If your a member of a golf club do you still pay to play?

CWMMC

I was just looking around and seen something that confused me a little bit. If your a member of a golf club or pay your annual subscription, do you still pay to play everyday saturday or sunday that you want to play? and if so, what is the point of being a member if you still have to pay money?

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058292044/if-your-a-member-of-a-golf-club-do-you-still-pay-to-play

No, once you pay your fees that's it.

CWMMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120468282#Comment_120468282

Okay thanks I was thinking that but then just got confused when I read something.

spacecoyote

You need to make a distinction between green fees and competition fees.

You won't be charged a green fee, if you're a fully paid up member, but you will likely be charged a competition fee.

Some clubs offer pay&play membership that usually has a smaller annual sub but you pay a reduced green fee.

Then some clubs have now started to charge an administrative fee for general play rounds that are being input for handicap purposes (which I really don't agree with)

swededmonkey

In my club, you just pay a competition fee (€6) if you want to enter the comp but these are normally the preferred tee times for most at weekends. This is on top of your annual subs. Casual golf outside of these times don't have an additional cost and are included in your subs.

My father in law pays an annual sub €120 per year (different club & reduced rate for seniors) but has to pay €20/€25 green fee as part of his pay to play membership anytime he wants to go out. The green fee includes the competition fee at weekends.

witchgirl26

It can depend on the options a club offers. The one I was with a few years back had a few different tiers of membership. There was weekday membership which was a lower annual with no green fees Monday - Friday. If you wanted to play the weekend, it was a reduced green fee. Then there was a weekend only membership which was reversed but slightly higher annual. Then a full week membership with a reduced annual but lower green fees that you could use all week and then the complete full membership with no green fees. All memberships you had to pay for competitions. And all included a certain number of sessions in the driving range etc.

big_drive

Varies from club to club.

I know in Fota in Cork that the annual sub is pricy but all your competitions are included for the year.

coillcam

My sub is about €800 for the year. Except for competition entries, I can play any available slot without extra fees. Notable times that can be unavailable would be Wednesday for ladies' comps, Saturday usually blocked out late morning to afternoon for societies, Friday is open day and Sunday for men's branch comps.

For the competition and designated days listed before, there will be still options to play before or after those. Eg on Sunday you could get out in the afternoon as a casual round after comp finishes. Saturday you might get out before the society too. You're not 100% locked out of those days but you have fewer options.

I would say I spend around €150 on competition fees annually. The only caveat here is that I play a lot of them. Typically its €5 for Sundays. Majors or club matchplay are about €10/€15 iirc.

You also have as much use of the practice facilities as part of the membership. Short game/chipping/bunker area, large putting green and 50-80 yd wedge area. There's also a "mini" range with a handful of bays plus one spot for hitting off grass. I say mini because you need your own balls and the distance is only 160yds max.

Maybe my life circumstances could change but for now, the majority of my rounds are competitions or matches. If I wasn't free to play comps I'd consider pausing my sub and maybe just pay for the odd society golf day or green fee.

L.O.F.T

It's worth pointing out that your weekend competition fee, whether it's €6 or €5 for the most part goes towards winners' prizes in that given comp. Most competitions are run by the internal committee and this is how they fund the prizes. So it's separate from your annual sub.

You are not obligated to play in these competitions but you may be restricted from playing during designated competition times allocated on weekend timesheets if not participating in the competition. But, always ask, you'll find most members, committees or even pro shop will be happy to explain the ins and outs of your club's timesheet and competition schedule. Enjoy your golf.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058292044/if-your-a-member-of-a-golf-club-do-you-still-pay-to-play

Some clubs have a strange approach and charge a fee if you are a member and play during a competition but (for whatever personal reason) are not entered into that competition. But reality is that for some folk the only time they have available to play is during active competitions...some golfer have zero interest in comps so can see their point

CWMMC

Yeah well I was only wanting to become a member to play in my own time, I would not and will not for the foreseeable future be playing any type of competitions. SO i was just wondering the standard bang average joe once you pay the annual fee you dont need to again

L.O.F.T

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472914#Comment_120472914

Then you should be fine to play at most times with no extra fees, providing you have a 7 day membership.

CWMMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472942#Comment_120472942

Okay thats something I need to look into then when signing up for somewhere.

coillcam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472686#Comment_120472686

My club will give you a warning if you intentionally join a comp slot and don't play. No fee for taking the slot. There are other issues that can end up with warnings but 2 warnings mean you lose the right to book online and have to ring the pro shop.

If on the day of a comp, there are free tee times (all 4x lines open) you can ring the shop to convert it to casual. Ultimately the club wants to promote competitive golf and a better standard with inter-club teams etc. If someone could only play 8-10am during comp times and their options are gone because of people not entering the comps they would rightly complain. There are enough alternatives and ways to play casual golf as part of the membership but they might not suit everyone.

If comps are not your thing it's important to find out what the tee sheets typically look like before committing to a membership. In my club, there's probably zero value in a membership where your only free time is Sat-Sun and it overlaps with comps/societies.

tayto lover

5 euro for Sat/Sun competition fees and 1 euro for the 2's.