I generally play at a good municipal or nearby public course. My green fees rarely exceed $40, even for weekend play. Watching the tee time booking sites such as GolfNow can also reduce the cost of the game as far as green fees. Most courses have email mailing lists which let golfers know of reduced green fees and other specials. If you watch and pay attention, finding a course to play that is fun can challenging can be very reasonable.
By the way, not all golfers play at private country clubs. Speaking of country clubs, membership pricing can vary as well depending on the membership you want. Yes, this is the "high end" of the spectrum as far as play is concerned but even this varies. Shinnecock Hills in the New York area carries a higher cost of membership than does Merced Country Club in Merced, California. There is no way I can afford The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California but I can almost swing Belmont Country Club in Fresno, California. Location is very important and private clubs do have different membership plans should that be your choice.
For the longest time when it was just me playing golf in my family, I was very happy playing the local muni. It is a great track and very challenging test of golf which given the amount of play it gets it is always in great shape. My daughter took up the game as did my son and it became cheaper to join a local semi-private course. For me, given the costs involved it was more cost effective to join the semi-private club. This was a matter of choice and not a matter of status. As far as the quality of golf and the service, if it was just me playing I would have been very happy to have stayed at the muni.
Variety is also the spice of life. As a golfer I have played a lot of courses, from the very inexpensive to the very cheap. Each was an enjoyable experience mostly. Yes, I admit to playing Trump National Los Angeles--OK, I admit to cheating on that one because the round was comped and I was on assignment with a golf magazine--but I have also played Fresno Airways which is an inexpensive muni. Each course I play has it's own quirks, character and charm and although some were designed by the same designer they are all different as well as unique. They don't have to be expensive either.
I am very fortunate to live in a part of California that is rich in golf courses. There are several fine courses within forty five minutes to an hour from my home and the Monterey area is only two hours away. Yes, I do take that two hour drive maybe twice a year to enjoy the courses in the Monterey area. I can't affort the $600 green fee at Pebble and there is no twilight rate. However, I can play either Bayonet or Blackhorse for around $70 during the week, and they occasionally run a special. If that is too rich for my blood, I go to "The Poor Man's Pebble Beach" and that is Pacific Grove which sits directly on the ocean and green fees are below $60 with cart even on the weekends. If I am still in a budget crunch and want to play in Monterey, I play Monterey Pines which is a wonderful course that is always in excellent shape and the green fees are generally under $40 even on weekends. Pacific Grove and Monterey Pines do have twilight rates which makes the courses even more affordable.
The bottom line is that the golfer can choose how expensive or how thrifty they want to be as to the green fee. There are some great courses out there with a whole spectrum of green fees from the extremely expensive to the downright cheap. By the way, some of those "cheap" courses can be as exciting, fun and beautiful as the expensive ones so please keep that in mind as well. The options are endless and can range from Fiat to Ferrari. I'm kind of a Chevrolet man myself.
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| Paso Robles Golf Course has some great holes like this par 3. It is an inexpensive course and fun to play. |
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