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Wow - this thread took a turn for the worse.

Anyway, I really liked the idea of buying coupon book and just playing from that. Or, four in your group; each person takes a turn picking a course for that week of the month and that person takes care of getting the tee time.

I had a similar situation about two years ago. Unfortunately our solution was to quick playing together. Two of us joined clubs, one of quit all together & the other just plays every now and then. We still try to get together once or twice and year and it it like we have not missed a beat; but it also really makes me miss our weekly rounds we use to have.

As another note, we don't have good muni's here (or even bad muni's for that matter); so if you want to pay less than $40 for a round, plan on taking a min of 5 hours (on a good day).

5 & 6 hour rounds? Wow! the longest I've played on Greenville's muni is about 3 and a half hours, sometimes 4. I guess my $12.00 round is better than i thought!

Where I live in Southern California, there's one municipal course in a reasonable distance. It's my home course that I grew up playing as a kid, played high school golf at for 4 years, and still play to this day. That being said, it's $48 bucks on the weekend with a cart, and over the past 15 years, the condition of the course has deteriorated considerably. It's still the cheapest public course within a 50 mile radius, but I don't enjoy playing there anymore. The greens are hairy, the traps are void of any sand, and 75% of the course is overwatered and soggy all year. I won't even get into the fact that they put out 5somes every 8 minutes, which is what contributes to the excruciatingly long play times.

I'm not a course snob...I like playing nice courses as much as any of you, and I don't mind spending some of my hard earned cash to play a nice course, but I AM a golf addict, which means I'll play anywhere and anytime I can.

I don't fully know the financial situation of my golfing buddies, but I do know that many have families and responsibilities that I do not, and some probably make less money than myself. This is the exact reason that I try to find places for all of us to play that won't break the bank for everyone. Sometimes I get irritated because I'm the one always trying to set up the tee times, but short of playing the same cheap course over and over, I can't always find courses that are less than $65 a round. Believe me, if they were out there, we'd be playing them.

I also like the coupon book suggestion...I'll look into that.

Thanks RIYL. I guess it's not all peaches & cream in SoCal. What you describe sounds terrible. No place I play is anywhere near what you describe in season. I play during the week at some premium places around here for < $50 including cart. My buddies and I are all in about the same boat from a golf/disposable income standpoint. As the "tee-time-setter-up guy", $40 is my threshhold. Anything over that and I have to ask them.

Get new friends?????? HA! I have a related question that I am curious about I live in a resort community with like 27 courses within 30 miles of my house, which is nice. In season, most courses here are aorund 80- 150 dollars. The question i have about cost is that this time of year we can play pretty much play anywhere for less than 30 dollars cause its the off season. Do oyther areas have off season bargains like this or am I just really lucky.

No problem...I didn't want people to think that the purpose of this thread was me saying "I want to play expensive courses, and why the heck can't my buddies come up with the cash to play them too".

In fact it was the exact opposite, as hopefully everyone can understand now. We have beautiful courses here in San Diego county that are a pleasure to play and in great condition. I'm a stone throw away from La Costa, Aviara, and Torrey Pines, world class courses. However we don't have many or any cheaper courses nearby that aren't run-down, and over crowded. Just to give you an idea, we have a new citi / municipal course being built in Carlsbad, Ca, but from what I hear, greenfees are going to be upward of $70. Pretty spendy for a citi course if you ask me, but from the looks of it, it's going to be a nice course.

This past summer in New York City I had the pleasure of enduring two 6 1/2 hour rounds (Marine Park (twilight) and LaTourette). Your 4-5 hour rounds sound sweet. The only time I get to play in under/around 4 hours is when the temps dip below 50.

The only time I get to play the nicer courses is when I play single. My golf buddies won't pay over $50 for anything and prefer to go out at twilight for 1/2 price. I just started playing 3 years ago so I wanted someone around to calm my nerves and to point out etiquette to me. Now that I am playing better I have no qualms about going out by myself and not dealing with the hassle of dealing with everyone's idiosyncrasies.

I feel so privileged after hearing about the prices in the rest of the country.

I am lucky. For less than $200 per month, I get unlimited golf on about 6 local courses. I have my choice of 4 or 5 others that run from $35 to $50 including the cart. We have a retirement community close by and if you will invest in a $500 building lot, you can be a member there for about $30 per month and then you have your choice of 8 nice resort courses for $12 to $17 per round including the cart.

Lots of good golf at fair prices. I feel so lucky.

When I lived in Hot Springs, we had the same kind of resort community close to there and I was a member. It was great to play pristine courses for $12 per round. Lots of times, I would have a morning foursome and afterwards drive to one of the other courses and tell the starter I was a single and looking for a group. Normally, withing 30 minutes, he would have me hooked up with a group going out. I met a lot of really nice people that way and it was cheap.

OT. How is OC holding up ? I spent some of the best times of my life there sleeping in my car with friends, chasing girls on the Boardwalk, etc. back in the 70s. Is Phillips Crab House still there ? Sorry for the threadjack, all.

We fortunately have a site around here that gives us pretty good deals in the area. My buddies and myself are kinda cheap and wont' play tracks more than $55 or so, but then again, there are a lot of nice courses to be played for $55 or less.

And I'm complaining about $36 here in North Georgia. I would join a club but I like playing different ones.One way to have a steady game is to get into some of the dogfights that the clubs put on.If your friends want to play then let them show up at one of the dogfights. I'll never complain about the prices here again. But I did see you southern California guys can play Torrey Pines for $42, so what if it's dark at 5 in the morning, I would be there. Have fun

i bought a membership this year. thats where i play.playing alone doesnt bother me. my friends all work different shifts.so its always a hassle. so we just go on the spur of the moment now and then. but i dont wait around for them.

Don't be jealous but I am blessed to be in an area where I have a choice of about five courses in the under $35 dollar range that are all pretty decent. You have two choices: Limited playing partners or playing at mainly one or two cheapest courses if you want company. If you give the job to someone else who is "cheap", they are going to choose the least expensive option. I for one like the comeraderie so even though we have multiple options we usually end up at the same course because it is not only cheap but uncrowded.

The Denver metro area has a wide range of courses, with many that can be walked for $35 and under. My home course is not highly thought of in most circles, which is just fine since it's already packed from 6:30 AM until about 1 PM on weekdays, then again from 3:30 PM to close. And forget Fridays and the weekends... if you didn't get a reservation at least 6 days ahead you're out of luck. $35 to walk 18, $49 to ride and that's the weekend rate. $29 to walk M-Th. The course is well maintained, fun to play, and can be punishing if you get a bit wild. Yesterday playing a match I had my worst 9 holes of the season with a 49 on the front (in the trees with no escape on 5 of 9 holes.. ), then did a reversal on the back (the harder of the 2 nines) with a 41. Silly game...


Anyway, I feel the OP's dilemma. You have balance cost with how often you want to play, and then factor in your friends.... If I had to do that every time I might never play.

Amazing post... and so frustrating.

Same situation. I am the tee time maker, Being a member of the club it cost me $17 to play(Cart fee, and mandatory on weekends), but my guests it costs $75. We play every weekend there and what I usually do is just split the cost with my buddies. Now, instead of it costing me $17, it cost me $60 per round. This year I want to cut out this extra cost to myself (I pay the yearly dues, they dont), but I dont even think my buddies know I have been doing this. Sure it saves them $15 bucks, but its costing me an additional $43 each round.

If anyone has any ideas on how to sprout this to my 3 buddies, Please let me know. I dont want to sound like a cheapskate, or a fool, but i think enough is enough. This has been going on for 3 years.

Again, Great topic... and I am sure their are tons of people in this situation.