True or False: Golf is NOT EXPENSIVE?
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Gents, if you start a conversation about the rising cost of golf with both of you saying, "How much does a round of golf even cost these days? I don't know; I need to look it up," it's a pretty big sign you aren't qualified to say that golf is inexpensive. You get so much free gear and greens fees that you literally have no idea how much it costs just to play a round. Golf is unequivocally expensive. It's just up to the person to decide if the cost is worth it for them.
Guy, I think you are missing the point. The normal, everyday, hardworking person simply can't afford golf anymore. I have a 20-year hand me down set of clubs and could not afford new ones. I can realistically play twice a year due to the green fees. Mortgages, car payments, food, clothes for my family, rising costs of everything. I think you are a bit spoiled when it comes to golf, so please, do not insult the blue collar workers who never get a chance to play, even though we want to.
Says the guy lol who 3 putts the first green in lates video and runs to the car to get a different putter. Must be nice to get free equipment and say golf is inexpensive.
How much are green fees where you live?
@@Charlie_Nice That is far and away the cheapest membership I have ever head of.
@@Charlie_Nice 700 a year for all the golf you want?!!!
JESUS! I pay more than half that where I live, for ONE MONTH and ONE COURSE. And then you have to pay a caddy.
@@Charlie_Nice Oh, I am envious!
I think you missed the point. It's not the gear. The price for equipment is up to you and what you want to spend but the price to actually play golf is going up. The average price to play a round or get a membership is more than it is to play any other sport
Racing is expensive
ice hockey is even more.
Did you support lockdowns?
Green fees have drastically gone up. And it's a shame
So true. What I paid at my local courses 25$ the last two years have went up to 38$ now. Doesn’t seem like much but when you play 3-4 times a week it adds up fast 😒😒
Courses are expensive to maintain. Especially in places where water is at a premium. I’ve been complaining that golf SHOULD be more expensive for years. With the wave of CZcams golf and it’s increased popularity, getting a tee time now is near impossible in high demand areas. Combined playing public courses behind slow and new players, the quality of the experience has declined.
Long story short, I think it depends and is not an easy thing to find a solution to.
@@Jayt4112 if you’re playing that often, have you looked into courses that offer memberships? The club I play at may seem expensive on its face, but when you consider I play four to five times per week, all year long, I’m probably paying $10-$15 per round.
@@Jayt4112 I can’t edit my comments on iPad for some reason, but I did the math wrong, it’s closer to $20 per round. But still about half of what you’re paying.
If you understood the enormous cost to make a golf course just playable (not immaculate), you would be shocked.
Talking about how expensive golf is or isn’t after releasing £200 pair of RS golf shoes, £50 head covers etc
The irony 🤣
You make a fair point
Totally a fair point, but I think that’s what they’re saying. If the consumer drives demand, the prices go up. The average golfer doesn’t have to pay those prices to get those items. But if you want to flex on the course that you’re an RS fan, you do spend egregious prices to do so. Golf is expensive based on consumer choice.
Take advantage of the mugs why not
I am ok with the gear its the green fees and price of practice, I used to play to a single figure handicap 15 years ago, I used to pay £2.70 for a bucket of balls at the range and £200 to be a member of the 9 hole course so I could go 3 or 4 times a week and keep my standard up, would play once or twice a month at a "proper" 18 hole course for £16-£18 with my mate who was a member. I am just trying to get back into it but find the only range in my area is now £8 for a bucket, the 9 hole course has gone and cheapest green fee is £34! There is no way I can afford to play at these costs!
£8 is outrageous
Did u support lockdowns
Its not just the equipment. Very average golf courses cost £30-40 to play, a good one is £60 plus, the best ones are way north of £100. If you want to play twice a month at a decent course it costs a fortune. Just because golf overall is not as expensive as it once was, that doesn't mean it isn't still expensive. The Internet has brought costs down in some aspects but on the whole it is still a very expensive sport
If you’re in the uk, value comes from membership. If you’re only playing a few times a year then obviously green fees are the only option. My average cost per round as a member of a decent private club amounts to less than £1 a round.
@@jonathanh9592 You manage to play more than a thousand times a year? There isn't a single club local to me that would charge me less than £1000 for a years membership and most are closer to £1500. By local I mean within 20 miles, so I'm not limiting myself to walking distance. So for someone who can only play 2, maybe 3, times a month if I'm lucky for 8 months of the year if the weather is OK, there isn't any chance a membership is even close to being worth it. I still have to pay upwords of £30 for a round, which is not what I would call cheap, even though that is at the lower end of the spectrum. I earn a very good wage, and there is no way I would ever, ever, consider saying golf is anything other than a very expensive hobby.
where I play, the public ones are waaaaaaaaay north of 100 on the weekends.
I can only play on week days, really early, and pay around 80 usd
@jonathanh9592 that's fair enough but it's not always possible to play weekly, courses were closed for 3 or 4 months this year. I definitely think it has become more accessible and it isn't as expensive as 5-10 years ago, there were no cheap shoes etc. I do still believe it fits into the "expensive" category for sports
@jonathanh9592 also those maths can't be right? A private course membership will be around £1000 a year minimum. I dont think you are playing 1000 times a year
The gear is fine cost wise...so many second hand clubs available so that's not the issue I don't think...it's the green fees....£30 an average round mid week...£50 on a weekend... Play 3/4 times a month and it's alot. People say get a membership but that's £75 a month and in the UK the courses are crap 4 months out of the year. Personally for me it's the green fees that hurt.
More like 6 months these days
In the US, most membership fees for decent courses are insane
Now think about it, prices are that high, so many people play the sport despite that and yet the profitability for golf courses is very poor compared to anything else that uses that much land. These things are just very expensive to run and the opportunity cost is massive for the owners.
4 months!?? Try 6/7! Good comments, spot on
Some of those green fees are eye waveringly expensive! 🫣
It's entirely subjective. For people on an average salary then green fees are crazy.
Guy: in my opinion it’s not too expensive
Guy 3 mins later: idk how much golf cost
…. Uh ok
Exactly, Guy shouldn't even have an opinion on this topic when he either gets to play for free because he's a YT golfer or Rick pays his green fees, totally out of touch.
totally depends on your location/country, and expectations... Here in Germany, we don't have 'public cheaper option' golf clubs as in the UK or US. I play with a cheap 250€ set and buy clothing on sale. What drives the prices up in my area are the gas/car prices to get to a golf course (generally further away and outside of cities) and the membership/greenfees in my area (+20% in 2 years)
In Canada the cheapest membership I can get costs around $1500 CAD (£875) and the average price is around $2500 CAD (£1460). An average green fee is about $70 CAD (£40). And I can only play 6 months of the year… so this is a pretty short sided take from people who don’t have to pay to play golf
The reason it is seen as expensive is the snobbery of the game. These courses knowingly have their green fees so high that normal working class people can not play them without some major saving or simply to justify that cost. If a Muni can charge £30 for a round and still make profit and have the course to a good standard, how can Royal Lytham £320 for a round (and just because its been played as an Open event does not justify this cost at all) they would still make profit charging £100. Yes we can all play with a half decent set and play the local Muni within a budget. But unless they take the snobbery out of the game it will always be perceived as a Toffs sport. You can here it in some of the commentary, you see it in the dress codes.
Hear hear buddy killing the game 👍
They don't really want people on these prestigious courses but if someone is silly enough to pay it they can lol!
Exactly, it's a fun game but unfortunately the snobs don't want to be seen to associate with the riff raff so you get these massive discrepancies. Even then £100 for a round is still a high price for the average person.
The price is dictated by how many are willing to pay. Golf has gotten expensive because there’s people that are willing to pay for $600 drivers or $300 green fees.
so guy you don't think that £500 for a driver just 1 club out of the 14 isn't expensive? what planet do you live on
I assume you didn't watch the video? He literally says that the new gear is extremely expensive and has gone up in price, but you don't NEED to buy new clubs to play golf.
@@780Chris yeah and what did he say right at the start that golf is not expensive so he contradicted himself and yes I did watch the video
I’m not worried about gear. Gear is cheap. Green fees and practice balls are wildly expensive
Green fees are getting more expensive because the cost to just maintain a golf courses, let alone make it immaculate is ridiculously crazy. Chemicals crucial to it and just the sand we need to fill divots have doubled in price so the short fall has to come from somewhere
On the topic of Green fees (All this is based on the UK averages), The running /maintenance cost of the average golf course is about £15,000 a week, when you consider a typical golf club has about 300 members all paying their members ship fees which average about £900 per year that counts for about £5k per week so the average course needs to find at least £10k a week to break even, sounds like a lot but even with a £30 green fee they only need 330 visitors per week and many course will get double or even triple that amount, especially in the summer so these course that charge more are making substantial profits.
I think it's too expensive.
I work at a TPC track here in the US and we charge close to $300 for a morning tee time. About $200 for afternoon and we still get more play than expected.
Sounds like there wealthy people who play there keeping the ordinary people away with those prices that's deliberate
"Golf is as expensive as you want it to be."
Well I want it at £20 per round max!! I'll ask them to read your comment and reduce their green fees!!
The guy that thinks golf isn't expensive doesn't know that green fees, membership and driving range costs have gone up.
It's not just demand that caused an increase but also energy/ cost of everything.
Golf has gotten more expensive with inflation. The reason it's becoming a problem is because People's salaries haven't increased at the same rate.
Also, I got a set of Takomo 101t irons completely customized for less than $500.
I just bought a golf sim because golf is so expensive here. So now I can practice daily, play virtual courses, improve my game, 3-4 times a month play in a real golf course.
Not a joke, I can get a very good simulator if I don't play golf in 1 month. so yeah... worth it.
its the club membership fees that are getting too much along with green fees. Some clubs want an additional joining fee on top of an annual membership which is way beyond covering any additional admin costs
As a CZcamsr with 2.5 million followers things aren’t expensive. As a 71 year old on a state pension only please try an episode at £580 per month
True…and Guy unaware if green fees having increased?…he must get free rounds at these places.
@@chr970 They surely get free rounds. And they are surely doing well economically. I think Guy is a bit out of touch and generalizing a lot. Guy, come play in Mexico, no invites. Full pay, then let's have this discussion again!
I'd have to disagree with the guys. Golf is still extremely expensive. I live is Asia, and all courses have compulsory carts, caddy fee and you are required to tip.
Also, there isn't the same options when is comes to second hand equipment, and here in Vietnam all new equipment comes at a considerable mark-up.
Green fees are the problem. Way to expensive, and every course wants to be luxury and charge luxury prices.
Just asking, but when was the last time Guy paid green fees? I assume the rounds you play are either complimentary or Rick pays. Nothing wrong with that but it might leave one out of the loop as far as costs are concerned.
I started 2 years ago member at a club, was £28 a month, 2 years on its £58 - my local course was £25 a round, now 45 - this is pricing people out of golf, also if you want half decent balls new you’re looking at £20 a box at least - let’s be honest it’s over double that if you want the best. Clubs yes you can keep for years and years, but things like balls and green fees constantly means if you like to play golf once a week, you will end up spending a fortune
Understanding that costs rise yearly, I feel golf equipment is becoming increasingly expensive to where golfers are reluctant to purchase new equipment. I feel $1K for irons is too much. Drivers are now topping $600, and golf balls, at least middle of the road to premium, are now averaging $40 a dozen. With that being said, the greens fees are just ridiculous. In Florida, I am paying an average of $55 a round. The courses are in bad shape, and it is just not what it used to be.
Mugs will buy the expensive gear thinking it's gonna make them better!!! 😅
Golf as a once in a while endeavor isn’t that expensive. Golfing as a consistent hobby is
good point
Anything that costs £100 + cost every time you practice and play is expensive and a barrier to entry. To think otherwise is insane. Most other sports are free to practice and nowhere near the cost for the equipment.
there are ways around the cost of equipment, as mentioned, for me its the new this year green fees. would like to go out 2-4 times a week-can't.
Guy, I'm assuming there are cheaper options to play in the UK. Over here (Canada) there are not in my area at least within 100km. After I had a stroke+ my left side got buggered and so I could not play most sports any longer (obviously) BUT (I thought) I figured out how to swing a club in my yard. (still had my Ping I3's) It was going to be ugly but I could do it. However the costs of green fees were ludicrous let alone the costs of membership that I had to give up on playing which clearly sucks. You are correct that equipment can be found for great prices. Green fees however. Nope.
Best way to look at it..
The initial start up to play costs money.
But after a while you get settled in and know what you need and where to play. Once in a while, you'll play an expensive course or upgrade gear.
You don't have to break the bank per say to enjoy good golf.
Been golfing a few years now with a set of $100 ping Karsten blue dots and Powerbilt wedges lol. $170 bucks to start plus a Facebook marketplace bag doesn’t seem to steep. Just recently upgraded to a new set of cobra irons for $400 and my next move is a budget used driver for under $150. After 3 years and less than $1000 total with balls and everything is pretty fair, about $333 a year to have fun. The real problem is course pricing.
There is a difference between inexpensive golf equipment for the new starters green fees versus the golfer who wants to play at a top level which is expensive. Dozen pro v’s, waterproofs, latest gear, latest driver etc etc and that’s before a membership of a club. I think there is a breed of golfer now that wants all the gear but does not want the membership commitment. But in summary golf is expensive when you get to a certain level.
I found the best way to not get ruined playing golf :
1- buy clubs and balls second hand but in great shape.
2- play golf in the afternoon.. after 2pm prices drop and after 4pm even lower..
3- walk the course , in Canada is 20$ cheaper walking... it's weird in Florida it always comes with cart. No walking price..
I have to disagree. Golf IS expensive. Its a luxury.
I played a lot of golf prior to 2017 when my child came along. I was member of a club, played in the matchplays you find online and play nomadically with my dad. I had the money to spend and I did.
I was never big on equipment. Purchases were rare and when bought were 2nd hand. I still however calculated in my last year of playing, £200-£250 a month was going out in membership fees, green fees, disposables (balls, gloves etc), driving range, fuel to and from, then any food & drink. This wasnt including any clothing, shoes or equipment.
I know I can and could do things cheaper, but I still would regard that as a typical outlay for a golfer playing 2/3 times a week. It could also be quite a bit more now, as this is a figure from from 2016/17.
In its place as a hobby, I now play football once a week, have a gym membership and run a few times a week. The cost coming to around £55 a month.
Just so everyone realizes (and because I work at a golf course), the cost of golf is rising and will continue to rise, unfortunately. Fuel prices have gone up. All our maintenance equipment runs on gas. Finding good, experienced grounds crew is becoming more difficult because golf courses do not pay well... so we now have to pay more. Fertilizer, herbicides, seed, sand, irrigation systems & supplies, turf grass studies and seminars, food & beverage stock and staff, golf course staff, golf cart fleet maintenance and management (each golf cart costs $6,000) and repairs, golf course flag sticks, cups, benches, ball washers, garbage cans, driving range stations and range balls, man hours to mow (everyday and we own 4 golf courses/everything times 4!). All our suppliers are charging more (since Covid/2020) for everything that is required for us to operate and we need to profit or why do it?
The other thing that needs to stop... is people paying $700 for drivers!! If you support these manufacturer's ridiculous pricing trends, then there is no end in sight.
i started playing frisbee golf instead because it's free, then i realized what i really like is just walking around nature, so forgot about the golf altogether and go on ganja herb hikes now. someone once said "golf is just a good walk ruined"... not anymore.
It's the green fees boys! Absolutely absurd in my local area. The cheapest round of golf in area is $115
I am curious where you live. I live in South Eastern Pennsylvania. My friend lives about an hour north. We often pay 40 dollars or less for courses that are good enough for us.
Here in Mexico City, 115 is not bad... that's how crazy expensive they are here!
I put together my entire golf setup for $350
Bag: $60(off brand new)
Driver: $100(used callaway from marketplace)
Hybrid: $90(used cobra from marketplace)
Irons and wedges: $100(used taylormade off marketplace
Putter: $40(off brand new from golf store)
Tees: $10(got like 500 of them from eBay)
Balls: $0: every ball I have is from finding it on the golf course
Equipment isn't the problem
As some who works at a golf course in its greenskeeping. Everyone of our chemicals, mechanical parts, sand and other soils and staff has exponentially gone up and how else can clubs cover the costs with raising green fees and memberships?
I’d imagine the cost of wooden tees would be the same given the demand for wood based products given the move away from plastics
i am a broke ass student and i golf 2-3 times a week. I have a student membership at my club for 250€/y and used clubs from ebay, cheap golfing apparrel from amazon and i hardly play any other courses. Like with all hobbies the sky is the limit, but starting to golf is really not that expensive, comparing it to buying a race bicycle or windsurf gear or whatever.
For youngsters, annual subs can be quite cheap. It's as you get older they rocket so start saving!!
Where I live, I have to pay close to 200 to play... on average courses. If I go to the fancy ones, it's closer to 500 USD
@@tuanofulmove house? 😀
@@sliderpunk ahaha, not an option
Green fees are on the rise and thats the issue. I was talking with someone who moved where I live from California and he said green fees were less than $10 everywhere he golfed there. He came here and its impossible to find a course thats under $15. Supply and demand at its finest. There are not enough courses here to support how many people want to play and pick up the game. It is near impossible to get a tee time here, especially on the weekends. Tee times are often taken a week in advance. As long as this keeps going, I think the green fees will rise just because they know they can until the demand goes down
£30 40 puts food on table for some .
Your point is? If you are broke every single sport is expensive
The perception is that golf is expensive because it is true. Yes, you can get a ridiculous deal on clubs if you're patient and know where to look. However, the newest of everything is insanely expensive and that is what is advertised/seen.
Firstly, Yes!! If you start off, you can pick up a package set for £250. That said, if you want to get really into golf, that'll do you 6 months at best because your swing will change and you need better equipment.
Secondly, AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT, 2nd hand equipment doesnt have a warranty, so if it breaks a month later, you're out the cost of that and new equipment.
Thirdly, green fees. My local course is £38 a round. I go twice a month, thats £76 a month, which is £912 a year. Membership is £1700.
And this is all before we talk about thenone thing Rick and Guy have consistently said down the years people should get, COACHING!
Golf is expensive, esp considered to alot of other sports.
Green fees are a problem down south. A few municipal courses but in general the green fees are starting at around £70. My local course charges £90 in the week.
Golf equipment is not expensive, you can get used clubs. and they last a long time, tees are cheap, you can get cheap balls (which is arguably the most expensive thing in golf), and a decent glove will last you a year.
HOWEVER, green fees in my country, Mexico, are expensive as hell. In Mexico city there are 3 public courses and a couple more that are semi-private. The public courses that are worth playing are around 130 USD plus around 30-40 for a caddy. PLUS GETTING THERE (they are not well located)
If you play in one of the semi-private ones, you´re paying close to 300 USD, then you need to pay around 50 USD for a caddy. It´s insanely expensive
Madness
@@calderjack7818 Complete madness, It's the one thing that really pisses me off about this country (priorities, lol)
All the gear and no idea is what I see so often at the range but if you can afford it then all good
Taking up golf 7 years ago with my Pop(now 80 y/o and still working 50hrs/wk) has been priceless. 6 times a year has become nearly every Saturday morning. Relatively affordable is subjectively expensive and ultimately objectively worthwhile.
In my area of the US green fees have skyrocketed. If you want to play city public courses once a week it’ll cost you $200-$240 a month. For people that are making minimum wage that’s a cost that’s very hard to afford. Not including cost of equipment.
Green fees in my area are constantly going up and when u go to the course it’s in worse nick than previous years
Echoing others on here, it's more the cost of green fees, memberships and practice facilities that has got a bit out of hand. The cheapest course near me is £30 for a round, which drops to £20 for a twilight rate, the driving range I usually go to is £8 for 100 balls and membership at a decent course is £950+ per year. I get that demand is high and that it's a lot more expensive to maintain a golf course than it is a football pitch or tennis court, but it's still frustrating that the sport is getting more and more expensive.
It’s not about equipment. That’s a 1-time (or at least once every long while) expense. It’s mostly the cost of green fees & driving range fees. But as always, it also depends where you live. When I lived in San Diego, CA, I could still find relatively affordable courses & ranges. Now I live in Irvine, CA. Golf is insanely expensive in Orange County, CA, even for the lowest caliber city courses & ranges.
The issue is membership is not worth it in UK where the weather is so changeable. Also mark ups on drivers are quite ludicrous. I looked at a new MD Driver at £99, not paying that even though that's at low end of prices.
The popularity of golf has gotten green fees to skyrocket for two reasons. 1. Popularity, the demand is there. 2. More people are playing that do not respect the game. Courses are trying to keep people away or get money to maintain the course
I'm pretty lucky and have a family owned family atmosphere course that is pretty nice and is about 325 per year for walking.
Depends on how hard you want to bargain shop. Someone on CZcams does videos where he and his wife go to different thrift stores, garage sales, etc and find Scottys for $5, for example.
Beyond that, “expensive” becomes relative. If I said you could have a full kit of brand new gear for $300 from Walmart or Amazon, to include clubs, bag, glove, tees, balls, and shoes, would that be expensive? Depends on who you ask, I suppose.
The reality is, the likes of Ping, Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway, et al, keep raising their prices, and we keep buying. Golf can be a vanity sport, I say with my Vessel bag that Rick got me to buy 😉
Even practicing a few times a week now is getting ridiculous. Regent park golf course has a driving range i used to go there quite regular but ive not been half as much this year because for 100 balls and a bottle of pop youre looking at £15 a time. Absolutely joke. Youre talking up to 45 quid for weekly practice plus a green fee on a weekend
It's not really the equipment that gets expensive it's the courses themselves. Even a season pass at my local muni to get your money's worth you need to do over 50 rounds there and I'm at least lucky cause they have 27 holes. The other courses around me just get more expensive one requires a membership then has green fees on top of that.
Ever thought that if you want to play a lot of golf then get a membership in a club. I pay 1.500€/year for a 27 holes course and played 285 rounds in 2023. That comes to a bit more then 5€/round. Or +/- 1€/hour. Beside walking and running do you know of any sport that cheap. But a couple of weeks ago I played 3 courses, royal saint George's royal cinq ports and Rye. With transport (eurochunnel) because I live abroad, overnight stayings, food, drinks souvenirs etc. that has set me back nearly 1000€. So moral of this discussion, you can make golf as expensive as you want or as cheap as you want...😊
The golfbidder challenge shows if your just starting out can spend $500 on clubs to start playing.
If your trying to upgrade to newish clubs. Callaway preowned on eBay if you read the descriptions and conditions can get practically brand new clubs or clubs hit maybe 3x for 1/3 of the price. I got my 7W that retails for $280 for $110. Not a scuff on it.
My golf membership costs me £21/week.
If I have the time £3/round playing every day.
Probably costs about £10/round.
As a non member it would cost £40+ per round which I couldn't afford.
All my golf gear has come from ebay. Nearly new at a lot less than half retail price.
Rick seemed to hit the nail on the head, it’s the range and green fees that have gone up astronomically. People can use old clubs and live without new ones but the fundamental part if playing! Green fees have gone up big time, partly due to demand but it’s becoming more restrictive.
Yeah partly for demand but mainly because the cost of maintenance of a golf course has nearly doubled over the past three years. The chemicals necessary to just maintain the quality of the course are doubled
Yes it is expensive, it’s actually sickening how much golf is now. The clubs, balls, shoes, clothing! Then you’ve got green fees? To play some of the best courses in the UK you have to top over £150-300. I get it they want to keep the course in prestige condition etc and have probably low handicappers player but this is why you don’t see any young kids at golf courses. They’d rather play for a local football team, or on consoles.
The best car, watch, wine, hotel, restaurant, anything is very expensive. If the best golf course was cheap there would be a two year long waiting list.
€4.5 for 25 range balls. Yes, it is expensive here in Eastern Europe.
Just like anything else in life, it can be expensive, but it doesn’t need to be. You get what you pay for, there are cheap options and expensive options.
There's golf courses closing down now tell me that 20 years ago who would have thought that would happen certainly not me if course's bring down membership prices they would have a lot more members and therefore be able to maintain the course and stay open there is fat to much snobbery in golf and there method of keeping ordinary people away is to keep prices high thats killing the game we all love
As a 69 year old and have played gilf for 37years I have seen the price of golf equipment go through the roof over the past few years. My advice for someone starting out is to buy second hand clubs as you don't have to have this years top range equipment. Also please have lessons if you want to improve as its money well spent. I have only had three sets of golf clubs since i started playing and bought my last set four years ago and I play off 8 handicap. I find it so funny when I see people paying a lot of money on the latest driver or a new set of clubs and they are still high handicap golers and have not improved one bit, but if you can afford it why not. There are so many public golf courses to enjoy that don't cost a lot of money to play.
Not near me there isn't. Min £30+ fir average public course unless you want to play in the evening with the gnats
Just cancelled my golf membership. £1,500.00 for a run of the mill golf course that is closed for 7 months of the year due to the weather. No compensation for the lack of access for over half the year.
The focus on equipment is way off point.
Guy, you're not thinking of the average person here. To play golf has got to be one of the most, if not the most popular sports to play. You need clubs, balls, golf clothes, shoes, plus the green fees, etc, it really adds up.
If i wanted to play football, tennis, volleyball, rugby... id pay significantly less as a beginner than with golf.
Thats true but I'm 64 & my football days are long gone.😁
I agree with everything you've said about equipment, if you want new stuff the prices are through the roof. But if you're savvy, they are reasonable. I bought a ping g400 driver on fb marketplace for £90, taylormade p760 irons 4 to pw for £330 again on fb. There are deals out there. Unfortunately you didn't focus enough on green fees and memberships. These have increased by 50% in many places since covid. I used to have a choice of 5 clubs where I could play for under £25, now I have 1 club and it is a council course in poor condition. I have to pay £40 for the same quality as I was paying £35 for 3 years ago and that is what is making golf expensive to play
Average income in most major cities in the United States is $65k. On the cheaper end walking green fees $50-$60 and practice bucket $10-$15 for municipal courses so if you practice and play once per week that’s $3360 cost to golf per year… you add gear (balls, clothes and **1 new club) that’s between 7% to 9% of someone’s income (note: full-time min wage is $20k-$25k that’s close 20% of someone income) - yeah golf is EXPENSIVE!!!!
As far as clubs go, I have the 2nd hand market locally and was able to stacked golf my way to a 2018 and newer set of clubs for about $350 USD. Green fees though….. harder to get my golf to value ratio to my preference.
Hey guy's it's not necessarily the price of clubs that's the issue it's the green fees at courses. Everything is already so expensive and Golf courses followed everyone else. That's very sad.
As the popularity of golf goes up greens fees will follow. Most equipment has gone up as well but that is just because everything on the planet has gone up a ton. Greens fees are priced as a finite resource.
There will always be mugs who think they can buy a golf game by getting all the most expensive gear, I have a pal who has all the gear Guy mentioned in his list and Ive never seen him break 100! You can put a set of clubs together for a reasonable price on ebay, golf bidder etc but the real change in costcseems to be green fees. Here in Essex even an average public course is £30, more at weekends. Add a bite to eat or a couple of beers after, a lost ball or two and it all starts to add up. Annual subs are now min 1450 for anything even half decent in Essex plus generally a "joining fee". Now thats not bad if you're playing twice a week for at least 10 months but the weather has meant most courses in Essex are practically unplayable for at least 6 months. If the winters are goings to continue in this vein then suddenly 1450/1500 a year isnt so attractive is it. When Tiger broke through we all thought the game would be more accessible to the ordinary guy in the street and kids coming into the game but it hasn't turned out that way. Covid was the catalyst, the best and worst thing ever to happen to golf, depending where you're standing
I got my Dyan power oversized full set for £49 20+ years ago
Clothing is nuts. Like $70 for your average golf shirt at Golf Galaxy. I’ll stick with my $10-20 polos (including callaway) from Costco. There’s always a deal to be found, it’s just a matter of how hard you look.
Green fees, on the other hand, are a bit brash. Hard to find one for under $60-80 where I live. Even then though, it’s not breaking the bank. Can i afford to play three times a week? No. But I also have a full trackman at work so I’m content with getting out weekly/bi-weekly
Guy don't you and rick use vessel golf bags which is the sponsor of your hit channel? You described the Jordan bag as "obviously ludicrous" for being 400, the base vessel bag is 400
The hypocrisy is outstanding with these 2 at times!! Pretty easy to sit behind a mic and say it's not that expensive when you get much of your equipment for free.
Golf is cheep compared to other hobbies. Try Polo ponies, speed boats, sail boats, fishing boats, off the road vehicles, firearms and ammo, even snow boarding can be more expensive because it involves travel, etc...and then there are guys that are into music. If they play they can spend $10k on a guitar + amps etc......there are tons of vices more expensive than golf
What’s getting me is green fees are going up and it seems the course conditions are going down. May be because more people are playing the course but with more revenue you need to keep it to good conditions. Some places I won’t go now bc price vs condition is t worth it anymore.
Definitely the green fees that are cost prohibitive. I can only afford to play a few 9-hole rounds a month at ~$20/rd.
Guy has lost his mind!! It is definitely getting too expensive. The cost of the current AI Smoke Driver is $1270.00NZD. Iron sets, TM P790, $3000 NZD. Those 2 prices are what I would consider the norm if you wanted new gear. Our 2nd hand market is still very overpriced, so it's not that easy, even for someone getting into golf to do it cheaply. I've been playing golf for 8 years or so and my membership has increased year on year apart from 1. A bucket of balls at the range is now $20 when it was $12 when I started. There appears no end in sight to the constant price increases.
Depends on how serious you want to take it, 2nd hand clubs and playing on a pay as u play course makes it affordable, I play with my younger brother every week, he is 38 and 14 years younger than me, his membership is £400 cheaper than mine, this is where I think it’s unreasonable
Here in the West USA, it is prohibitive now. (not the clubs, fortunately clubs have been so good for so long now, it is easy to find an extreme bargain on used clubs ) It is the green fees. The mangiest goat track full of 25 indexer snowbirds is $100...A decent mid range course is $200, YES green fees have gone up at massive pace, not even a debate. ..and now land anywhere near public utilities or water and sewer lines is worth gazillions, so there is really no hope in sight, almost no land now is used at it's "highest and best usage" as a golf course (real estate maxim). 25 years from now numerous courses will be residential or commercial lots. In a small section of my home town I have seen 3 courses built, used for 30 years, and closed, and sold and developed. The Eastern US with older courses, less population growth, and plenty of natural watering from rain instead of canal water, maybe have a different future, and perhaps UK the same....don't know. But here a course will be built, run at a loss for a few years until all the homes are sold, then the course is sold, sometimes for pennies on the dollar and regenerated or the course sold and water rights kept separate, maybe it does ok, then sold again, and the cycle continues. Add to the inflating of golf prices your mortgage or rent, (rent averages $2500 +/-for small home), car, gas, food, health, ins, school, kids stuff...etc....and this is working / mid class Phx area. Luckily I am a reader, hiker, biker....so even after 40 yrs of golf, Ill have no problem ditching it if I have to.
Got any 50 quid head covers left?
If you buy new gear every year, it's very expensive. If you are playing 3-5 times or more a week, it's expensive. If you play the fancy courses (>$100), it gets very expensive. I've contemplated joining a local club to take advantage of the free large bucket of balls a day, they'd be underwater on me the first week. 🤣
Golf, like a lot of other sports (cycling, hockey, baseball/softball, tennis, pickleball), is as expensive as you make it. Most of that expense is going to be in gear, or greens fees. I bought 3 bags my first 2 years into this adventure, the first was a cheaply made one that started falling apart from range use alone, 2nd was a middle-high end bag and the 3rd was one for 9 holes and walking. I'm probably not going to buy another bag for several years (5-10) since I've settled on the 2.
Green fees are up, our course survives due to the efforts of volunteers
Yes it is to expensive however there are deals if you shop around 2for1 vouchers on lots of courses.
I work at a course and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be able to afford to play.
Yea you can start cheap box sets walk nine holes etc.
But if you want to take the game in any serious way you get out priced!!!
I’m a 2 handicap I love the game but simply cannot afford to play the game I love outside of working at a course
The fact that you have to pay 20-40$ to walk is ridiculous let alone if you want to take a cart
I understand the demand etc. but it truly is pricing out the lower market golfers
In Atlanta Georgia we pay 880 a year for four courses. Walk whenever you want. Golf is super cheap if you make it
Membership £1100 a year plus competition fees , a bloody fortune in golf balls a month . A trolley, cart bag , probably need a carry bag for winter. Clothes , and then clubs . And we all still need a lesson occasionally
Golf isn’t expensive. It becomes expensive when a players starts trying to emulate the pros. For example, I upgraded my irons from a RAM package to Rogue X irons. The irons cost 2x what I paid for for the RAM set, including driver. A local municipal course costs $30 to play, TPC Sawgrass cost $600. I paid $400+ for a fitted driver and have found a similar amount of fairways. That same $400 could have been invested in multiple lessons.
Channels like Stacked Golf and even 2nd swing prove that this game is only expensive if you’re trying to chase new technology and new style and the premium level courses.
I agree with Guy, everything is being associated with the Higher Price current equipment or the Bucket List courses
There’s great affordable equipment and amazing affordable courses
Depends what you call affordable
I bought a whole set of Callaway rogue St irons and hybrids for $400 off of eBay used. You can find really great equipment that is newest technology for great price if you're willing to go used.
Equipment isnt the problem