The financials of country clubs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where I live (outside of NYC) a ton of people belong to golf and swim clubs with initiation fees starting closer to $80K. Everyone I know who belongs to a club loves it - the swimming, the tennis, the golf. You've got to have a ton of disposable income to drop on that though. I would personally buy a second home and go on really nice vacations before joining a country club.

And you can go on that vacation or use that second home right away and not deal with a waitlist.

[Anonymous]

How much does Congressional or Bethesda CC cost?

[Anonymous]

IMO this is only worth it if the CC buys you something like important networking opportunities that will increase your real income (matters only in some professions), or substantially increases social capital for yourselves and children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would anyone be willing to share the initial fee and monthly charge for specific clubs? We live in Bethesda and I’m pretty sure we can’t afford it but our kids have been invited to swim or to birthday parties at several different clubs and I’m curious how much they cost.

Kenwood is about 40k for tennis only, 100k for golf and tennis IIRC. I don’t know what the monthly fees are but it’s really the big deposit that matters anyway bc you aren’t ever getting that back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much does Congressional or Bethesda CC cost?

Congressional is 125k initiation and the waitlist is around 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Opened this thread hoping it would
be an analysis of the finances of country clubs. THAT would be interesting!

There are no “financials” to this, OP—it is a consumer choice. Buy or don’t buy.

[Anonymous]

We joined and I'm glad we did. The initiation fee for social/tennis wasn't that bad (I think $13K) and the monthly fees are around $500. It's just nice to have an easy option. I can drop off my teen and her friend. They can play tennis, then go to the pool and get lunch. DH and I can easily go play tennis with DCs, unlike before when the park courts might be taken. It's made us play more often and that was one of the goals. We have a few neighborhood friends who are members so that obviously was a selling point. Having options for events is fun (trivia night, comedian, dueling pianos). The club is very family focused so more Easter egg hunts and brunch with Santa then fancy events.

It's worth it for us, but if the initiation fee were $100K, my answer would be different.

[Anonymous]

Washington Golf in North Arlington is over $100K for full golf membership. Waitlist is somewhere around 7 years long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opened this thread hoping it would
be an analysis of the finances of country clubs. THAT would be interesting!

There are no “financials” to this, OP—it is a consumer choice. Buy or don’t buy.

Yes, I was hoping for the same!

At the end of the day, it’s just your choice. Not a good investment for most folks (pp mentioned networking for a few professions). But who cares? I spend lots of money on eating at nice restaurants and buying gorgeous shoes. Both a waste of money, but we save well and it makes me happy.

[Anonymous]

Congressional is 125k initiation and the waitlist is around 10 years.

We joined Congressional in the past 5-7 years, and the wait is for full golfing only and was only two years from the time we joined. From applying until becoming members it was only a matter of months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We joined and I'm glad we did. The initiation fee for social/tennis wasn't that bad (I think $13K) and the monthly fees are around $500. It's just nice to have an easy option. I can drop off my teen and her friend. They can play tennis, then go to the pool and get lunch. DH and I can easily go play tennis with DCs, unlike before when the park courts might be taken. It's made us play more often and that was one of the goals. We have a few neighborhood friends who are members so that obviously was a selling point. Having options for events is fun (trivia night, comedian, dueling pianos). The club is very family focused so more Easter egg hunts and brunch with Santa then fancy events.

It's worth it for us, but if the initiation fee were $100K, my answer would be different.

Which club?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’ll never rationalize it. It’s a lifestyle choice. I don’t regret my decision for a money and our fees in DC are much higher.

Don’t join if spending $1,500 a month will stress you out.

It’s a luxury.

The most cost effective thing is to play at local munis.

This. we belong to two country clubs. Never intended that, it just happened. DH loves it. Kids love it. I'm learning

[Anonymous]

Of course everyone who has joined a club will say it was worth it to them, whether they believe that or not. They sunk a large chunk of money into something and they can’t get a refund so even if they did regret it, they can’t admit it to themselves.

That said we know lots of people that are not outwardly wealthy, but UMC, who join our local tennis/social club for the family events, swimming, etc and people love it. It’s the poor man’s club in our area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much does Congressional or Bethesda CC cost?

Congressional is 125k initiation and the waitlist is around 10 years.

Bethesda is $100K initiation and no waitlist. Kenwood is about $50K.

[Anonymous]

We belong to Springfield (initiation is up to $36k, not $25k as mentioned earlier.) Monthly dues are about $800 for a family.

We adore it and use it constantly. I was also hesitant, but my husband, kids, and I all golf. We each play in our respective golf leagues. The kids do swim team and do the summer camps. We now have a ton of friends there. We do many of the social events. We are literally there 2-3 days a week, plus six days in the summer for swimming.

We easily get our money out of it.

One other thing to consider: do they charge if you walk while golfing? Springfield, and most clubs, don’t charge when walking and using a push cart, and we’ve discovered we prefer walking. Spending $200 for a nice push cart saves a lot over time. (Not all courses are designed to be walkable, so pressure test this.) We save the golf carts for when it’s above 90 degrees or playing 18 with the kids. (The kids can walk nine.)

If you all golf and want to play often, it can be great! But, as mentioned above, it is a lifestyle choice.