Joining a new club

Hi Guys,

Just a post to see what you al feel is most important in being a member at club - The course or the people there?

The reason I ask is because the state of my course has recently fallen rapidly downhill as a result of vandals poisining the greens (mistake by greenkeepers depending on who you believe) and the course has been pretty much unplayable for the past 6 months (18 temps on times). The course at its best has been ranked top 50 in the UK for the past 10 years and is great. I havent played at all in the winter and had my renewal form through for membership and was shocked to see fees had gone up £50 for the year even through they have temp greens in play.

I am torn between cancelling my membership and joining somewhere else or staying put. The main reason for staying is because I have a load of good friends there and am worried that the club I am thinking of joining, may not have the same craic as my current one.

Would the craic in the clubhouse/on the course keep you a member at a course that was in poor condition?

Sounds to me like if you have a strong social side to the membership that you should organise a meeting between the members and the owners/committee whereby you should demand a reduction in your annual subs because of the lack of ability to actually play the course!?!

As important as a strong and friendly membership is, it is more like a social club if the course is unplayable and you would certainly not pay golf club memberships at your average social club. Out of interest, which course do you play at?

I was (still am) a member at Pennard just outside Swansea. Have 2 weeks to make a decision

May even take a year out of the game but dont want to lose my active handicap.

For me, the course comes first then the craic. However, pretty much all golfers have similar interests etc and it should be pretty easy within a membership of 600+ people to find a group you get on with and can have a laugh.

If your course is going seriously downhill and there are decent alternatives nearby then personally, I'd be tempted to move.

And yes, which club do you play at?

Pennard, nice track. What are your options in that area? I've played Pennard but can't remember exactly which other courses are nearby. What about Machynys? That is a really nice track, is it handy for where you live?

Machynys is not really a members club, morr of a resort kind of place but a decent track. Looking at Ashburnham which again is a links course and they have a really good offer on at the mo £350 for April to October which suits me fine considering I don't play at all in the winter

Ashburnam it is then! Another very good track, I'd bite their hand off

cashy, bail out if your course is going backwards, because I expect that the finance issue could be deeper. If the course isn't maintained well, it means either they've downsized the greenkeeping staff, or not bought the stuff they needed, or bought cheaper products etc. Either way it means financial woes, or a greedy owner. Would hate it if I shelled out a few hundred quid for the sub's, only to find out that my hard earned had paid the bills for them leaving the cupboard bare.

Appreciate the social side is good, but once people start walking, they tend to walk in crowds. It may be worth getting this message over to the powers that be, telling them about your concerns. They will brick it if they think people are thinking about jumping ship.

Stick with the club you are at.

Being a member of club where you don't know people is hard work, and even harder if the people aren't of similar background to yourself.

If you know another club where the people are good, and you think you'll fit in, but I'd never consider jumping clubs to somewhere either unknown or somewhere you suspect you won't fit in.