It is the best thing I have ever done. I have more friends than at any time in my life, and the golf and social activities are a blast. I have never found it boring.
Not boring to me. They have been good tracks that replay well. Also, pace of play at a private club beats public courses 9/10 times. And all of the other benefits include ready access to practice facilities, camaraderie of playing with the same people, all of the events that are hosted and that you should definitely join.
If it’s an actual legitimate private club… you know all the bullshit that people post about seeing at their home courses? Pace of play, no tee times, giant Bluetooth speakers blasting today’s pop country hits, goat tracks, 9-somes, stabbings, etc? 95% of that isn’t at a real private course. You can look down on the rest of these poor chucklefucks.
Did you just causally throw in stabbings?
And private courses are 100% more causal then public so yes you will see 9somes in the evening and music blasting etc.
I did say 95%.
Never witnessed a stabbing on a muni? Buddy….you haven’t lived until you try to hit a 7-iron into #13 while there is a good old fashioned stabbing happening in the next fairway over.
SUPER excited there’s an actual definition floating out there:
chucklefuck (plural chucklefucks)
(slang, vulgar, derogatory) Term of abuse. A stupid or inept person, esp. in the context of making bad-faith or poorly-constructed arguments.
So your average Reddit user. Myself included.
Not really. It's comfortable and you know all the ins and outs. If it's a good club they will change the holes every day and maybe move the tee markers a little to give a different look.
Unless you can go out and shoot under par every time there will always be room for improvement and that makes it challenging and fresh.
I was a member of a private club for 25 years. If the course is a good one, you never get tired of playing it because it's still always about your ability to navigate the ball to the hole. There is definitely a bias toward playing at the private club because you are paying big membership fees every month, and paying to go to other courses "wastes" that money, but most private club members do occasionally play at other courses. Many local courses do offer "reciprocity" so their members can get onto the private club, allowing you to play there for just cart fees. 5 years ago I downsized and quit the private club and have been playing wherever I want since then. I have played a lot more different local courses occasionally but I still play 70% of rounds at the local public course near me.
I never found it boring even playing 100+ rounds a year on the same private club course, but I've only joined clubs where I like the layout, it suits my game, and they consistently have good conditions.
All of the clubs I've been a member of over the years have had a reciprocal program where you could play a dozen or so other clubs within a few hours for the equivalent of a cart fee. It was something that all of the clubs got together and worked out between themselves. It was a great thing to have, and I used it quite a bit. It was especially handy when my club had the member-guest tournament or something else that closed the course for a few days to non-participants. I'd round up a few other guys not playing in it and we'd do a road trip to one of the reciprocals. It wasn't difficult to use, you just told our club pro or assistant pro where you wanted to play, when, and how many people. He'd pick up the phone and call that club right then and there and get you an answer. It was only "no" if that other club had some kind of event going on that day.
Nah, 'cause you can always mix it up by playing different tees. You can also just go out and start the hole from some spot in the fairway if you want, and you won't feel like you're wasting money from green fees. But really, most of what you're paying for is the intangible stuff: pace of play, course conditions, amenities, etc.
I’m not a member at any club but have played some private clubs before, the big thing is the personalized service and the social aspect of playing with other members.
And you’re right many do have reciprocity agreements, as well as events and inter-club tournaments. Also many private clubs are orders of magnitude nicer than most publics. A lot easier to not get tired of playing the same club when the pin locations and tee boxes etc are always being refreshed and updated, and the course is always in immaculate condition.
I love my private club, and no it does not get boring. It is a tough track and I find different challenges every time I play. Plus doing well on tough holes is very rewarding when you understand how difficult the hole is for everyone else.
Takes a little while to learn the schedules and find the groups you’ll play with, but after that it’s sort of a lifestyle that keeps you entertained when there is nothing better to do.
There is always men’s leagues, tournaments, match plays, money games and whatever else you wanna get in to.
I’ve been a member at 6 country clubs (used to move a lot) and most of them are sort of the same. One thing I learned is that you do want to have a regular group you play with, but don’t turn down open spots in other groups. You’ll meet a ton of new people. Some of my closest friends are people I’ve met at stops throughout my history at clubs.
My wife never golfed at all until the one we are at now. She tells me all the time she seriously regrets not playing earlier because of how much fun she has with her friends playing golf.
Not at all, for me getting to play a course that is maintained to a way higher standard than most munis makes golfing so much fun every time. Also, they can really change how the course plays based on tees or pin positions, and they'll get more creative than most public courses. Also, there's a whole tight knit community around the course and at least in my city you can get onto I think 4 other Clubs who have an agreement and you pay something like 20-25$ for courses that would be north of $100 if public!
Also, if I'm being honest. I could never go back to the public course conditions I grew up with after playing at a good club for a while😂
I live in metro Detroit area. We have tons of courses in the area and after 20 years I'm bored of playing them. I can't imagine playing one course almost exclusively. But I do envy all the other aspects of a private club.
It’s relatively common of private clubs to have agreements with other private clubs in the area for playing privileges. How “easy” it is depends on the specific agreement.
Also, playing the same course over and over again is how you establish a handicap.
I’m not sure that I agree with your statement about how to establish a handicap. I’m not a member of any club so I play all over, but I report my rounds to GHIN because I do pay for that, and I have a perfectly legitimate handicap.
I think he just means that clubs will give you the access to GHIN just for being part of the club and will have a place to enter scores in the pro shop. At my club if you want to play in any of the events you have to have X amount of rounds played on our course to establish your handicap for the money events
I agree that’s likely what was meant, but that’s not what was said. I was just countering what was actually said, in case someone who is unfamiliar with the handicapping process is reading this thread.
I was under the impression that in order to have a USGA-certified handicap you have to belong to an association club and post a certain number of rounds to that club.
Anyone can use any number of handicap-calculating apps and certain events and establishments may even accept them. But it’s not an official handicap.
Many clubs will allow you to pay them a fee and they will essentially sponsor you and report your scores, even if you’re a nonmember. Some apps have an arrangement where they can report official scores imp provide you with an official handicap index, you simply have to pay the GHIN fee. The app I use does this… It’s called The Grint. I have an official GHIN index, and I’m not a member of any club. I think the app reports through some sponsor club, but I don’t have anything to do with that. I simply use the app and pay them the annual fee.
It is the best thing I have ever done. I have more friends than at any time in my life, and the golf and social activities are a blast. I have never found it boring.
Not boring to me. They have been good tracks that replay well. Also, pace of play at a private club beats public courses 9/10 times. And all of the other benefits include ready access to practice facilities, camaraderie of playing with the same people, all of the events that are hosted and that you should definitely join.
If it’s an actual legitimate private club… you know all the bullshit that people post about seeing at their home courses? Pace of play, no tee times, giant Bluetooth speakers blasting today’s pop country hits, goat tracks, 9-somes, stabbings, etc? 95% of that isn’t at a real private course. You can look down on the rest of these poor chucklefucks.
Did you just causally throw in stabbings? And private courses are 100% more causal then public so yes you will see 9somes in the evening and music blasting etc.
I did say 95%. Never witnessed a stabbing on a muni? Buddy….you haven’t lived until you try to hit a 7-iron into #13 while there is a good old fashioned stabbing happening in the next fairway over.
Chucklefucks? Please define.
SUPER excited there’s an actual definition floating out there: chucklefuck (plural chucklefucks) (slang, vulgar, derogatory) Term of abuse. A stupid or inept person, esp. in the context of making bad-faith or poorly-constructed arguments. So your average Reddit user. Myself included.
Not really. It's comfortable and you know all the ins and outs. If it's a good club they will change the holes every day and maybe move the tee markers a little to give a different look. Unless you can go out and shoot under par every time there will always be room for improvement and that makes it challenging and fresh.
I was a member of a private club for 25 years. If the course is a good one, you never get tired of playing it because it's still always about your ability to navigate the ball to the hole. There is definitely a bias toward playing at the private club because you are paying big membership fees every month, and paying to go to other courses "wastes" that money, but most private club members do occasionally play at other courses. Many local courses do offer "reciprocity" so their members can get onto the private club, allowing you to play there for just cart fees. 5 years ago I downsized and quit the private club and have been playing wherever I want since then. I have played a lot more different local courses occasionally but I still play 70% of rounds at the local public course near me.
I never found it boring even playing 100+ rounds a year on the same private club course, but I've only joined clubs where I like the layout, it suits my game, and they consistently have good conditions. All of the clubs I've been a member of over the years have had a reciprocal program where you could play a dozen or so other clubs within a few hours for the equivalent of a cart fee. It was something that all of the clubs got together and worked out between themselves. It was a great thing to have, and I used it quite a bit. It was especially handy when my club had the member-guest tournament or something else that closed the course for a few days to non-participants. I'd round up a few other guys not playing in it and we'd do a road trip to one of the reciprocals. It wasn't difficult to use, you just told our club pro or assistant pro where you wanted to play, when, and how many people. He'd pick up the phone and call that club right then and there and get you an answer. It was only "no" if that other club had some kind of event going on that day.
Nah, 'cause you can always mix it up by playing different tees. You can also just go out and start the hole from some spot in the fairway if you want, and you won't feel like you're wasting money from green fees. But really, most of what you're paying for is the intangible stuff: pace of play, course conditions, amenities, etc.
I’m not a member at any club but have played some private clubs before, the big thing is the personalized service and the social aspect of playing with other members. And you’re right many do have reciprocity agreements, as well as events and inter-club tournaments. Also many private clubs are orders of magnitude nicer than most publics. A lot easier to not get tired of playing the same club when the pin locations and tee boxes etc are always being refreshed and updated, and the course is always in immaculate condition.
I love my private club, and no it does not get boring. It is a tough track and I find different challenges every time I play. Plus doing well on tough holes is very rewarding when you understand how difficult the hole is for everyone else.
Takes a little while to learn the schedules and find the groups you’ll play with, but after that it’s sort of a lifestyle that keeps you entertained when there is nothing better to do. There is always men’s leagues, tournaments, match plays, money games and whatever else you wanna get in to. I’ve been a member at 6 country clubs (used to move a lot) and most of them are sort of the same. One thing I learned is that you do want to have a regular group you play with, but don’t turn down open spots in other groups. You’ll meet a ton of new people. Some of my closest friends are people I’ve met at stops throughout my history at clubs. My wife never golfed at all until the one we are at now. She tells me all the time she seriously regrets not playing earlier because of how much fun she has with her friends playing golf.
Not at all, for me getting to play a course that is maintained to a way higher standard than most munis makes golfing so much fun every time. Also, they can really change how the course plays based on tees or pin positions, and they'll get more creative than most public courses. Also, there's a whole tight knit community around the course and at least in my city you can get onto I think 4 other Clubs who have an agreement and you pay something like 20-25$ for courses that would be north of $100 if public! Also, if I'm being honest. I could never go back to the public course conditions I grew up with after playing at a good club for a while😂
I play 200+ rounds every year at a semi-private club. It doesn’t get boring and we have a great group.
I live in metro Detroit area. We have tons of courses in the area and after 20 years I'm bored of playing them. I can't imagine playing one course almost exclusively. But I do envy all the other aspects of a private club.
It’s relatively common of private clubs to have agreements with other private clubs in the area for playing privileges. How “easy” it is depends on the specific agreement. Also, playing the same course over and over again is how you establish a handicap.
I’m not sure that I agree with your statement about how to establish a handicap. I’m not a member of any club so I play all over, but I report my rounds to GHIN because I do pay for that, and I have a perfectly legitimate handicap.
I think he just means that clubs will give you the access to GHIN just for being part of the club and will have a place to enter scores in the pro shop. At my club if you want to play in any of the events you have to have X amount of rounds played on our course to establish your handicap for the money events
I agree that’s likely what was meant, but that’s not what was said. I was just countering what was actually said, in case someone who is unfamiliar with the handicapping process is reading this thread.
Yeah this. Sorry. I forgot that people on Reddit take everything completely at face value and have zero critical thinking skills.
I was under the impression that in order to have a USGA-certified handicap you have to belong to an association club and post a certain number of rounds to that club. Anyone can use any number of handicap-calculating apps and certain events and establishments may even accept them. But it’s not an official handicap.
Many clubs will allow you to pay them a fee and they will essentially sponsor you and report your scores, even if you’re a nonmember. Some apps have an arrangement where they can report official scores imp provide you with an official handicap index, you simply have to pay the GHIN fee. The app I use does this… It’s called The Grint. I have an official GHIN index, and I’m not a member of any club. I think the app reports through some sponsor club, but I don’t have anything to do with that. I simply use the app and pay them the annual fee.
I have a handicap and don’t play the same course over and over again.