LOL. I didn’t mean to be too confusing. I’m currently in Mexico City where I’ve been living for work for over a year now. The country club was here. If you know anything about Mexico City, then you know that it’s a concrete jungle. The country club is the only thing that’s green anywhere at all close. (We’ll, there’s the Irish Tennis Club, but it’s not walking distance, and the only real open space is for sports.)
Michigan is where I really, really live when my company doesn’t have other ideas. As far as I know, I don’t have any narco-traffic in my neighborhood there!
I never considered it. My grandfather, a Hancock Park doctor, belonged to one in the '30s and '40s and seems to have been quite the wizard with the sticks; we’ve got a couple of his trophies from club tournaments.
Of his two sons, my uncle did belong to a country club most of his life, but not the same one. He was single most of his adult life and married twice, what you’re probably assuming from that is true. My father, OTOH, briefly considered joining as well, but was never that strong on golf, and felt that he couldn’t spare the time what with a young family. They were/are both doctors as well, which I suppose fulfills a cultural cliche.
Now there’s my brother and I, and he’s the golfer. He never considered joining, but then probably has more public courses available in north suburban greater L.A. than my uncle would have had in the city in his day. And it should be said that the desirable clubs in L.A. tend to be very expensive; it’s just not an option for the vast majority. And if that weren’t enough, the exclusive covenants that were typical don’t sit right with most people these days. I don’t know if they’re as bad as they used to be, but the perception is certainly still there.
I think private clubs in general have their place. Exclusionary membership policies are not defensible in my opinion, but there’s nothing wrong with requiring initiation and dues to enjoy some facilities. I talked in another thread about joining my former uni’s faculty club; while this isn’t true of all such clubs, this one is quite reasonable. And having seen my first member statement, with coffee served in a ceramic cup and saucer for $1.25–no tipping expected–and a nice quiet environment, well, guess who goes to Starbucks a whole lot less now? And why would I, only to sit in a noisy room where I can’t concentrate, and drink muddy overpriced coffee in a paper cup?
Still, if they tell me I can’t wear jeans at my club, that’ll be the end of that.
We used to belong to a club - not a “country club” with a golf course, but a private club. We did it for social reasons - they had a lovely private bar, very nice brunches, a nice restaurant for dinner. It was a nice place to hang out, with a great library, very nice tea. Eventually we dropped the membership - we weren’t getting enough use out of it and they were pissing me off. A private club is one of those things where I’m paying you to be extra nice to me. After two years, they should know your name (I use my maiden name, they never managed to correct it even after I told them three times) and know what you drink if you are in their bar every week. (My husband, on the other hand loved it - they got his name right and figured out what he drank).
We’ve thought about joining a country club with a golf course, but have decided we don’t current golf enough to justify it. We do fine on public courses.
Although — as a European — slightly unclear as to what a country club does; only a few hours ago I read a droll piece from 1990 on country/golf clubs by Steve Sailer which included: In contrast, private clubs were established precisely as places where one man’s money was not as good as another’s. Discrimination was a driving force behind the profusion of private clubs during the first half of the century: people blackballed by the established clubs started their own, where they in turn could blackball others. For example, wealthy German Jews turned away by WASP clubs built their own, and then frequently refused membership to Russian Jews. And no matter how low their club stood in the country club pecking order, members could always console themselves by keeping out African-Americans.
And went on: Even today, the premiere clubs ration memberships Soviet-style: how long you will wait, who your friends are, and who your father was. Since they don’t discriminate solely on ability to pay (for example, a lifetime membership at Augusta National is merely $25,000 and monthly dues are $100), they can afford to discriminate on race, religion, ethnicity, or whim. (The Los Angeles Country Club, for example, blackballs actors, although the members have apparently overcome this scruple regarding the recent application of Mr. Ronald Reagan; and Seminole in Florida turned down Mr. Jack Nicklaus for being an excessively good golfer). New members, who are indebted to the old members for charging them less than a fair price, feel compelled by gratitude to let the old boys perpetuate their racist policies.
*Of course, our Constitution wisely guarantees freedom of association. Any private club should be allowed to carry out any membership policy, no matter how absurd . . . as long as the club can pay the price. In our competitive world, however, the cost of preserving Neanderthal prejudices is growing expensive. *
Surprisingly, I know of one place that calls itself a country club but doesn’t have golf course, although they do let members upgrade to be allowed to play at a Calabasas course, 24 miles away.
But they do have a lot of tennis courts, at least one pool and gym, and a decent sized clubhouse.
My father joined a couple of country clubs strictly for business reasons. He didn’t play golf - hell, he didn’t even like golf. He’d take clients there for lunch or dinner and get them a guest pass to the course if they liked golf.
A country club does have its place. In a small town, it may be the only golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts and the best restaurant around. In a larger city, the club is a nice place to hang out with your peer group and do business. But if you aren’t an avid golfer, there are plenty of other options.
Yeah, this is pretty much my take. The only time in the past ten years I’ve been in a country club (neither my husband nor I golf), was when we lived in Cumberland; as friend of mine who was a pediatrician held his son’s wedding at the country club. It was nice, I guess, but hey, you could join the park pool for a lot less than a year’s country club dues. And if you wanted to wine and dine someone, there were other options. But he was not my only friend who happens to be a doctor for that health system, and I get the impression (though I’ve never been told outright) that it’s pretty much expected for the doctors to belong to the country club. Hell, for all I know, their memberships are subsidized.
Yes and no, especially if we’re talking about private clubs generally. If you do need a space away from home or the office in which to conduct business, or even just to work, options are actually quite limited. Coffeeshops are beginning to take away wi-fi access, and, in general, your privilege to remain in most indoor locations is predicated on your having business there, or buying their food. If you belong to a club you can go there and simply exist beautifully; you don’t have to buy food or drinks every time you go.
Although I do have to say I’m sure the club management wouldn’t want the members to do that all the time, and I don’t. Regardless, though, it’s my dues that are the primary justification for being there, rather than whether I buy stuff. I have to say that concept makes me feel all warm and cozy inside.
I’m a member, I’ve been a member for as long as I can remember (with a break when I lived in AL). It’s where I took swimming lessons, and where my kids took swimming lessons. I’ve bartended there.
It has a golf course and a pool. There is a tennis court that we are looking at fixing up since it went to ruins several years ago due to lack of interest and upkeep. There just really isn’t a whole lot else in this very small town, and it’s the central place for going to hang out. There are no bars in this town so it’s the only real bar. And it’s not really REAL. It’s hard to describe. But it’s got $1.75 beer and $2 drinks, and I can go without taking any cash and I can play golf or just drive around in my cart and talk to people.
We got a free membership to the local “country club” (it’s a golf course and some tennis and racquetball courts) when we got married there.
An old family friend, who is a tax exile living in the Bahamas, was refused admission to her father’s country club in North Carolina because of her Malaysian husband. This was in about 1979. She bought the land the club was on and “repurposed” it.
My family had a membership in a private swimming pool club back in the sixties and seventies. The place had an Olympic size pool with a diving area attached at one end and two kiddie pools. There were also tennis courts. I guess the place is still there- it was kind of a white-flight operation.
I voted “considered,” but I really mean “wished.” There are a few country clubs I’d like to be a member of, but those tend to be the ones that are insanely expensive and even if I could make it fit into the budget, I could never justify it. Maybe some day.
I know this is somewhat prejudicial, but I would never even have thought that any country club would happily welcome a non-white woman. Never. I definitely could be wrong, but that is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the thread title. Based on experience, not mine, but other people’s.
It seems like such a 50s-60s notion to me, but I’m probably wrong. There is one not far from here, but I have no desire to join it or anything else that requires membership. I really loathe fraternal organizations or other clubby associations. Add to that my complete hatred of all things golf, and I guess it would be pretty pointless.
The neighborhood I just moved into is centered around a country club. I’m not interested in golf in the least, but I’ve considered joining it for the pool and exercise facilities. I haven’t gone so far as to call them to inquire about prices, though–for all I know it costs a damn fortune.
That’s a sad comment. And one that I truly hope is only based on your incorrect assumption, and not grounded in fact. Otherwise I’m bewildered that this could still be a possibility in 2010: anywhere.
When I lived in Cleveland, I joined a curling club that was a few blocks from my house. The curling club was associated with and on the grounds of a private country club, so a prospective member had to go through the same membership approval process as country club members; a sponsor, two recommendations, personal statements, and the like.
Even though it was a limited membership, I got to enjoy the club facilities in association with curling events (e.g. use of the bar and restaurants), attend parties at the main clubhouse, and use chits at clubs with reciprocal agreements. I wasn’t subjected to minimum tabs that applied to full club members.
The full club members were unpretentious and friendly. The club is in a multiethnic suburb, and there were black and Jewish members.
Has anyone here ever joined a club, not strictly for business purposes, but simply to sort of “network”? I grew up in a small southern town (deep, deep south), and all my parents’ friends joined both local country clubs . . . it was sort of what successful professionals do there. I don’t think any of them golf, although many of them play tennis. My parents never did, but they are both kind of awkward and not very good at making socially/professionally successful moves like that. The fees weren’t that expensive, and I don’t think you had to “approved” for membership; if you could pay (and weren’t like very ghetto black, this is an old southern town) you were in.
Anyways, does anyone else have a similar experience? Joining a country club just because it’s what is expected of you?
Different reason. I considered joining but i met too many guys who quit their club because public golf courses got so good. There are ,at least in Michigan, a lot of excellent public courses. You get a variety and save money.
My husband talked me into joining the country club some years ago. He wanted to use the golf course, but I was convinced by the swimming pool. It was heated (unlike the public pools) and clean and uncrowded and, best of all, they had waiters that would bring you snacks and drinks while you sat by the pool. Now that the kids are grown I no longer go there, but my husband still makes extensive use of the golf course. He says it’s the best course in the area.
