What would you pay for a Golf Membership

[BrandonK]

Hey Everyone,

I was wondering what would you pay for a Golf membership.

Last year I was debating about purchasing a Golf membership and playing more golf. I received a notification I set which reminded me that Centennial Park Golf is only $1,600 for a year membership. Which the price is low and would give me about 44 games this year, but I don't know if it would be worth it.

A few friends reminded me when you get a membership I should be looking at

1) How much am I going to play?
2) Is the course challenging enough that it will keep me interested?
3) Will I meet and connect with good members?
4) Is there member tournaments, social events...etc?

Which I am sure Centennial does not have a lot of these.

I was wondering what do you guys think?

Do you even have a membership or do you just play at a few courses you like?

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Thank you

[4tado]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

I would spend 3-5 thousand. But to be locked down to one course is tough, I'd rather play a bunch of nice public tracks. The 5+ hour rounds at some make you want to join a private club, unfortunately I have champagne taste with lucky lager funds

[nearace]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

1600,with cart,senior rate.free driving range

[golfpop]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park? You'd want to commit to playing Centennial Park for an entire season? Typically for a private but not exclusive course, you probably will be on the hook for $4-8 which might include a contribution to an initiation fee. If you're a decent guy and hang around the range and practice green you'll connect with a guy or two and start regular games.
A few courses require an upfront fee that you work off in golf / F&B.
But join a real golf course...

Hey Everyone,
I was wondering what would you pay for a Golf membership.
Last year I was debating about purchasing a Golf membership and playing more golf. I received a notification I set which reminded me that Centennial Park Golf is only $1,600 for a year membership. Which the price is low and would give me about 44 games this year, but I don't know if it would be worth it.

A few friends reminded me when you get a membership I should be looking at

1) How much am I going to play?
2) Is the course challenging enough that it will keep me interested?
3) Will I meet and connect with good members?
4) Is there member tournaments, social events...etc?

Which I am sure Centennial does not have a lot of these.

I was wondering what do you guys think?

Do you even have a membership or do you just play at a few courses you like?

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Thank you

[Big Shooter]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park? You'd want to commit to playing Centennial Park for an entire season? Typically for a private but not exclusive course, you probably will be on the hook for $4-8 which might include a contribution to an initiation fee. If you're a decent guy and hang around the range and practice green you'll connect with a guy or two and start regular games.
A few courses require an upfront fee that you work off in golf / F&B.
But join a real golf course...

I guess it depends how old you are, where you live, and how good you want to get....I have a couple of friends who are members at Centennial Park, that live nearby, love the practice facilities, it's an easy walk, and the course is in decent shape.....and oh yeah, can't beat the price!

[golfpop]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

I guess it depends how old you are, where you live, and how good you want to get....I have a couple of friends who are members at Centennial Park, that live nearby, love the practice facilities, it's an easy walk, and the course is in decent shape.....and oh yeah, can't beat the price!

Yeah I suppose.... there are two aspects - "Club" membership and "Course" Access. Do you want to participate in ladders and brackets and regular Saturday shootouts / special events have regular playing partners that always show up the same time you do? Cent Park won't deliver that.
Can you get memberships at city courses?

[4underthru9]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Yeah I suppose.... there are two aspects - "Club" membership and "Course" Access. Do you want to participate in ladders and brackets and regular Saturday shootouts / special events have regular playing partners that always show up the same time you do? Cent Park won't deliver that.
Can you get memberships at city courses?

Apparently at Centennial Park you can: http://centennialparkgolfcentre.com/memberships/

[Marty Canuck]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park is in Etobicoke I assume?

My course in North Durham has the only deal going I would ever consider for a membership unless I could afford a full private course.

I'm a member at Oakridge. When you "buy" your membership you are really just loading a prepaid Oakridge Debit Card. The money you put on it NEVER expires. By loading it in spring when the call comes from the club you get a 10% bonus on what you load (put on $1000, your account gets $1100 credit, etc.).

Then in season you get a fixed discount on what the public rates are when paying by your card. I get 30% off the time of day green fees and 25% off carts. Card can also be used to pay food, beverage and Pro Shop.

Add to that how nice the people who run the course are and the quality of the course and that it is usually not overly busy and you can play in a decent time (played in 4:15 on Monday with a 15 minute break at the turn) and you can't go wrong.

Now that may not be much for someone to come from the west end for but surely there are other courses out that way that are also forward thinking like this?

[Smittyman]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park Golf is not owned by the City of Toronto.

To the OP, reading the membership information it sounds like an awful lot of restrictions for what you are paying. One day advanced booking? You can book 5 days ahead at Humber Valley or Scarlett Woods (actual City of Toronto courses) without tying up your $1600. I use them as a comparison because they are in the same area not suggesting they are similar as far as playing goes, I've never played any of them.

[TheBananaSlice]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park Golf is not owned by the City of Toronto.

To the OP, reading the membership information it sounds like an awful lot of restrictions for what you are paying. One day advanced booking? You can book 5 days ahead at Humber Valley or Scarlett Woods (actual City of Toronto courses) without tying up your $1600. I use them as a comparison because they are in the same area not suggesting they are similar as far as playing goes, I've never played any of them.

I would agree concerning the restrictions. The language is pretty harsh for someone who is sinking $1600 into the course. It sounds like the members are treated like 2nd class citizens....when it should be the opposite. If you are giving them a big chunk of change, your needs should come ahead of those only dropping $50 on the occasional green fee. The wording in those rules would be enough to scare me away.

[chrish8]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Hey Everyone,

I was wondering what do you guys think?

Do you even have a membership or do you just play at a few courses you like?

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Thank you

pay whatever you feel fits your needs from a club.

My best advice is never look at a membership for value/deal in terms of green fee vs membership. Look at it as a chance to meet people, be apart of something and do what you want when you want because you have earned it.

Cost wise for me a membership would be taking all things I look for in a club into perspective.

The wife and I don't have any kids and no plans to have any, we don't do winter sports, and working together it is hard to go on vacation at the same time for weeks. So we look for clubs with playing privileges at other courses (recips) so we can take/make a long weekend trip while enjoying what we both live to do.

If you join a club you will quickly learn and appreciate what a private membership offers.

Cost wise I'll tap out at the 6k-6.5k range provided the club offers everything I look for.

If that day comes where it doesn't meet our needs or I can't afford it I am sure I can find a semi or better public course to spend 3k at, minus some of my wants.

[blackhawk]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Agreed with above post...a real membership is never a "value" proposition. Multi-use packs or cards, as described with Oak Bay, are definitely a great value but I suspect it doesn't really give you the same feel that a truly private club would.

Do you value the potential new friendships, regular games, Mens Night, multiple club tournaments/competitions? Hanging around the clubhouse, eating and socializing there? Perks like having your clubs cleaned, having them put out for you on a cart before your rounds, having your shoes cleaned, staff knowing you by name? The ability to play rounds quickly and when your schedule allows, not when the courses' booking sheet dictates? To be able to play a course that is usually in excellent condition, and to know that the vast majority of people who play it have an incentive to keep it that way?

These are the things that private club offers, and is worth paying for. Depending on your age you should be able to get those things for $3-5k as an intermediate and $6-7k as a full paying member.

If you are looking for more "getting as many rounds in for a good price" type deal, I sure as hell wouldn't commit $1600 of my golf budget to Centennial Park. Lots of public courses offer deals for their repeat customers and there are many better courses to spend your money on.

[Big Shooter]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Yeah I suppose.... there are two aspects - "Club" membership and "Course" Access. Do you want to participate in ladders and brackets and regular Saturday shootouts / special events have regular playing partners that always show up the same time you do? Cent Park won't deliver that.

Golf North offers all of that, for less than $1600 (most courses)

[BrandonK]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

Centennial Park? You'd want to commit to playing Centennial Park for an entire season? Typically for a private but not exclusive course, you probably will be on the hook for $4-8 which might include a contribution to an initiation fee. If you're a decent guy and hang around the range and practice green you'll connect with a guy or two and start regular games.
A few courses require an upfront fee that you work off in golf / F&B.
But join a real golf course...

I was just thinking about it. Again I would love to play other courses that are more challenging. I am really just looking to get in 9 holes in the morning once or twice a week before work. Then maybe a weekend game.

[BrandonK]

Re: What would you pay for a Golf Membership

I guess it depends how old you are, where you live, and how good you want to get....I have a couple of friends who are members at Centennial Park, that live nearby, love the practice facilities, it's an easy walk, and the course is in decent shape.....and oh yeah, can't beat the price!

That is why I was looking at the price of $1,600, it's close to me about a 15min drive so I can get there at sunrise, tee off and get 9 holes in before work through the week.