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Public or Private
For Central Oregon golfers, there's great daily fee courses, but belonging to a private course is no longer unattainable
By Zack Hall / The Bulletin
Published: January 30. 2008 4:00AM PST
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Pronghorn Club is the most expensive of the private golf courses in the area, and there are lots of options if you want to belong to one of them.
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Private country clubs aren’t just for golfers in bad pants anymore.
In fact, the barriers to entry at some private clubs are far fewer than what many might expect, though the price can still be prohibitive for many (golf writers included).
But because access to most private clubs is much easier to obtain — especially in middle-tier private clubs such as Bend Golf and Country Club, Awbrey Glen Golf Club or Broken Top Club — than to, say, the invite-only Augusta National Golf Club, the option of private golf is worth considering.
Central Oregon is fortunate to have more than its fair share of acclaimed golf courses, both private and daily fee golf courses (privately run golf courses that are open to the public).
But those golfers who play daily fee courses often wonder what happens inside the gilded gates of these private golf courses.
Golf is the main draw for most private club members. But if golf was the only attraction, then the price difference between private and daily fee courses wouldn’t make a lot of sense to most.
But many private clubs also offer swimming, child care, athletic facilities and, most importantly, social events for their members.
Whether the offerings are worth the cost depends, of course, on the financial means of each golfer, how many rounds that golfer expects to play, and whether the social events are an attraction.
“If you just add dollars to dollars, comparing playing golf at a private club and the dues, it’s probably not going to be the same (as the less-expensive daily fee courses),” says Tim Fraley, head professional at Awbrey Glen. “When you get into a private club, you’re paying for the extra service and attention that you usually see in a private golf club as opposed to maybe a daily fee. There are benefits such as all the member functions (including bridge clubs and member dinners), a dining room, all the golf events (such as special tournament coinciding with PGA Tour majors, weekly tournaments or member-guest tournaments) or any of the social events where the facility is closed specifically for that event.”
How much to join?
Like most public golf courses, private golf clubs come in many sizes and price ranges.
Awbrey Glen’s initiation fee, for example, is $8,500, and the monthly dues run about $370 per month, says Mark Amberson, the club’s general manager.
Membership at the nine-hole Prineville Golf and Country Club is even more affordable, running as low as $87 per month for a local, with no initiation fee.
On the other hand, Bend’s 36-hole Pronghorn Club requires the purchase of a residence at Pronghorn (fractional-ownership residences start at around $200,000) to become a member at the golf club.
That leaves an option for most income brackets that are already able to afford an expensive game, especially in Central Oregon, where upper-crust daily fee courses such as the Sunriver Resort’s Meadows and Woodlands run $135 for a round during the peak season.
One advantage is that, generally, private courses host fewer golf rounds per day than the average daily fee course, as anybody who has slogged through a five-hour round on a busy daily fee course during summer could attest.
Plus, members usually have the ability to walk on to the course unannounced, grab a golf cart and go.
“There are going to be fewer tee times, and no tee times are required,” says Zach Swoffer, head pro at Powell Butte’s Brasada Canyons Golf Course, which charges $25,000 for a full golf membership after a prospective member has purchased property at Brasada.
“You can just show up and hit the tee, and with that comes a quicker speed of play,” Swoffer says. “The average (for a round of golf in Central Oregon) is probably 4½ hours to 4:45. We are probably closer to four hours, just because of lack of play. Most importantly for the player is that this is their home. There is more of a relaxed feeling and a sense of community and security.”
Each private club’s pricing is different. For instance, Awbrey Glen is technically a nonequity membership, though it does offer a partial refund of membership fees for those who no longer want to be members. Other clubs, such as Broken Top and Bend Golf and Country Club, offer equity memberships, which are typically more expensive but come with partial ownership of the club itself. Bend G&CC, in fact, offers both types of memberships.
Most private clubs also charge monthly dues, and some have monthly minimums on what a member must spend on food at the club or at the golf shop.
It can get expensive, but private clubs do typically offer more to a round of golf than one would ever find at a public course.
Amberson says customer service, accessibility, youth and adult programs, a sense of belonging, social events and activities are what set private clubs apart from daily fee courses.
“The staff gets to know you,” Amberson says. “They know your likes and they know your dislikes. They know that you want your golf bag loaded on a cart like this, with a wet towel (already with) the cart. That’s the one-on-one that you get at a private facility that you don’t get at a public facility.”
Says Brasada’s Swoffer: “For all of us, whether it is Bend, here, Pronghorn, whichever, I think social aspects is usually the No. 1 reason.”
Should you join?
If a golfer can meet the financial obligations associated with joining a private club, then the obvious question becomes: Is it worth it? That, of course, depends on the golfer. Golf lovers who don’t want or need all the social elements of a private club may prefer to stick with the daily fee tracks in the area.
Pat Huffer, the head pro at Crooked River Ranch — which offers annual memberships for as low as $475 for Crooked River Ranch property owners but is a daily fee course — offers some advice to help decide.
Those who can afford to join a private club — but whose entire golf budget would be eaten up by the costs associated with joining — should be particularly careful in going private, Huffer says.
“For me, it comes down to the ability to travel and the desire to play a variety of golf courses versus playing one facility all the time,” he says. “If you do have the ability, it’s nice to get the kids involved in a private membership atmosphere, because most of the clubs will have a junior golf program. It’s a matter of preference, and economics play a big part.”
Thankfully, the decision to join a club permanently does not necessarily mean a huge buy-in to decide. In Central Oregon, private clubs such as Broken Top and Awbrey Glen offer short-term preview memberships that allow prospective members to join for the cost of the regular monthly dues while deciding if the club is right for them.
Golfers who decide to stay with the club past the initial term would then pay the required initiation fee.
“If you are going to buy a new car, you want to test-drive it. That’s what a preview membership does,” says Amberson. “Ten years ago the industry hadn’t even thought of preview memberships. Thirty years ago they just shot you if you brought it up. (It was a) ‘If they can’t afford to join us, we don’t want them here,’ kind of mentality. But a preview membership is a helluva smart way to go.”
Fraley says if you choose to go private, you want to choose a club in which you feel comfortable with the existing members. It also should have the amenities that you want, and a golf course that has enough variety that you won’t feel bored playing it over and over again.
“They should be looking for a place that they can call home, a place they can feel comfortable to go to day in and day out and enjoy all the amenities offered without any hesitation,” Fraley says. “It needs to be a place that they can go to and enjoy, have fun, go home at the end of the day and sit back, read the (news)paper and say, ‘Man, that was a good day.’ ”
And if you don’t find the right club for you or decide that private clubs simply aren’t for you, well, there are plenty of daily fee courses to keep you occupied throughout the summer.
“I imagine there are some (golfers) that don’t want to be a part of private clubs,” Swoffer says. “There is definitely a lot of benefits to both (private and daily fee courses).
“Honestly, Central Oregon is pretty unique because there are so many golf courses. There are, say, 150,000 people in Central Oregon, and you’ve got what? Thirty golf courses. So you know what? It’s not a bad deal just to get up each Saturday morning and play a different golf course for a fraction of the cost. There are a lot of options there.”
Zack Hall can be reached at 617-7868 or at zhall@bendbulletin.com.
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