Country Club for Normies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some World Bank/IMF friends that belong to Bretton Woods. It's a lot more affordable and down-to-earth.

Of course, there's also restrictions on membership:

https://www.bwrc.org/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?DN=MEMCAT

You have to be IMF, IDB or World Bank employee. But every so often they open it up to others.

Also origin of Bretton Woods is that IMF started their own club when international employees and people of color were not being allowed to join other country clubs in the area

The irony and now they exclude others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some World Bank/IMF friends that belong to Bretton Woods. It's a lot more affordable and down-to-earth.

Of course, there's also restrictions on membership:

https://www.bwrc.org/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?DN=MEMCAT

You have to be IMF, IDB or World Bank employee. But every so often they open it up to others.

Also origin of Bretton Woods is that IMF started their own club when international employees and people of color were not being allowed to join other country clubs in the area

The irony and now they exclude others.

Not exclusion in the same sense. They exclude if you’re not an employee of the organization that created it. It has nothing to do with race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP wants to be a country club elitist that locks out the hoi polloi, but wants it cheap.

I mean it’s quite literally the purpose of a country club. Everyone wants nice things but nice things only stay nice when poor people can’t afford it.

No, lol.

Golf is the purpose.

No, lol.

Please explain the abundance of social, swim, and non-golf memberships. Quite literally no golf.

If it was for golf, why are there no (or only few) public courses and charging premium fees to attract the most customers and make the most revenue.

Exclusivity is the point of country clubs, and arguing otherwise is either done in bad faith or by a naive fool.

Golf courses ar PE expensive to maintain. That’s why there are very few public courses.

Plus we don’t like the poors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about this. But I do know that several years ago we looked at houses in places like Belmont Country club, in Ashburn, which was very nice, and there were full golf/tennis/club memberships available for residents at a rate I thought was pretty good all things considered.

And across Rt 7 there's also Lansdowne Resort. I had a friend who lived in DC who joined one of those two; I forget which one, but both were accepting outside members at that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Country clubs are really expensive to maintain. That’s why they’re expensive. It’s not a snob fee.

True and unless you are playing a lot of golf (much of the cost is for the golf) then you are subsidizing the club for others. You have to use it a lot to make it worth it unless you join a less expensive one.

Is Bethesda really only 1000 per month? How much is initiation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Country clubs are really expensive to maintain. That’s why they’re expensive. It’s not a snob fee.

True and unless you are playing a lot of golf (much of the cost is for the golf) then you are subsidizing the club for others. You have to use it a lot to make it worth it unless you join a less expensive one.

Is Bethesda really only 1000 per month? How much is initiation?

Reddit says $180,000.

[Anonymous]

Rec centers, sweetheart.

[Anonymous]

The answer is the Y.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this exist? I am looking for a private place to play golf, hang out by a pool, and enjoy a burger with my family that doesn't have a ten year wait list, $100k buy-in, and the stigma and elitism that ooze out of places like CCC, Congressional, etc.

Don't get me wrong - I am not of the socioeconomic ilk to be a candidate for places like the above even if I wanted that kind of elite experience. We're just a golf family with little kids who love a good summer hang. Right now we patch together our golf/pool time with a couple of memberships to affordable, very modest private clubs in the area (shout out Old Soldiers Home golf course!) The question I'm raising here is whether there are places in the area that combine the two, without the huge down payment and social associations of the top end country clubs in town.

Country clubs are not for your demographic.

[Anonymous]

Move to gated golf community... and pay your HOA dues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this exist? I am looking for a private place to play golf, hang out by a pool, and enjoy a burger with my family that doesn't have a ten year wait list, $100k buy-in, and the stigma and elitism that ooze out of places like CCC, Congressional, etc.

Don't get me wrong - I am not of the socioeconomic ilk to be a candidate for places like the above even if I wanted that kind of elite experience. We're just a golf family with little kids who love a good summer hang. Right now we patch together our golf/pool time with a couple of memberships to affordable, very modest private clubs in the area (shout out Old Soldiers Home golf course!) The question I'm raising here is whether there are places in the area that combine the two, without the huge down payment and social associations of the top end country clubs in town.

Country clubs are not for your demographic.

That's not true, but she needs to be in the suburbs or a smaller town. My CC is in the suburbs and checks all of OPs boxes, or at least it did pre-covid when the initiation fee was lower. It's very family focused, with plenty of events aimed at kids. There's definitely a market for what OP wants. Chantilly National, for example, is part of a group of clubs so you can access the others while you travel. I think that must keep the costs down, because someone told me their initiation fee was $5K, but I don't know if that's for golf or just social.

But none of that helps OP since she's not going to Chantilly on the regular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP wants to be a country club elitist that locks out the hoi polloi, but wants it cheap.

I mean it’s quite literally the purpose of a country club. Everyone wants nice things but nice things only stay nice when poor people can’t afford it.

No, lol.

Golf is the purpose.

No, lol.

Please explain the abundance of social, swim, and non-golf memberships. Quite literally no golf.

If it was for golf, why are there no (or only few) public courses and charging premium fees to attract the most customers and make the most revenue.

Exclusivity is the point of country clubs, and arguing otherwise is either done in bad faith or by a naive fool.

I don’t think those memberships are abundant. They’re more for like, if someone is a widow and wants to keep coming to the club or I don’t even know what. I don’t know any families at Kenwood for example without at least one family member who golfs or plays tennis, usually both. Because if you just want a pool and a gym, you can get one for like 1/10th the cost.

I mean maybe someone with a lot of money who lives really close would join just for the pool, but it wouldn’t be any fancier than a different private pool they can join. Probably less!

[Anonymous]

I came on here to say, aren’t country clubs the very definition of catering to “normies”?
But OP means middle class people.
OP, your problem is that you live in NE DC but aren’t rich. You might have to move to further out suburbs to get what you are looking for.

Or, just join a swim and tennis club and go somewhere else to play golf.