To avoid the rough, country clubs cut fees
Courses seek to mitigate recession's damage
The Golf Club of Cape Cod opened in Falmouth in June 2007 to broad acclaim. Ranked by golf magazines as one of the nation's top new courses and billing itself as an "exclusive enclave," it commanded a jaw-dropping initiation fee of $85,000.
But 18 months later, hammered by the disintegrating economy, the club is throwing open its gates by waiving the fee in order to attract new dues-paying members.
"Like everybody else, we're struggling a little bit, trying to find people willing to spend the money to join a private club," said Doug Errhalt, the club's head golf pro.
Private golf and country clubs, usually prized for their exclusivity, suddenly find themselves in the unseemly position of having to advertise their availability. To bolster thinning membership rosters, some clubs are lowering their entrance standards or offering incentives to entice prospective members. The Country Club of Halifax is offering deals on its website in red capital letters evocative of a fire sale: "LIMITED TIME OFFER: PAY NO INITIATION FEE."
The offers and deals are the latest signs of how deep the recession is reaching. As the floundering economy prompts even financially sturdy households to scrutinize their spending habits, some existing club members are surrendering their privileges rather than paying thousands of dollars in annual membership dues.
"Every club is going through it and we're no different," said Blue Hill Country Club general manager Dan Hall. "All the luxury sides of life are starting to get cut back and, unfortunately, we're the first to go."
Many of the clubs trying to shore up membership are rethinking the steep initiation fees that have long been used as a barrier to entry. Because those fees usually don't pay for day-to-day expenses, clubs can sacrifice them now in favor of membership dues that pay the bills.
At The Golf Club of Cape Cod, for instance, introductory members will pay no initiation fees but will face higher dues. Later, if the introductory members want to continue at the club, they may have to pay an initiation fee, said a spokesman, Charles Field.
In making the offer, the club's founders are "trying as hard as they can to protect the interests of their existing members and offer an opportunity for people who may not be familiar with the club to experience it as a member, rather than as a guest," Field said.
Blue Hill and other clubs said they started losing members in alarming numbers when the stock market declined in September. In October, Blue Hill began advertising a deal to join and pay no dues until 2009 - and then to pay in eight installments, rather than five.
"A lot of people just have an insecure feeling about what's going on and they're taking out insurance policies," Hall added. "They don't want to leave the club but they have an uneasy feeling about what their future is going to be so they put their memberships on hold."
Wollaston Golf Club in Milton, which expected 30 people to relinquish full memberships by the start of this year, plans to offer a one-year trial membership with no money down and only one sponsor necessary.
"We have to be flexible in these economic times and understand that, as many spots as we fill, the entire membership is better off," said Bernard P. Lynch Jr., the club's outgoing president. "The thought is, bring them in, immerse them in it, let them try it out, and maybe they'll join or maybe they'll just help us out for the year."
Lynch and other club representatives uniformly express optimism that interest will bounce back with the economy - hopefully by the second quarter, when golf season gets started.
Golf aficionados say that country club memberships have been flagging for some time, a victim of shifting priorities and changing times. Past generations of boys grew up working as caddies; when they were replaced by professionals at many clubs, fewer boys grew up immersed in the sport. Men with money - who in years past would have spent their leisure time at a club - are now occupied with other activities. Youth soccer has tugged fathers from the greens to the sidelines, and a Saturday morning at the club can be viewed as a luxury that many men with working wives and overscheduled children can no longer afford.
"They don't have the time," said William McMahon Sr., founder of the McMahon Group Inc., a consulting firm for private country clubs, including several in Boston. "The guys can't sneak out and play golf. They need to do their part now."
As a result, some clubs are doing more to market themselves as family destinations. At Spring Valley Country Club in Sharon, a family can add a nanny to the membership for $50 a year. Spring Valley is offering new, lower-cost social memberships that lock in rates and guarantee no surprise assessments for three years.
"This allows you to bring in newer, younger families that want to utilize all aspects of the club - pool, food. That's a good thing," said membership director Jo Ann Parks. "The club is certainly reacting to what's going on with the economy, but I think we would eventually have come to this anyway. People's interests change."
Observers say that the most prestigious clubs, like The Country Club in Brookline, should not have trouble hanging on to members because it's not just a privilege to be admitted, it's an investment. It's less painful to quit a place that cost a few thousand dollars' entry fee than to jump ship from the Wellesley Country Club, where initiation now costs $50,000.
But even some clubs with cachet are making changes to accommodate the economic climate. At Woodland Golf Club in Newton, said one member who did not want his name used, members can pay this year's dues in installments, rather than needing to have shelled out $11,000 by New Year's Day.
Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at ebbert@globe.com. 