Will you rejoin your club for next year

We will be offering a one month reduction in sub next year to current full members. The intention, all going well, is to do the same in 2022. It is important to acknowledge and reward the loyalty of members in these difficult times.

I renewed in July but had a long think about it first. Ultimately this ill be my club for the foreseeable future

I had no issue with paying subs through first lockdown as my income was unaffected. The club is closest to home,8 mins gate to gate so is really my only option to fit around life.

I have been less than impressed with a few things regarding time sheet, restrictions on unlimited members playing time and time sheet being rammed with societies and visitors and A LOT of new members, but i have managed to pick up cancellations 99% of the time. Not ideal to make any sort of solid plans and showing up hoping someone else doesnt isnt either.

Nothing mentioned about time lost being offered back when i renewed or anything of the sort over first lock down so i expect nothing if this goes ahead.

If its the case that the club cant afford it, so be it. Id rather pay so i have somewhere to play when we eventually reach some sort of normality.

Hopefully they do make exceptions for people who are in a precarious financial position.

Will be joining again. Course up the road and I had no issue getting out over the summer. Time sheets and competitions did fill up but managed to get out a bit and play.

Yeh will 100% be rejoining however I hope a few decide that it's not worth the money as the timesheet has just been mayhem lately

eoghan104 wrote: »

So you pay €1,495 for the year. Can be paid over 6 months by DD if you wish. That translates to credit that can be used for golf, the proshop or bar and restaurant. Also includes all GUI fees and insurance and all that craic.

On a weekend competition €35 is charged from your credits each time. During the week for casual golf it's €20. You can only carry forward a balance of €150 to the following year. You can also top up the credit if you run out.

It suits a lot of people like me who like to play other courses also. I play as much outside the club as I do in the club. My subs are up at the end of November and last week I had a balance of €475 so have bought a ping driver for €455 that I will sell or trade in for something else in McGuirks. That is 455 that would be down the drain if it was a normal unlimited membership.

I don't think it can be beaten for value. There is also an unlimited option for €1,700/1,800.

That sounds like a brilliant system. For years we've been looking at traditional membership systems thinking that they work for fewer and fewer clubs nowadays. The fact that you can get stuff from the pro shop / bar if you're not getting through your sub would really encourage people to stay in the game and keep the pro shop, bar, restaurant going. But you're still getting a lot of revenue per member.

I definitely expect to see far more clubs operate some sort of system like this in the near future.

eoghan104 wrote: »

Yeah I agree. I wonder how sustainable it is but it seems to be working for our club. It really is hard to see any downsides for members that are not regular twice a week in their home club golfers. Even for them with Covid uncertainty it seems a no-brainer.

Problem for me would be that even if I wasn't playing much golf I'd still be forking out 1500 per year on golf.

Think I'd prefer a pay and pay type membership.

eoghan104 wrote: »

For me its a no brainer to join as the flexible membership option protects against Covid restrictions and you lose no value.

I expect any unlimited golf members in my club will have to think about their options. I would not be so quick to pay a standard membership with so much uncertainty.

I'd be different. I didn't renew earlier in the year because I would usually spend most of my credits in the restaurant with the family. I'm different though as I am in another club and only in Castleknock also because of the credits option. I rejoined in the last few weeks because I couldn't play in my other club.

spacecoyote wrote: »

Newlands, in range for the 5k, but with a chunky joining fee and could have a waiting list even with that.

Yes there is a waiting list, you need nominations and seconds. I believe the waiting list has now been closed. Know a couple of lads who just applied and are up for consideration

eoghan104 wrote: »

My subs are up at the end of November and last week I had a balance of €475 so have bought a ping driver for €455 that I will sell or trade in for something else in McGuirks. That is 455 that would be down the drain if it was a normal unlimited membership.

They were allowing full credits to be carried forward earlier in the year and I'm not sure any different now, but they are not very good at communicating that, even when you ask!

blue note wrote: »

That sounds like a brilliant system. For years we've been looking at traditional membership systems thinking that they work for fewer and fewer clubs nowadays. The fact that you can get stuff from the pro shop / bar if you're not getting through your sub would really encourage people to stay in the game and keep the pro shop, bar, restaurant going. But you're still getting a lot of revenue per member.

I definitely expect to see far more clubs operate some sort of system like this in the near future.

Castleknock have been doing it for about 10 years now and since Carr golf came in they have adopted the system in other clubs they manage.

I'm 32 years a member in my club. I have moved house and now live in a different county and over 20km away. But it's only 40 minutes away on the M50, it suits me as my 2 sisters and mum live local so often pop in for a visit after the game. My dad is also a member. I've no wish to leave. But my work has been hit hard with the covid and will be for as long as it is around. I'm 20 years in my job and have no wish to move on from that either. But we are down to working 2 days a week and the company is surviving on the EWSS. My wife is also out of work since Covid hit & we have 3 young kids.

As mentioned above, I am also a member of Castleknock as a second club as I live across the road from it, but I wouldn't really play a lot there, mainly suits me because of the credits, so can bring mates out & they pay me & I can use my credits to pay their green fees. Then the kids eat the rest of them in the restaurant. When we got back playing within 5km I was able to use up my credits by playing in Castleknock for an extra few weeks even though I was up for renewal. It softened the punch of not being able to travel to Wicklow till it reopened.

Then the Dublin lockdown (but still see Dubs names on the sheet:( ) hit & I rejoined Castleknock a few weeks ago on the credits again, thinking I'd be back in Wicklow soon and I'll have a full year from now to dip in and out of Castleknock and hopefully at some stage enjoy a few meals with the family.

But now it's looking more like I'll be spending all my credits playing golf, which is not really a good financial option as I'll run out of them fairly quick if i don't get back to my home club.

So out of work with plenty of time on my hands, I'll happily dip into my savings to stump up the fees (nearly €2k) to play in my long time club, but the uncertainty of amount of time I'll actually be able to play there coupled with my work/financial situation I'll have to think long and hard about what I do golf wise for 2021.

Covid was great for my game, got to play lots and was lucky enough to peak at the right time and won a couple of prizes which just so happened to be club Majors

I don't want to give it up for 2021, but unfortunately I might just have to.

Golfhead65 wrote: »

Yeah but while they are closed you can't play so what will you do with your time now, sure golf clubs love people like you. Hand over money with no guarantee of providing a service you pay for

It’s hardly their fault there’s a pandemic.
Our club is allowing for the closure in next year’s subs.
They don’t want to be shut you know.

Yes, can't wait.

Keano wrote: »

Understand your angry but let’s tone it down a small bit. Thanks

Sorry about the jab at the Green Party

Golfhead65 wrote: »

That's great for you but ours and others are just money grabbing c**ts with little or no morals

Maybe you’re a member of a club with a big staff who need to be paid and retained. My club has a large membership and have had good fundraisers for the last few years. We are in a good place with a very good bank balance after being very shrewd for a few years now.

We are looking at March/April before we play again so we are now condemned to a 6 month golf season

We dont live in ice ridden Scandinavia