Re-joining Golf Club

JOSman

Hi all, some advice as I'm in a bit of a dilemma, I was a member of a golf club for a number of years but left some time ago. The club is looking for members so I applied and was accepted. This was great until I saw that the club is looking for hello money.

As I originally paid levies when I first joined the club should I again be expected pay this?

What do you think? I feel that the cost of golfing is enough without this extra fee.


Thanks

AldilaMan

It's probably a bit rich looking for hello money 2nd time round in a recession. In principal I'm opposed to hello money but I would have a few exceptions at the higher end of the market if it was going cheap. Hold tight. They'll be begging you without hello money next month.

JOSman

Thanks AldilaMan. That's how I feel.

davo10

JOSman, I think you have to accept that this is a policy of this particular club and it must be a popular club if they are still charging hello money. Some clubs allow members to suspend their membership for a year or two for specific reasons but this one may take the view that you ceased to be a member and gave up your rights once your previous membership lapsed. If you want to be a member then you have to pay if that is their policy and there is no point in arguing with them, but there is now huge value to be gotten in other clubs so look around the area.

Also consider taking out membership in a course down the country, once you have a GUI membership card you can play in open competitions in any club you like.

TheGrump

I think if you decided to leave the club then you gave up all your rights at that point. If you now want to rejoin then you have to pay the going rate.

If the club has a healthy membership and has no financial issues then I don't see why they shouldn't charge hello money. Sure its a recession, but if the club is in a good financial position and current members have paid hello money, then why shouldn't new members?

If the club is struggling and needs new members then that is a different position and perhaps the hello money should be scrapped.

golfwallah

JOSman wrote: »

Hi all, some advice as I'm in a bit of a dilemma, I was a member of a golf club for a number of years but left some time ago. The club is looking for members so I applied and was accepted. This was great until I saw that the club is looking for hello money.

As I originally paid levies when I first joined the club should I again be expected pay this?

What do you think? I feel that the cost of golfing is enough without this extra fee.


Thanks

It's simply down to supply and demand. The reality is that, up to recently, 6% of the population of Ireland were registered golfers - but these numbers are shrinking. In England it's 1.8%, in the USA it's 0.7%. There's one golf club for every 10,000 people in Ireland compared to one for every 26,000 in England and one for every 32,000 in the USA. We are swamped with golf courses (up to 40% too many), the number of golfers in falling so, it follows that with few customers and an excess of golf course capacity, prices can only go one way - downward. Some clubs will have the spare funds to buck the trend in the short term. But, in the long run, the clubs that will survive the recession are those that give customers what they want by way of prices and product quality and also get their costs under control. Clubs should be reducing their prices in this recession, not putting barriers like "hello money" in customers way. My advice is to shop around, watch the ads and fliers over the next few months and use Google to find what you want.

JOSman

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your replies. I finally picked up the nerve to write to the committee and got a letter in the post today saying that the hello money is to be wavered as I had originally paid this fee on first joining the club.

Really looking forward to my first game.

Thanks again for all your replies.

AldilaMan

Good news.

bigtimecharlie

Looks like the softly-softly approach pays dividends. Great result.