Justifying the rising cost of golf club memberships

By now, you will either have had your annual subscription demand and paid it or will be waiting for it to arrive.

It is a subject that exercises the mind of every golf club member in the land. I do not know anybody who is happy to learn that, almost inevitably, their subscription will be increasing. 

My take on it is slightly different.

Why Are Golf Memberships Becoming More Expensive?

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

I would challenge you to tell me one thing in your life that has not increased in price over the past 12 months. Gas and electricity prices continue to soar, food prices go up, the price of alcohol, cigarette prices, the cost of fuel, taxes, council tax are all rising. On and on it goes. And, of course, wages and state pensions do not keep pace with these increases.

I cannot be the only one who looks at the so-called rate of inflation and comes to the conclusion that it bears little or no relation to reality.

So here is my question: if your golf club is also facing increases in gas and electricity prices, rising food and alcohol costs, spiralling business rates and suchlike, how on earth do you expect them to absorb those without passing them on to their members? If they maintain your fee then something is going to suffer. 

Remember that apart from all of the above, they also have substantial employment costs - greenkeepers, bar and kitchen staff, pro shop staff. And all of their wages will have risen.

This year looks like being an especially difficult one, with business rates for many golf clubs going through the roof.

According to The Golf Business, one golf hotel in south east England’s rateable value was £235,000 in 2023. However, this will go up to £625,000 this year. An 18-hole golf course with a driving range in south west England’s rateable value in 2023 was £40,000 but will be £98,000 from this year. One driving range in the south west will see its rateable value increase by more than 600 percent this year to nearly £100,000. The only way those sums can be recouped is surely through big rises in annual subscriptions.

What Some Golf Clubs Still Get Wrong

Where most of us have a problem with our golf clubs is when they tell us they are bumping our fees without any explanation whatsoever. 

If you are a regular reader of my missives you will know that golf club communication, or lack of it, is one of the issues that drives me to distraction. In today’s digital age, when almost all of us have access to email, there is absolutely no excuse for not keeping us all up to date. 

If your subscription is going up by, say, 10% then you have every right to know why because that is way above and beyond the rate of inflation.

As golfers, we all have something to saying about the course where we regularly play. I do not know a single golfer who is 100% satisfied with their course. Do you?

It might be the greens. It will almost certainly be the bunkers. It could be the condition of the ponds. It might be the condition of the rough or fairways. I have heard complaints about the state of the car park. And then there are range balls - please don’t get me started on range balls. I have never been able to fathom why a golf club would equip its driving range with state-of-the-art Trackman technology and fail to provide decent golf balls.

Another common complaint in this time of climate change is drainage - or lack of it. It is a fact that we are now seeing more rain, and that means we are having to spend more time playing this wonderful sport on saturated fairways, with mud everywhere. That means we are now also looking for decent shoe-cleaners, something that is sadly lacking at many golf courses.

If it is wet, the chances are that you are going to be told that you cannot use a buggy - does the pro shop hire trolleys fitted with winter wheels? Almost certainly not. Most of us really don’t want to carry our clubs, especially in wet conditions.

When Increased Prices Can Be Justified

If you expect your golf club to address any of these issues, how do you believe they are going to fund it? Yup, you guessed it. You and I are going to have to pay for it.

I believe that if clubs are honest with their members and tell them exactly where money is being spent then they will largely win support. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Many of us are prepared to splurge £500 on a new driver or £1,000+ on a set of irons. It strikes me that being asked to fork our around £1,200 for a year’s golf still represents pretty good value for money.