Opinion & Analysis

The seasonal debate: Daily fee or join a club?

Published

5 years ago

Mar 23, 2021

Ryan Barath

Spring always brings a newfound hope for golfers, from new clubs to warmer weather, it’s prep time for the season.

This also means it’s decision time – join a club or pay as you play at daily-fee courses.

Daily-fee advantages

With daily-fee you can pick up and play where ever and whenever without feeling like you’re not getting your value by not “playing at the club”.
In many cases, it’s less cost intrusive to play with friends that aren’t members of the same club or course meaning you still get to play with your regular group.
Even though private courses are well known for being in great shape, with daily-fee you can always pick the courses that are in the best shape.
Thanks to more online booking, finding deals at great golf courses is easier than ever – although getting coveted early times might be a bit more difficult.

Private club advantages

With private clubs, you generally always have great access to tee times with many clubs completely working on a first come first serve in-person basis.
Based on the generally larger grounds budget, maintenance is a top priority at most clubs meaning you don’t have to call ahead to find out what kind of condition the course is in.
With a club environment, there are always various competitions taking place. From weekly events and game times to culminating championships, you can feed your competitive side.

With the options available where will you be choosing this year?

Related Topics:

Up Next

Ways to Win: Ball striking – Matt Jones tames the Bear Trap

Don't Miss

Measured Golf: It’s all about performance

Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

7 Comments

Nobody

Mar 24, 2021 at 4:34 am

The biggest problem with getting a membership is you play the same course every time. How is that not mentioned?

Reply Report comment
- tom
  
  Mar 24, 2021 at 6:09 am
  
  With a private club you have many reciprocal private clubs you can play… also a call from the head pro gets you on other private clubs when your club has a tournament etc..
  
  Reply Report comment
Dennis

Mar 24, 2021 at 12:55 am

Here in Germany a club with one 18-hole-course costs you around 1.200 Euros per year. Often you could get playing rights on partner clubs for a little extra fee. I got 4 courses all in 50-Minutes Driving Distance for 1.400 Euros per year. During Covid most clubs don’t allow non members to play. So if you want to play more than say 16 time a year its a no brainer.

Reply Report comment
- rob
  
  Mar 25, 2021 at 3:53 am
  
  Dennis, but in US you won’t find a private course for that amount of money…also the entry fees are more, much more…
  
  Reply Report comment
Divot Diggler

Mar 23, 2021 at 6:07 pm

If you place a premium on your time the club is the route to go.

Reply Report comment
A. Commoner

Mar 23, 2021 at 2:52 pm

The overwhelming factor, for me at least, is a want for governance by, for, and of members.

Reply Report comment
Mike

Mar 23, 2021 at 8:34 am

The biggest benefit to a private course is PACE OF PLAY! Public courses in my area are so busy that it is almost impossible to play a round under 4:30, with many rounds ending in the 5+ range. Since joining a private club almost 2 years ago, it is extremely rare for a round to go over 3:30 and I have never played a round over 4.

Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

7 days ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

Follow Club Junkie:
Instagram: @clubjunkiepod
TikTok: @clubjunkiepod
Threads: @clubjunkiepod
X: @ClubJunkiePod

Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.