the course.

I am commited until March 2010 at which time I will write them my last check, it is sad. I predict the club will be sold or become public within a year. Management and the board have ran it into the ground and alienated higher dues paying long time members. Integrity is an important thing in this life and I cannot stomach the way these people do business. It is a true disappointment that something I had always wanted to try (a club membership) has ended up being such a negative experience.

Thanks for listening and remember, buyer beware.

[BIRD]

Well at the place i play, there was a 15-some that jumped in front of me at #6 by the clubhouse . . Needless to say i went on to the back nine . . So your not the only one who has it bad . . But i understand the pay difference would be upsetting

[Zlim]

Tragedy of the Commons....horrible

I do not have a club membership but hope to get one some day (still young) but I play at public course and do not like what golf really is now. I got into golf thinking about those movies and past documentaries of the "gentleman's game" and had high hopes of not only a hobby but a passion supported by structure and etiquette....But no, you soon realize that people treat golf no differently than people treat public bathrooms...literally

[swbyps]

hoganguy, on Nov 20 2009, 05:48 PM, said:

Add to that the quality of person who took the deal

You should have left that sentence out.

[AltusBeliever]

Zlim, on Nov 20 2009, 07:11 PM, said:

Tragedy of the Commons....horrible

I do not have a club membership but hope to get one some day (still young) but I play at public course and do not like what golf really is now. I got into golf thinking about those movies and past documentaries of the "gentleman's game" and had high hopes of not only a hobby but a passion supported by structure and etiquette....But no, you soon realize that people treat golf no differently than people treat public bathrooms...literally

I admire you for saying this, as it is very unPC. I have real issues with the influx of people who ignore the etiquette and traditions of golf, but realize that things change, and I hate to appear to be a golf snob. Unfortunately I "yam what I yam" as Popeye would say.

[stevestrike]

Why not "downgrade" your membership to the 66% cheaper one if there is no difference. Use that as a in to start a dialog with course management.

[Rohlio]

swbyps, on Nov 20 2009, 09:06 PM, said:

hoganguy, on Nov 20 2009, 05:48 PM, said:

Add to that the quality of person who took the deal

You should have left that sentence out.

Why? A private club is a collection of it's members. I don't care how much money people have or don't, a certain club chemistry must be maintained or the point is totally lost. I am probably the least wealthy member of my entire country club, I am treated equally by every member there. He didn't say the quality of the people was less because they were less affluent he said the quality of the particluar members accepted by the club has negatively impacted the playing experience of the existing members. WHy do you think clubs have an initiation process? It isn't about getting the richest guys, it is about getting the right guys. Quite honestly if my club just started letting in the people that made me leave muny golf with no semblence of repercussion or training in the way the game and course should be treated I would just go back to the muny's myself. A private club where the members treat it like a public course is just a muny that costs more.

[tcmgator]

Wow what a shame. I hope you can find something so you can get that experience back that you had originally. Maybe the 1st tier club is offering cheap deals like yours is...JK. Good luck!

[deeviant]

Rohlio, on Nov 20 2009, 09:20 PM, said:

swbyps, on Nov 20 2009, 09:06 PM, said:

hoganguy, on Nov 20 2009, 05:48 PM, said:

Add to that the quality of person who took the deal

You should have left that sentence out.

Why? A private club is a collection of it's members. I don't care how much money people have or don't, a certain club chemistry must be maintained or the point is totally lost. I am probably the least wealthy member of my entire country club, I am treated equally by every member there. He didn't say the quality of the people was less because they were less affluent he said the quality of the particluar members accepted by the club has negatively impacted the playing experience of the existing members. WHy do you think clubs have an initiation process? It isn't about getting the richest guys, it is about getting the right guys. Quite honestly if my club just started letting in the people that made me leave muny golf with no semblence of repercussion or training in the way the game and course should be treated I would just go back to the muny's myself. A private club where the members treat it like a public course is just a muny that costs more.

You know, it amazes me the amount of people that seem to forget, or just ignore exactly who played golf not so many years ago.
So many on here throw around the term "gentleman's game" yet fail to realize what that term meant at the time. It had very little to do with how you treated the game, or the course. It was a social term. I don't care if you treated the course as your only child, if society at the time did not view you as a "gentleman" you weren't playing on any course.
There was just as much lying, cheating, sandbagging, gambling, etc... going on then as there is now. Golf is not a "gentlemans game" in the sense most try to assign it today. That is all just marketing b.s. The club was a place where you were able to get away from "those" people. The average ordinary citizen that enjoys the game today would not have been allowed to darken the door of any club 100 years back.

[Muteki]

zlim, where do you play? I'm in my senior year at CU.

[Hstead]

I would think that there are more members just as upset and discouraged as you. I would start a letter and get as many signatures as possible from other long time members and present it to management and the board. That may be what it takes to change the situation.

I too think that the "quality" of person is very important. "Quality" of a person has ZERO to do with money. I know many "Classy" people that are of very ordinary means and backgrounds, just as I know many very affluent people that have ZERO class.

Personally, there is a club near me that has a better "reputation" than the one I belong to. However, I do not like the "quality" of people because many are so stuck up and snobbish it sickens me. There are also many public courses and some have more of a WWF feel to them, with guys running around in t-shirts that have no respect for golf etiquette at all and they ruin a round of golf. I do not like that kind of golf either. It is nice to belong to a private club with respectful members, members that respect both other people and the course itself. That is what I look for in a club. I do not want to be around people that are more concerned about measuring people by their bank account just as much as I do not want to play with people that do not understand the rules and etiquette and yell curse words that can be heard from the 15th to the 3rd tee.

[Jameson]

FIVESOMES AND SIX-SOMES?

Brother, RUN FAST.

I want to be a member at a club with MANDATORY 3 HOUR ROUNDS




JC

[dannybsj]

I guess im on the opposite end coming from a poor background but i think they should wipe out the "gentlemen" and make the place more "classy". Nothing i hate more than a sense of entitlement

[dirtytrees]

Im a member of a Clubcorp course and we have had a slow deterioration over the past 2 years. An investment group bought the company and its courses, the original owners kept pinehurst. Since the new purely profit driven entity took over everything has been cut. New very cheap fees to attract anyone and everyone have ruined pace of play and made service terrible. We also have people jumping holes, stealing balls etc,etc.

Now, I was never the country club type and truly never got along with the other members, snotty SOB's to be honest but I love the fast rounds and ease of availability.

Im leaving next month , I luck out and am under 35 so I can join a very premier club and not pay the 10K until Im 40, we have alot of clubs in town so it is a bit easier but I believe we are seeing the death of the "B" level clubs, one new "member" told me he plays 2-3X a week so joining the club was actually cheaper than playing the public tracks.....