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shot 9 over today. personal best.
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I think they're making a comeback because people are looking for places to be social and have things going on for their families. Probably still a COVID effect. Right now you're seeing places with golf, tennis, pools and then all the private clubs are adding pickleball to the menu since it's such a hot thing right now. I've been considering joining the past couple of years, but until my kids are a little older I don't think it makes sense quite yet. I want to be able to use the amenities with everyone. And in terms of joining fee, I think that varies so much depending in the area you are in. My area you can spend anywhere from $5,000 to 100,000 on initiation fee.
DFW area here - my two cents is that while a good bit of younger folks can afford the fees, most can’t justify spending the money with how little time we have to play. Most clubs I’m seeing here (that are noticeably nicer than the public options) are 70- 100k initiation fee + 1,000-1,500/monthly.
In order to make it that work, I’d have to 1. Commit to playing the same course and 2. Ensure I can play 2-3 times per week which is unrealistic with my current stage of life (busy job, young kids).
Several clubs offer junior executive memberships which can be substantially cheaper, but they typically have limitations on when you can play - basically prime time sat/sun are off limits which defeats the entire purpose for me.
My main issue is only playing the same course over and over again. The access to the practice facility would be awesome though.
39M Chicago area. Anecdotal but recently joined a club. I wouldn’t say it’s making a significant comeback but the club I joined has recently seen an upswing in younger memberships (late to mid fourties families).
I Wouldn’t join a PE owned club. Joined a club based on distance from home (10 min drive), friends / like minded ppl that are members, initiation fee (far from cheap at $42k but a lot less than some of the more elite clubs), and pool for kids. Also joined based on course, recent improvements, facilities, and potential for future special assessments.
*late 30s to mid 40s
The monthly’s are always what get me. My local club is up to $1,800 with very little amenities and non-equity! I can play the nicest resort courses (orange county) 3x per month and still come out on top
I used to live in OC and agree private club scene isn’t great. Don’t love the courses at Big Canyon or Shady and they’re so expensive. All the good clubs are in SD or LA.
One caveat is Santa Ana CC looks like a really fun vibe but no pool or tennis from my recollection, just golf.
I’m 32 and I joined 2 clubs in past ~5 years. One local that my family and I use almost every weekend and an out of town club where I take 4-5 trips a year and stay on property. I guess that’s just a golf club, not country club