After picking up the game of golf, players may notice that the cost of getting out on the course starts to add up. Paying greens fees and a cart fee every time you want to get on the course can be a hassle. Additionally, players who use Google to find places to hit the links around them may see courses listed as public or private. This distinction is important, as courses offer different rules and regulations depending on whether they are public or private.

The first distinction, which anyone who has tried to call a random course off of Google could have easily encountered, is that private courses don’t allow the general public to walk onto the property and pay a greens fee to play a round of golf. If you are a Joe Average golfer, you are limited in the courses you can play to allow anyone to make a tee time. Generally, these are public courses, although some courses are semi-private golf courses. A semi-private course will allow the general public to make tee times but reserve some of the best tee times (generally morning tee times on weekends) for members only.

So, You're Tired of Playing Public Golf…

Maybe you've been playing a lot this season, and the cost of shelling out your hard-earned cash every time you want to practice or play is adding up. Perhaps the recent boom in golfers since the coronavirus pandemic has made you wary of playing five-hour rounds and racing to finish your 2:30 pm tee time before dark once September comes around. Well, you have some options.

If pricing is the only motivator for you, public courses can provide different pricing options that may or may not include a membership. Some courses offer quantity discounts on greens fees. An example is purchasing a "ten-pack" or ten greens fees for a reduced fee than ten individual trips to the course would cost you at the usual price. Municipal courses, which are public courses also owned by a village, town, city, or state, can offer discounts to residents on their greens fees.

Some public courses do not offer membership opportunities. Frequently, these courses have a very high run rate business of tee times and would lose money by providing memberships instead of having the general public continue to book total price tee times. Many notable venues, such as Kiawah Island, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, and Olympic Club, would fit into this category. However, there are also public courses that offer memberships. A membership will generally cover the cost of your greens fees only, but some courses do offer cart passes as well. You pay a flat rate upfront in both cases. Membership is worth the cost if you play enough rounds that the membership cost is less than your total greens fees for the year would be without it.

However, public course memberships are only beneficial for financial reasons. There are a few additional perks, such as access to member-only tournaments and potentially playing in the club championship. Price-conscious players can usually find public memberships for an affordable amount. In my own experience, I grew up in a rural area where membership could be bought at a public course often for less than $1,000 for the year. It does snow a good portion of the year here in New York, so membership in other geographical areas likely varies based on the cost of living and the longevity of the season.

Private Perks

The membership to a country club comes with a significantly different club lifestyle than belonging to the local public course. The country club offers a more significant lifestyle outside of just golf privileges for the entire family. Often, country clubs will have a pool, tennis courts, and other amenities in addition to the golf course and practice area.

Private course memberships often come with social perks as well. The cost of membership is usually not cheap, so the people involved in the club are often well-off and can be valuable social and friendship connections beyond just the sport of golf. Many business transactions occur on and off the course, and joining a country club can be a gateway into expanding your social circle and standing, depending on the company.

Payment for joining a private club works a little differently than joining a public course. Generally, a public course requires you to pay a one-time fee at the beginning of the season. At private clubs, payment involves an initiation fee, which is generally due at the start of the season. In addition, monthly dues are charged to members. Dues are a minimum amount of money required to spend months at the club. Some courses require dues during the winter or outside of the season, while others only have dues during a set portion of the year. These annual dues are paid at the beginning of every year—it is just the first year that they are referred to as "initiation," as the player is just joining the club.

Monthly dues generally are charged to a credit card owned by the member, regardless of if the member and their family spend the money at the club that month or do not. Therefore, it is in the best interest of private club members to dine, shop at the clubhouse, take lessons from club professionals, and otherwise spend money at the club so that they're receiving something in return for the cost of the dues. It is also worth noting that private club members are permitted to bring guests to play with them at their course. Often, the guests will have to pay a guest fee, but knowing someone who belongs to a private golf course is often the only way to gain access to even step on the property, let alone play golf.

Private courses often also come with agreements with other private courses. Usually referred to as reciprocals, these agreements permit members from one private course to occasionally go and play at another private course for just the cost of a cart fee. Members can use reciprocals to bring friends to other private courses, much like they can use their membership to get their friends to access their private club. Once again, although members only have to pay for a cart on reciprocal agreements, there is often a guest fee for non-members of the private club that has the common. Finally, there are infrequent instances of public courses having reciprocals, or PGA Professionals at a public course having a good relationship with another professional at a private course that an unofficial reciprocal can occur. Knowing people can make all the difference in golf.

It is also worth noting that members of private clubs often have to be invited to join. This process requires a current member to vouch for you as a membership sponsor. Usually, one member will need to be your initial sponsor, with some clubs requiring secondary sponsors in addition to this initial person. Then, potential members often have to apply to the club, which a membership committee will review. The committee will then vote on whether they want to allow the applicant to become a member or not. Slightly more complicated than paying a few hundred dollars to your local municipal course for a ten-pack!

Sink It

In contrast, public courses often do not require sponsorship or a review process to join. Generally, you can pay your membership fee for the year and be good to go. Some public courses also offer a combination option to purchase a membership for specific days, like weekdays, for a reduced rate compared to a full-time membership. The cost advantage can help drive savings, but the key is that most people who work full-time are working during the week. Therefore, if you want around on the weekend with your friends, you'd have to either pay at the course your weekday membership is at or go somewhere else.

Deciding where to play or belong is a difficult decision. Finances, lifestyles, and resources for yourself and your family are on the line. My best advice when weighing these options is not to rush. Get a description of each membership you are considering. See if you can play each course that you may join. Nobody wants to belong to a course that they hate playing. Talk about the decision with the people closest to you. Be honest about how much time you realistically have to play golf that season.

Finally, as always, if you need any assistance weighing options or want to speak with someone else who has made decisions on where to play golf, reach out to a Golf Expert on Curated and we would be happy to assist you with your decision-making.