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How do you guys do it?

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
Check out some different courses. I play Triggs as a resident for $22. There is also one up off Rt. 7 in Smithfield called CountryView that is $22. I also play on weekdays when I have a day off so rates are cheaper then.
 

Bravo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2004
5,822
15
Now THAT's what I'm talking about. $15 for a beautiful course like that? Are you kidding me?

Here's the interesting and kind of ironic thing about that....

Everybody has heard of the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama...what some may not know is that it is owned by the State.

Obviously the course I listed - Oak Mountain State Park - is also owned by the State.

For an out-of-state visitor, to play a RTJ Trail course, including cart and greens fee is going to run you $55 and UP...for Alabama residents with a Trail Card (costs $40 per year) - the cost of an RTJ course will run you about $40 and Up depending on course and location. Notice below that the price grid does not include greens fees and the price for carts is listed below...(none of the Trail Courses I have played is walkable....they are typically quite hilly and can have some distance between green and next tee so you must include a cart in your cost calculation)

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail | Green Fees

Then, you have this State Park course just a few miles away...no its not upscale like a Trail course....but it has a very decent snack bar in good shape...a big screen TV and the course is in great shape and a good design. Because it is in the bottom of a valley - it is flat as a pancake and walking is a breeze...No, there's nobody there to grab your bag from your vehicle, you've got to unload it at the Bag Drop yourself....but at the end of the day, how much is this worth? Isn't it really about the golf??

Alabama State Parks

The Trail Courses have a lot of ambiance, magificent clubhouses and a staff that will greet you the second you open the door of your vehicle.

But man, for the money, Oak Mountain really blows the Trail Courses away dollar for dollar...
 

sandwedge

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2006
790
0
I play once a week and it costs anywhere between $35 and $45 depending on where I play.

The real question for me is how do you guys find so much time to play? Between work and my wife and kid I barely have time to play on the weekend.
 

gwlee7

Ho's from Rocky Mount, NC
Supporting Member
Jun 15, 2005
1,402
1
Try joining a club if the initiation fee isn't too much. Sometimes, during memebship drives, clubs will let you in for next to nothing. The key to being a member of a club in my neck of the woods is that most of the clubs have "reciprocals" where members can play each other's courses for a nonminal fee to cover carts. For example, I am a member of Birchwood Country Club (dues are only $125 per month). I can play about 10 other courses in my area for between $15 and $25 if I get our pro to call over in advance.

sandwedge: You have to get a job that fits your golf schedule. I get through teaching everyday at 3:00pm and can be on the course walking down the first fairway by 3:45.
 

SCGolfer

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2007
760
0
I live on my home course. Walk out and play 3-4 holes, 2-3 times a week, work on the short game. Play 18 on friday afternoon for $22. Range balls are free all of the time whether you are playing or not. I normally play a different course on sunday morning...they range from $28-$42 depending on the place. I know how you feel though. It is expensive and I have my first child due in august....2 car payments....house.....etc.



Jason
 

Sneaky Long

Better Lucky Than Good!
Jun 17, 2007
45
0
I'm a member at a CCA course named Oakmont Country Club.

Unlimited golf, cart fees are 15.00/round. Walking has no fee.

I pay 280.00 month. The benefit for me is unlimited range, I have a teen on the high school golf team and he can practice there and plays many times a week. And, I live in the community less than a mile from the club house.
 

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
Anyone know of any courses like that in rhode island? Ezra? Having a home/wife/18 month old/ one on the way, I need to start trying to save for my addictive hobby.. Where do I find out about joing a course fro the year.. do they all do it?

You are kind of Fecked here in New England. Golf is expensive here. Even the cheaper courses are close to $3000 a yr. for a membership. Hit the range and play once a week at a decent course is my recommendation. If you want cheap, head over to Firefly or something during the week for practice. That's a good course to just play all irons, no woods, no tees off the teebox. Not sure if you've been there but it's all par 3's and short par 4's with hazards and doglegs.
 

PhillyEagle

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2007
271
0
Connections are your friend. I've been playing courses that cost up to $30k/yr for a membership for free a few times a week. There's about 5 courses that I'm able to get on for free (private courses too), and I purchase a yearly membership to a public course so I can get out whenever.
 

Sandpiper3

Golf Course Designer
Aug 9, 2006
5,058
2
The real question for me is how do you guys find so much time to play? Between work and my wife and kid I barely have time to play on the weekend.
sandwedge

Being a jr with his drivers license makes it a lot easier on me, but now that ive gradded HS, im guna have to start work, but the job im getting will fit my golf schedule:)

Also told the mrs. that I was goin out wit golf first, so she's just my girl on the side (insert drity limerick here) :D
 

BStone

PGA Class A Professional
Supporting Member
Jan 18, 2006
1,487
44
Country
United States United States
I am lucky now that I can get on almost any course in my state for cart fees only through professional courtesy. The hardest part for me now is finding the time to do it, during the golf season I get one day off a week and will play then. I am also at my course from just after 8 am to 9 pm on the days that I do work. I manage to get another couple of rounds in during the week through playing lessons.

When I was younger, I found a local course that would allow high school students to play as many holes as they could if they started after 5 pm for $20. I also got free range balls at the country club around the corner from my house since that is where our high school team played. Only problem is that it is a very short range, when down wind the longest club I could hit was a 9 iron.
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Here's the interesting and kind of ironic thing about that....

Everybody has heard of the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama...what some may not know is that it is owned by the State.

Obviously the course I listed - Oak Mountain State Park - is also owned by the State.

For an out-of-state visitor, to play a RTJ Trail course, including cart and greens fee is going to run you $55 and UP...for Alabama residents with a Trail Card (costs $40 per year) - the cost of an RTJ course will run you about $40 and Up depending on course and location. Notice below that the price grid does not include greens fees and the price for carts is listed below...(none of the Trail Courses I have played is walkable....they are typically quite hilly and can have some distance between green and next tee so you must include a cart in your cost calculation)

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail | Green Fees

Then, you have this State Park course just a few miles away...no its not upscale like a Trail course....but it has a very decent snack bar in good shape...a big screen TV and the course is in great shape and a good design. Because it is in the bottom of a valley - it is flat as a pancake and walking is a breeze...No, there's nobody there to grab your bag from your vehicle, you've got to unload it at the Bag Drop yourself....but at the end of the day, how much is this worth? Isn't it really about the golf??

Alabama State Parks

The Trail Courses have a lot of ambiance, magificent clubhouses and a staff that will greet you the second you open the door of your vehicle.

But man, for the money, Oak Mountain really blows the Trail Courses away dollar for dollar...

Sounds to me like I would be all over those State courses. I could give a rat's ass about the ambience of the clubhouse, and having somebody carry my clubs from the car to the pro shop borders on the absurd. And I can clean my own clubs, thank you very much.

To me it's all about the course. Are the fairways and greens properly maintained? (I can live with slightly "rugged" tee boxes.) Does the course have a nice variety of holes, with one or two really memorable ones? Does the property put more emphasis on golf, or golf course homes? Do I feel at the end of the round that I've gotten a bargain?

Sounds to me like the Alabama State courses fit all those criteria.
 

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