Fota Hello Money ?

peepee

Anyone hear the rumours Fota hello money is going or gone?

big_drive

Last I heard it was €15,000 spread over 10 years or something like that

bailey99

It was up until 2 months ago when I contacted them, €5000 up front and an annual sub of €2089 which included all your competition entry fees. Then after 5 years you paid another €5000 lump sum and 5 years again after that, the final €5000 lump sum.

I've heard from a couple of people that there was to be a meeting with the members, with a proposal to abolish the hello money and to reduce the annual subcription to around the €1700 mark. All new members however, would be introduced or proposed by existing members, this would prevent or at least limit the objections by the current members.

This could be true as the course is up for sale for just €25million (all considered this is a very low price in my opinion). Any new owners could identify the golf course as a majoy source of revenue, with 27holes they could comfortably take membership upto 1,500 or even 2,000. Membership levels at 2000 at a rate of €1700 per annum would give them income of €3.4million.

I know the green fees would fall with the need for more members time but this is the avenue the new owners are going to look to go down I believe.

Loire

bailey99 wrote: »

It was up until 2 months ago when I contacted them, €5000 up front and an annual sub of €2089 which included all your competition entry fees. Then after 5 years you paid another €5000 lump sum and 5 years again after that, the final €5000 lump sum.

I've heard from a couple of people that there was to be a meeting with the members, with a proposal to abolish the hello money and to reduce the annual subcription to around the €1700 mark. All new members however, would be introduced or proposed by existing members, this would prevent or at least limit the objections by the current members.

This could be true as the course is up for sale for just €25million (all considered this is a very low price in my opinion). Any new owners could identify the golf course as a majoy source of revenue, with 27holes they could comfortably take membership upto 1,500 or even 2,000. Membership levels at 2000 at a rate of €1700 per annum would give them income of €3.4million.

I know the green fees would fall with the need for more members time but this is the avenue the new owners are going to look to go down I believe.

I think you could be onto something there. A friend plays there and they've been wiped out the past few winters with poor weather. Green fees can be fickle and perhaps a "guaranteed" membership income would be preferrable. Having said that, I'm not sure will they get enough to bite at 1,700pa...

big_drive

It's still a lot of money at €1,700 but a huge drop on what it was. Including all competition fees in the sub is something I like the sound of.
Hard to judge but I presume there would be a good level of interest

curly from cork

As of today they are still quoting €15, 000 joining fee, € 2,085 annual sub.

big_drive

Approx how many members have they in the club?

Dr_Colossus

big_drive wrote: »

Approx how many members have they in the club?

According to this site
http://gogolfing.ie/
they've 505 members so a decent enough playing base. Given that the development is in Nama and up for sale I find it hard to believe that they're still demanding such high joining fees.

pinseeker

Know someone who is currently at the a.g.m so should know in a bit what exactly they have have decided to do regards hello money and sub

big_drive

That would be great to get the actual facts on what's happening

Unglika Norse

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

According to this site
http://gogolfing.ie/
they've 505 members

They had 440 registered male members for 2011 down 55 from 2010, the rest could be made up of a small ladies club

pinseeker

Right it seems that all the proposals were knocked on the head.Members have there sub reduced by few hundred euros.

There was proposal for 100 new members for 1000 a man but they said that it would effect tee times on weekends.So non runner.

Seems as if no change at all,so guess its still the 15 grand hello and sub is little bit less.
Arse dream over.

big_drive

Looks like no change so. Pity cause I would consider it if there was a new deal to be had

peepee

Can a privately owned club not change membership prices and numbers without the members approval? I would have thought it would be forced through. Any new owners wont be leaving numbers at 500 on a 27 hole course

big_drive

Ya with the 27 holes there would be room to bulk up the membership you'd imagine. Might take a while more yet, until new owners come on board.

big_drive

Any more news here or was the final decision that things continue as normal?

bailey99

Prior to the meeting it was €5,000 hello money, another €5,000 in 5 years time and a final €5,000 a further five years after this, so total hello money was €15,000. The annual subscription was €2,089 each year.

Following a decision at the meeting, the hello money has been reduced to a one off payment of €5,000. The annual subscription has also been reduced to €1,889 which includes €100 competition entry fees.

staker

I'd imagine all extra payments of 5000 euros of the initial 15000 euro "hello money" for existing members will be dropped?
Know of a fellow who joined another Cork club in 2010 which had hello money of 1500,which could be paid in three annual installments of 500.

Start of 2011,they abolish the 1500 hello money for new members,so he approaches them to see were his further installments nulled. Long story short, no was their answer-he walked, along with half a dozen other members.

big_drive

It's a tempting enough offer if I had the cash. I'd still find the €1,889 a fair chunk to pay each year though.

Jasonw

Funny, I was talking to a guy who was at the meeting and he didn't mention that at all. He said that the hello money hadn't changed, that the members annual sub had been reduced as has already been mentioned and that there was a new catagory of membership where you can join for a year at about 2800 euro I think.

bailey99

Jasonw wrote: »

Funny, I was talking to a guy who was at the meeting and he didn't mention that at all. He said that the hello money hadn't changed, that the members annual sub had been reduced as has already been mentioned and that there was a new catagory of membership where you can join for a year at about 2800 euro I think.

tell your mate not to fall asleep at these types of meetings so! Give the pro-shop a buzz and ask them like I did if your in any doubt.

Henry Ford III

Nice course but even after the reductions it's still far from a bargain.

peepee

Have to agree. I think they have their head in the clouds really. Its a 27 hole complex looking for 5k up front. Thats not realistic in the current climate. Carton House has 2 separate top class courses, all for €2300 sub only.

I'm not sure what powers the members have but if a new buyer wants to to he''ll find a way to increase numbers without their approval.

bailey99

peepee wrote: »

I'm not sure what powers the members have but if a new buyer wants to to he''ll find a way to increase numbers without their approval.

Members have no rights whatsoever as they don't own the course. Same as members in Lee Valley, i.e. the owners can close up whenever they want if they so wished.

Fota will be sold, I would be amazed if it wasn't. The place is turning a healthy profit from the golf course, so once someone in the hotel trade comes in to buy it, open up membership to get an extra €1 - €1.5 million in the place could well florish.

The asking price is just €20million for a 5 star hotel, clubhouse, grounds, 59 houses and 550acres of land situated less than 15mins drive from Cork City. That's working out at just over €36,000 an acre.

big_drive

As I mentioned before I will be watching the situation closely as I'm only 15 mins away.

At moment it's just too much for me financially, the entrance would need to be less than €3,000 and the annual sub around the €1,300 mark. Then I'd be seriously thinking about it

Fota Island Golf Club

Hi, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Robert and I am working with the Marketing Department here at Fota Island Resort. It has come to our attention that there has been much speculation in this discussion thread regarding the subscription and ‘hello money’ for Fota Island Golf Club. If anyone would like further information regarding these issues we would be more than happy to provide them by contacting me at rduggan@fotaisland.ie or you can also contact the Pro Shop directly on +353 (0)21 4883700. We will provide you with any relevant information you require regarding membership.

Kind regards,

Robert.

Redzah

Fota Island Golf Club wrote: »

Hi, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Robert and I am working with the Marketing Department here at Fota Island Resort. It has come to our attention that there has been much speculation in this discussion thread regarding the subscription and ‘hello money’ for Fota Island Golf Club. If anyone would like further information regarding these issues we would be more than happy to provide them by contacting me at rduggan@fotaisland.ie or you can also contact the Pro Shop directly on +353 (0)21 4883700. We will provide you with any relevant information you require regarding membership.

Kind regards,

Robert.

Ah come on robert, share the information and price, we can find the number of Fota on the golden pages. We're all friends here

staker

Agreed, why not post up the fees?Register to post up information that's already freely available. Can't see how it would effect business tbh, can only be good imo.

big_drive

I have emailed but not heard back yet. If anyone has received a reply could they PM me the info please? Thanks

bailey99

Ok, I was talking to a friend in work and he told me that a fella he regularly plays golf with applied to join Fota following the reduction in entrance money at the last AGM.

To his knowledge, there were 14 applications in total to join, all willing to pay the €5,000 entrance money and the annual subscription of €1,889. All 14 applications were accepted by the club but all 14 were subsequently rejected for membership by the committee.

A previous poster said that if the subscription was €1,300 then he'd be interested. The problem is the lack of quality courses within 30mins of Cork city. When you compare golf courses in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and those in Cork, there's no real comparison. Cork has a lack of decent challenging courses. Fota, Cork and possible Castlemartyr are the best in my opinion and the rest all blend into the same category.

If Fota got rid of the entrance money, then I would certainly apply to join.

big_drive

Thanks for the info. Why would the applications be rejected?

peepee

Thanks for that Bailey. I just got the same information re €5k and sub by email.

I still believe that a new reality will be setting in when Fota is sold. What businessman with €20 million today is going to buy it and let the membership numbers continue as is? Its my guess that the members know this is coming down the road so they aren't going to let anyone else in before that.

big_drive

Seems odd to turn down €70,000 in entrance money

Fota Island Golf Club

Further to our earlier post, full details of 2012 membership for Fota Island Golf Club are now available on our website at http://www.fotaisland.ie/Golf-Club-Membership. The process for membership is also outlined and membership forms can be downloaded. If you have any further queries in regard to full membership applications please don't hesitate to contact the Pro Shop directly on on +353 (0)21 4883700 where our Director of Golf would be happy to answer your questions.

link_2007

I think you might have to give a bit more info than that FIGC. You can't just swoop in, leave your number and disappear into the darkness again - you're not the milk tray man.

Redzah

link_2007 wrote: »

I think you might have to give a bit more info than that FIGC. You can't just swoop in, leave your number and disappear into the darkness again - you're not the milk tray man.

Ah in fairness the pricing is clarified on the website. However the only thing not clarified is the refusal of 14 new members, is this true mr. fota island man? if so why?

staker

I wouldn't expect a representative of Fota Island to state their reasons for rejecting 14 new memberships on an online golf forum tbh.
Like others I'd have been looking at joining up maybe, but not with the €5000 upfront payment.

bailey99

Is it possible that the 14 membership applications were rejected by the members committee because they weren't the type of people Fota wanted in their club????

Seems bizarre that the club accepts the 14 applications and the members committee rejects them.

They have 440members in the club. They could handle 1,500 members easily in my opinion with a 27 hole layout.

peepee

Is it possible that the 14 membership applications were rejected by the members committee because they weren't the type of people Fota wanted in their club????

Unlikely! More like they were making a point to the club!

big_drive

Like I said in an earlier post it needs to drop another bit, it's just a bit too much at present. I couldn't justify €1889 a year for my golf

bailey99

Castlemartyr annual sub cut 20% from €1,250 to €1,000.

Fota sub was cut from €2089 to €1,899, so that's a €190 cut this year. If it was €1,300 I'd be in there like a shot as would some friends.

getcover

bailey99 wrote: »

Castlemartyr annual sub cut 20% from €1,250 to €1,000.

Fota sub was cut from €2089 to €1,899, so that's a €190 cut this year. If it was €1,300 I'd be in there like a shot as would some friends.

How much is the Hello money in Castlemartyr?

big_drive

Is it something like €2,500 entrance fee in castlemartyr?

big_drive

bailey99 wrote: »

Castlemartyr annual sub cut 20% from €1,250 to €1,000.

Fota sub was cut from €2089 to €1,899, so that's a €190 cut this year. If it was €1,300 I'd be in there like a shot as would some friends.

Yes I'd be thinking the same. I'd nearly consider paying the €5,000 entrance provided the annual cost was around that mark.

Fota Island Golf Club

Just to respond to the issue of the rumoured rejection of 14 applications. I can confirm that this was not the case just to put that speculation to bed. Each prospective members application is carefully considered by both Fota Island Resort and Fota Island Golf Club. Obviously I am not at liberty to discuss individual membership applications on a public forum. In fact, there has already been a number of new membership applications accepted this year.

However, I would like to thank 'link_2007' for his kind offer of milk tray but I would be breaking my new years resolution if I was to accept! Also, just to reassure 'staker' that we wouldn't just register this week to post information that is already freely available on the internet seeing as we have been registered since April.

link_2007

More for me so.

soundsham

big_drive wrote: »

Is it something like €2,500 entrance fee in castlemartyr?

i'd say theres possibly no entrance fee
i know they were on the look out for a few low handicappers recently to field a team in the barton,
id be surprised if any of those guys paid,may have got in for a 50% reduction in the sub even...........

peepee

No joining fee in Castlemartyr ? Can anyone confirm that?

big_drive

I did hear a rumour about castlemartyr trying to get some lower handicap players into the club. I believe their playing numbers are low in weekly competitions

bailey99

hello money remains in Castlemartyr @ €5,000 according to Brady Sherwood the professional out there. Talked to him a week ago regarding this.

moycullen14

I'd say that Fota are in a position to hoover up a lot of members in the Cork region. As other posters have said, along with Cork golf club, it is the best in an area that is not well served by good golf courses (Is Cork the only coastal county without a links?). I wouldn't rate Castlemartyr in the same league.

Over the last few years a lot of people gave up membership but this year I'm seeing more and more people looking to change clubs - and Fota is well placed to capitalize on that.

The big risk would be with hello money given that new owners will soon be in place. Also, 1800 is a lot of money. Reduce it to 1000-1200 and I reckon there would be a flood of applicants.