The questions worth asking on a club tour
Membership directors are salespeople with a good product. These are the questions that produce information rather than enthusiasm.
A membership director's job is to sell you a membership, and at a good club that is an easy job honestly done. These questions are not adversarial — they are the ones whose answers are hard to reconstruct later.
On cost
- What is the total of everything due in the first twelve months, including the food minimum?
- Has there been a capital assessment in the last five years? Is one being discussed now?
- What happens to my initiation if I resign in three years?
- Is there a waiting list to resign? (This one surprises people. At some clubs you continue paying dues until your membership is reissued.)
On access
- What time do Saturday tee times open, and what time do they go?
- How many days ahead can I book?
- How often is the course closed for member events or outside play?
- How many guests can I bring, how often, and at what cost?
On the golf
- When was the course last renovated, by whom, and what was changed?
- What is the maintenance calendar — when are greens punched?
- Is the practice facility open year-round?
On the club
- What is the age profile of the membership? Where are new members coming from?
- What is the current roster size and what is the cap?
- How long has the general manager been here? The superintendent? The head professional?
Staff tenure is one of the most informative questions on this list and almost nobody asks it. Long tenure in those three roles usually means a stable board and a club that is pleasant to work for — which members feel in the service every day.
On what is coming
- What is the capital plan for the next five years?
- What has the board changed in the last two years?
- Is the membership growing, flat or shrinking?
After the tour
Ask for the fee schedule in writing. If the answer is that the club does not put it in writing, that is itself informative, and worth weighing against clubs that will.