When Are Rising Golf Membership Fees Justified

AS CLUB golfers we all have many bugbears. It can be pace of play, greens, state of out fairways, length of the rough, inability to get the tee times we want and even the handicap system.

But the one thing that seems to exercise the minds of us all is the price we pay for memberships. And every single year, without fail, they increase. We know that there are some clubs that didn't increase their annual subscriptions in 2025 but those are few and far between.

So the question is: when can those increases be justified, and just what constitutes a fair increase?

I have to holds my hands up here and now admit that I start from what I consider to be a position of strength. I am a member at Dunston Hall Golf Club on the outskirts of Norwich and pay around £900 a year for the privilege. And yes, my fees increased in April. I pay monthly and my increased amounted to around £4 a month. I think you will agree that this represents superb value for money. And the increase came with an email that told us why it was happening and what work would be carried out on the course throughout the year.

Dunston is a hotel course. I know that some people steer clear of courses with a hotel attached but I am pretty pragmatic about it all. The way that I look at it is that those hotel guests who also take advantage of our course are the very individuals who keep our annual subscription as low as it is. Yes, there can be problems getting a tee-time on a Monday morning but I am retired so I have the rest of the week to play.

I have a friend who is a member of another hotel course and pays around £1,500 a year for his golf - that is not far short of twice the sum I have to fork out. The beer prices in his clubhouse are also much higher than I pay, even with his member’s discount.

And although he receives regular clubs emails he has never received one telling him why his fees increase. In this day and age, I simply do not understand that. As club golfers, we all have choices and that means we can move to other clubs.

I also know of another hotel course in Norfolk that is in serious danger of losing a huge number of its members because they feel that they and their money are taken for granted. There is no proper pro shop, they can never be sure when their clubhouse bar is going to be open - and they pay a great deal more than I do.

I think it is fair to say that most of us will accept a rise that is in line with the rate of inflation. Golf clubs, like the rest of us, face ever-increasing costs and have to find a way to balance the books.

I recently played at Balfron, near Stirling, where a new clubhouse is being built at a small golf club that only charges it members around £450 a year but still makes a profit. I was surprised to learn that said clubhouse will not have a bar. The reason is that the drink-drive laws in Scotland are far stricter than elsewhere in the UK so most golfers do not have a pint after their round. By not having a bar it means that the club does not have to apply for a drinks licence and buy in huge amounts of alcohol that they are unlikely to sell.

I believe there is a sense among most golfers that many clubs are simply greedy, trying to take advantage of the ongoing boom within our sport. If you are a regular reader then you will know that I hate the entire concept of joining fees, especially among clubs who only introduced it since Covid.

Managers of clubs that struggle to make money need to look at the way they run those clubs.

As I recorded earlier, sit in a clubhouse and you will hear golfers moaning about greens and bunkers, maybe the state of ponds, tees and fairways.

My club constructed two new tees over the winter and also put in a monumental effort to repair a worn footpath around the 10th and 11th holes. We could see with our own eyes where the money was being spent.

This year we have seen trees being felled while others have been pruned back. After a recent torrential thunderstorm left many of our bunkers unfit for play the greenskeepers were out in force to repair them. While doing this, they also took the opportunity to replace some of the sand that most of us had been complaining about. Don’t get me wrong - I am not saying everything is perfect. But we can see where our money is being spent.

The management know that if they are to continue to attract groups for golf weekends then they must keep on top of the course. As golfers we vote with our feet - you will only visit a poor course once. Not only that, but you will tell everybody within your circle to avoid those courses. Conversely, if you have a good experience, you will return and you will encourage others to do the same.

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