Stuart8472

I've looked at a few courses and I can honestly say that if I were to join a GC it would cost me more than what id likely spend on a car!!

Am I missing something?

Anywhere you can recommend?

Thanks

Steve_P

Is it important to you that you join a golf club?

A lot of the private clubs allow the public to play also there are six City of Calgary owned golf courses no membership required.

http://www.discovercalgary.com/Tours...s/GolfCourses/

MB-Realtor

Just pay to play on public courses, or Private Clubs open to the public.

A lot of private clubs require you to buy a share, I know the Club nearest to me requires a $20,000 investment for the share, plus annual dues, plus a guaranteed spend in the Bar/Restaurant.

I play at one of many City courses for $28.

Stuart8472

Its not a must but in the UK its generally beneficial to have membership somewhere if you're playing once a week.

If you're not a member can you still compete in medals?

iaink

Dont know about calgary, but Unless you are joining a course for the social aspect, I figured from a green fees perspective you would have to play a round every week during the season to break even. OK if you are retired I guess.

My local course (36 holes, not fancy, at the end of my road) charge only about $800 a year in fees, but then its only $30 a day to play there.

I did hear that if you know someone who knows someone you can pay $600 and join as a member through a company corporate deal, but I dont have the time to play much anyway.

For the sake of comparison, the very (VERY!) nice new course in town thats about $70 a round in the summer charges $1800 a year for 7 day membership.

Jingsamichty

I don't think you need to join any clubs unless you want the social factor.

It's easy enough to book a round at most of the private clubs, and all of the municipal courses in Calgary (which I do on-line).

A round once a week would be $1,000 a year tops. Why pay inflated membership fees?

Steve_P

The OP want s to compete in medals, whatever they are?

Not being a golfer I have no clue.

Jingsamichty

Only the kindest of observers would describe me as a golfer too. I like to tell myself that taking 9 strokes on a par 4 is better value-for-money than a miserly birdie.

iaink

Ahhhhh. I missed that. The weekly competition, handicap validation and all that.

There are plenty of competitive weekly house leagues open to non members that allow for all that.

Stuart8472

I appreciate the info guys though I still cant get my head round why something that costs a max of £1000 in Scotland can cost as much as £20,000 (40,000 CAD) in Calgary. Its not like Scotland has an inferior product!!

Iain, are these leagues organised through the golf club or peoples workplaces etc?

iaink

Both. Most courses seem to have league nights for pay as you go players. Not sure how the handicaping would work as I havent been able to justify the time to join a local league with two small kids at home. I did play in a work based league in the past, and played on a few corporate away day teams too. Nothing too serious.

Regarding the cost of membership, it sort of depends on the status of the course, a top course in the UK will set you back tens of thousands too. Clublink courses with privileges elsewhere will be expensive, for example the Nicklaus course out in Banff will be expensive, so if you want to do the membership thing then shop around, but pay as you play is a practical option, especially while you are still figuring out what each local course has to offer.

One advantage of membership might be free range priveledges if you practice a lot.

R I C H

A retired friend of mine plays regularly and joined a local club. He's kept a spreadsheet of his costs to see if the membership cost justified itself.

As long as he plays a minimum of twice a week through the season (including use of a cart, and a bucket of range balls each time) it's worthwhile.

Prices per round locally cost from $12 for the local par 3 pitch and putt, $30-$75 (depending on time of day/week) for a nicely maintained course and up to $130 for somewhere like Tobiano

Steve_P

Wow that make Kananaskis look real cheap at $90 for non-residents and only $70 for Alberta residents.

R I C H

Yep, it's hard to spend under $150 there by the time you've hit some range balls and had a couple of beers. Beautiful course though.

Souvenir

They'd have to be bloody kind. Are you holding the wrong end of the club?