Good value membership in Melbourne.

[rodders]

Guys, does anyone know of a good value membership being offered by any sandbelt clubs? My research seems to suggest annuals $2500 -$3000.

The entrance fees are the expense.

Any secret deals out there?

Cheers.

[Moe Norman]

Peninsula, depending on your age is a deal that has to be seen to be believed.

[rodders]

Thanks Moe. Im an old bastard at 38 so no age deals.

Peninsula prob just a tad too far from home --essendon.

[Moe Norman]

every sandbelt club is a fair drive.

at 38, I think you'll find the waiting list is either closed or 10+ years at most

[chappy1970]

Rodders,
Enough of the old b@st@rd talk, I'm 38 too, but I've been a member of golf clubs for coming up to 25 years now. F%^k me, how much have I spent on subs

Have you looked at Kooringal, I have a few mates who are members there. Although they will struggle to alter the course due to property constraints, I understand it is an OK walk. And definitely closer than the recognised sandbelt courses.

There are options with several of the tier 2 sandbelt courses, like Keysborough, Patterson River, I know that Long Island have some deals on at the moment, but you will have to do some driving coming from Essendon.

There are definitely some options that wont require a $2.5K - $3K investment annually and fairly reasonable joining fees, but you will spend some time in the car getting to them.

I spoke to the GM at my home course (Southern) about membership for someone who was looking to join and they had a special on - half price joining fee, but you still wont get any change out of about $4K first year for a 7 day membership (inc joining fee).

FWIW

[Bruce]

Would you consider Sanctuary Lakes? I don't think they have any joining fees atm.

[rodders]

Thanks Guys.

Bruce - played Sanctuary Lakes first time a couple of weeks ago. Very nice course but not for me.

I live in Windy Hill so have easy (1min) access to Citylink - going south not an issue.

Chappy - Southern was one I was considering. Spring Valley is another - $3000 subs plus I think you can do a deal half price entrance for another $2000.

Do you know Chappy the breakdown for joining Southern?

[chappy1970]

Rodders,
I'll take you out there for a game in March if your interested?

Chappy

[aussiemuggolfer]

Why dont you try Northern in Glenroy. Nice an close to essendon. I was a member there
a number of years ago and my father has played there for over 30 years.
Lovely course and worth considering.

[rodders]

Thanks Chappy, may take you up on the generous offer. Hope my golf is good enough!

Aussie Northern is definately handy but I'm pretty worried about the course long term. I have been out there a few times and the fairways are starting to dry up - not a wonder given the weather.

I see on Northern's website thay have had to apply to the Water authority for an exemption to water greens and tees only. That has been granted to mid year. Not promsing.

[chappy1970]

Rodders,
Only good golfers being members of golf clubs is a fallacy, I have been a member of both Southern (14 years) and Kingswood (11 years) golf clubs over the last 25 years. In that time I have played with some of the biggest choppers to ever own a set of sticks.

You don't have to be good, you just have to enjoy it.

Chappy

[sms316]

Did Pyongyang ever overthrow the committee at Southern?

[chappy1970]

What the? SMS. Please explain.

I have seen him post here occasionally, but honestly I have no idea who he is and as such wouldn't know him if I ran into him

[Webster]

rodders,

You could consider Gisborne, which is about 30 minutes up the freeway from your place. The course is reasonable and memberships are cheap.

If you want to join a top tier sandbelt club you will have to pay a joing fee of $5-$10k, plus annual fees of up to $3k, but if you play regularly then its worth every penny. The waiting lists are a lot less than 10 as Thommo suggests, with the exception of perhaps RM and Vic. The second and third tier sandbelt clubs are cheaper, but much busier and do not have the financial stength of the top clubs. I susepct a few will merge over the next 5-10 years as they struggle to remain competitive.

People always complain about the cost of joining fees but it is a fact of life that you have to make a contribution to the "goodwill" of the club if you want to be part of somethign long term. A lot of clubs in the second/third tier have dropped or heavily reduced joing fees to get more members in the door, but at the long term expense to the club. A lack of joing fees means there is less incentive for members to remain members, therefore there is a constant search to replenish those who leave after a few years and so the cycle continues.

You could look at a tranferable membership at say Sandhurst or the National if you can handle the travel). The other option might be the new Sunshine golf club which has just relocated to the Derrimut site off the western ring road which I hear is an ok course and the club is quite financially solid.

There are lots of options available at the moment so take the time to check them all out.

Jack.

[rodders]

Jack, thank you for the excellent advice. I agree with what you say re the second tier clubs. Given the economic circumstances, I just cannot understand how thay all hope to survive especially with the water problem.

Joining a club would mean more than simply playing golf so being convenient not the driving force although I'd love it if a great course was down the road. Getting involved in a good club and networking (I own a small business!) is important to me.

What I want to avoid is joining a club that potentially has financial issues that would jeapardise it's existence in a few years.

Just on that point, Chappy - why the switch of clubs? Kingswood and Southern both look good. (feel free to ignore if it personal issue).

[Webster]

rodders,

It is very competitive amongst the second tier clubs for members (ie Southern, Keysborough, Kingswood, Long Island, Patterson River, Spring Valley, Rossdale etc etc) and all are located closely together. Southern and Spring Valley have both spend significant sums on clubhouse redevelopments over the past 5-7 years (in excess of $5m each - predominantly debt funded) and I would suspect it is a struggle for them to cover these costs. Given the decline in membership numbers, I would not expect all of them to continue in their current forms over the next 10 years, with possible mergers the likley end result. Keysborough, Long Island and Kingswood all have old clubhouses and facilities that will need to be updated soon to remain competitive in this market.

Choose carefully.

Jack.

[dan]

How many of the top and 2nd tier clubs in melbourne are water independent?