Most country club golf courses allow golfers to pay a green fee and you need to consider how much golf you are going to be playing before deciding wether the membership fee is to be justified.
Lets say you only play once a week and the green fee is $25 for the round. That means your golf is costing you $1300 annually. If the membership is $2K a year, its not making much sense to join on the strength of the golf alone. If you play at least twice a week though then you would be saving money and it would be wise to join the country club even if you were only going to use the golf facilities.
There are of course other privileges to becoming a member of your country club that should be considered such as spa, sauna and gym equipment available etc. Is there an in house league, competitions and other activities? Is there a thriving youth program for your youngsters to get involved with and anything your partner may be interested in if they don’t play golf?
There is also the status that comes with being a member of the local country club. Many a country club golf house is the hub of the local social calendar. It can be an important place to socialize and drum up business for your company and for your children to learn the correct etiquette. These are all things you will probably consider when deciding wether to become a full member or not.
Other benefits that might be on offer include member discounts in the pro shop(up to 20% at some clubs), preferred tee off times and discount green fees if you bring any none members to the club for a round of golf.
If you are new to the area you may wish to try several country clubs before deciding by taking out a monthly membership. Even if they do not advertise a one month membership, they can usually be negotiated.
You can buy property that is within the borders of many country clubs. These homes are usually (but not always) aimed at active retirement couples and usually come with country club golf membership already in the price of the property. One such club is the Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma. The community is gated for security and the championship golf course was recently redesigned by Tom Kites. Not a bad place to retire!
In Portugal and Spain these types of live in country club golf courses are extremely popular with people retiring early from countries in northern Europe. Many thousands have already taken the plunge and many more follow each year from countries like England where people come for the year long sunshine and of course, for the world class golf.
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