Club membership or pay as you go?

[mont86]

How many of you buy season memberships compared to pay as you go,
because you play different courses on a regular basis.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Pay as I go now. Prior to moving up here I was a member, would walk and play 4-5 rounds a week. Although I would still play a seperate course once a week. Up here the courses are mostly unwalkable, with the added cost of the cart it is cheaper just to pay and play.

My game has suffered since not being a member

[JTitan12]

I payed as i went last summer and couldnit afford to play half as much as i wanted. My home courses jr memberships are less than $400. Greens fees there are $25+, so i'd pay it off playing atleast once a week.
(i'd like to go 5-6 times a week)

[nsherman2006]

Originally Posted by JTitan12

(i'd like to go 5-60 times a week

60 a week, damn, thats more than i play welcome to the board!

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

60 times a week, that's dedication. Some might say it borders on obsession.

[dave.]

Yearly membership,670 Uk pounds in real money,a trillion or something of your toy stuff,or maybe about 1200 'bucks'.

[JTitan12]

my bad... i meant 5-6 times a week.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i believe its called a typo?

[nsherman2006]

i know J, i was just messing with ya

[mont86]

Is it safe to assume when you are saying a round that you are referring to
18 holes and not 9? We have alot of 9 hole courses where I live.

[tigerwho06]

Membership with unlimited range....Im there everyday of the week.

[Rockford35]

I would buy a membership, but i'm not retired.

I worked it out that if I bought a membership, I'd have to play 5 times a week the entire summer into October to offset the cost. Granted it gets me 10% off in the clubhouse (insert "jerking off" smilie here). I still get stuff cheaper on e-bay.

So needless to say, I pay as I go. I also try and play as many courses as I can in a summer, so it would be even more pointless if only 60% of my rounds were at a course that I'm averaging more than 40% more than greenfees everytime I played it.

Now, if I lived in a senisble climate instead of this head smashing, idiotic, brainless, barren wasteland I call home, i might change my mind.

We have outstanding courses here, however. The weather just kills the fact that they would be considered as some of the best in central Canada, if it weren't for the climate.

R35

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by Rockford35

I would buy a membership, but i'm not retired.

I worked it out that if I bought a membership, I'd have to play 5 times a week the entire summer into October to offset the cost. Granted it gets me 10% off in the clubhouse (insert "jerking off" smilie here). I still get stuff cheaper on e-bay.

...

Now, if I lived in a senisble climate instead of this head smashing, idiotic, brainless, barren wasteland I call home, i might change my mind.

...
R35

5x per week???

I would imagine our climates are similar. Club opens around May 1, sometimes a week earlier and closes at the end of Oct. This past year I played 1 or 2 times a week before work, and then usually once on the weekend. And a 9 hole league night once per week. I had my money "back" by the start of August. Greens fees are moderately priced (35$) and membership is cheap ($800)... perhaps therin lies the cost savings for me. For you to need to play 5x per week at say 30 a pop, over a season of ~18 weeks that would mean a membership must cost in the neighborhood of $2700.

Where is my math off Rock? Is the season THAT short?

[Rockford35]

Courses open fully about mid-May. It ends at the end of September in a normal year. If it gets into October, it's a bonus. The snow can fly as early as September 1st here in shitty years.

A membership runs about 1100. So, for easy math, if you said all of June to the end of September, that's 16-18 weeks of golf in a decent year. Very weak, I know. So, that's about 3 rounds a week to break even, assuming weather co-operates, which can be questionable.

One summer I had ~70 rounds of golf (as a Junior.....that was sweet-ass). The next I had 25. It's all weather dependent.

I can only dream of playing 3-4 times a week to come out ahead...

R35

[mont86]

What at your membership fees. Prairiewood in Fargo, ND is about 350.00
a year. It is a Long 9 hole....Or 10 on wk days or 13 on wkends..with a membership there is .25 greenfee

[Augster]

I think the decision to get a pass or not is mostly dependent on the price of the pass.

My pass here is $1100 this year. I don't think I paid it off. A round is $28. My season is usually APR1-NOV1, call it 30 weeks. So I have to play 1100/28= about 40 rounds. 40/30 is just over once a week to pay it off.

Of course, that doesn't add in the times that I just jet out and play 4 holes. Or 9 holes. If I did ALL my play on 9 hole "rounds", it's $18 for 9 holes. So I'd actually have to play a lot less to pay it off.

The one thing that I LOVE about getting a pass is that it makes you HAVE to get out and play. Nobody wants to end up paying $35 a round for a course that would have cost $28. It's a great excuse to make your wife let you go play. I always say, "I have to try to pay off my pass." and off I go.

Pre-Tiger, pre-wife, and pre-kids, I lived in an area that had about 26 weeks of play, about a month less than here, but my pass was $325. It took like two weeks to pay it off.

When I moved to MPLS for the 1997 season, Tiger had just won the Masters so the prices were already set for that season. My course was $650. DOUBLE what I had payed the previous season living elsewhere. Still, with no kids or wife, I payed off the pass by the end of April and the rest of the year was a freeroll.

Same course now is $1100. It's gone up about $500 in 8 years. Disgusting.

The decision to get a pass or not really depends on how quickly you can pay it off through play. The lower the price, the easier it is to pay off. But the "extras" are nice, even if you don't get in enough rounds. I don't count the times I go out and play two holes. Or the times I pull the car over on our back 9, grab my wedge and shag-bag, and hit into the green from 100 out 10 or 12 times. I just wouldn't be at the course if I didn't have a pass.

I just wish my course included unlimited range. I might actually get better if that were the case. Pay for range balls, play for free? Pay for range balls, play for free? I usually choose to spend my time playing. If the range were included, I'm sure I'd practice much, much more.