I have, it was a while ago, but was lucky enough to be invited by a member.  It's by far the nicest course in Jacksonville and by far the most exclusive course here.

Phil usually plays his practice rounds there when in town for THE PLAYERS.  Very much a good ole boys club...

This is the only course i haven't played in Jacksonville. I've heard the membership is upwards of 80k a year. That was just something someone told me at a club house bar so that could be completely wrong. That is insane. I also think membership is one of those where you have to be refereed by a member.

That's right, depending on what kind of membership you get.  You can be an equity member or non-equity, which each have different initiations.

Most private clubs are referral based, that's nothing to be surprised by.

---

This is the only course i haven't played in Jacksonville. I've heard the membership is upwards of 80k a year. That was just something someone told me at a club house bar so that could be completely wrong. That is insane. I also think membership is one of those where you have to be refereed by a member.

That's right, depending on what kind of membership you get.  You can be an equity member or non-equity, which each have different initiations.

Most private clubs are referral based, that's nothing to be surprised by.

I understand why they do the referral base entry for their membership. Hell, scroll up thru this thread and see all the different "peeves" that just a few people on this board share and it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that their are some loaded golfers out there who want a course where the only people playing are people they know or are accompanied by someone.

My uncle is part a club like this up in Pennsylvania that is about half of the price of Pablo Creek. But there i always figured it was because of the lack of courses in the area.

I just always got a kick out of the fact that you have guys with so much money that they actually have a club where you have to be invited just to drop 100k a year. Like if i walked up with that much cash but knew no body; would they say "Sorry sir, your 100k is just  not going cut it, go make some friends in the area then we will talk about it" LOL.

I guess it was like when Ferrari made that ENZO model a while ago. You had to have purchased a certin number of Ferrari just to qualify to be invited to come purchase a car that ran 250-500k iirc LOL.

---

This is the only course i haven't played in Jacksonville. I've heard the membership is upwards of 80k a year. That was just something someone told me at a club house bar so that could be completely wrong. That is insane. I also think membership is one of those where you have to be refereed by a member.

That's right, depending on what kind of membership you get.  You can be an equity member or non-equity, which each have different initiations.

Most private clubs are referral based, that's nothing to be surprised by.

Initial fee for joining Augusta National is $30,000.   Annual dues are $10,000.    But of course, you have to be referred.   So you or I would not get in.   Their membership list is a bunch of billionaires starting with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

---

That's right, depending on what kind of membership you get.  You can be an equity member or non-equity, which each have different initiations.

Most private clubs are referral based, that's nothing to be surprised by.

Initial fee for joining Augusta National is $30,000.   Annual dues are $10,000.    But of course, you have to be referred.   So you or I would not get in.   Their membership list is a bunch of billionaires starting with  Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Man i want to play Augusta so bad. That is one of the things about picking a hobby that has a big demographic of rich older people; there are going to be a few things us normal folks just can't do lol.

What is funny to me is the "Unknown" aspect of those places like pablo creek and augusta. Like- Is the course really that much nicer than anything ive ever played? or Are there like topless cart girls running around that we don't know about? I've played Doral, the stadium at sawgrass, scottsdale, and pebble beach. And honestly I was little let down. It wasn't that i didn't have a great time or that they were in bad shape. It was more that the notoriety of the course and the image that i had built up in my head was never going to be able to live up to what i imagined. At the end of the day they were all still courses. But i also understand that the money we are talking about those people spending is absolutely nothing to them.

New life goal-  Get a membership at augusta... Right after i buy a that mega yacht to park next to my buddy Mr.Khan.

---

Initial fee for joining Augusta National is $30,000.   Annual dues are $10,000.    But of course, you have to be referred.   So you or I would not get in.   Their membership list is a bunch of billionaires starting with  Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Man i want to play Augusta so bad. That is one of the things about picking a hobby that has a big demographic of rich older people; there are going to be a few things us normal folks just can't do lol.

What is funny to me is the "Unknown" aspect of those places like pablo creek and augusta. Like- Is the course really that much nicer than anything ive ever played? or Are there like topless cart girls running around that we don't know about? I've played Doral, the stadium at sawgrass, scottsdale, and pebble beach. And honestly I was little let down. It wasn't that i didn't have a great time or that they were in bad shape. It was more that the notoriety of the course and the image that i had built up in my head was never going to be able to live up to what i imagined. At the end of the day they were all still courses. But i also understand that the money we are talking about those people spending is absolutely nothing to them.

New life goal-  Get a membership at augusta... Right after i buy a that mega yacht to park next to my buddy Mr.Khan.

I can only speak to Pablo, but the course is in incredible condition, not only because of the attention to detail but because of the limited/lack of play.  Places that you listed get beat to crap by tourists and get played a ton when PGA events aren't near.

At Pablo, you go out there with your group and your caddies and you see no one else; it's just you and the course and beautiful mother nature.  They also pay a lot of attention to the little details when it comes to the club house and service, etc.

---

Man i want to play Augusta so bad. That is one of the things about picking a hobby that has a big demographic of rich older people; there are going to be a few things us normal folks just can't do lol.

What is funny to me is the "Unknown" aspect of those places like pablo creek and augusta. Like- Is the course really that much nicer than anything ive ever played? or Are there like topless cart girls running around that we don't know about? I've played Doral, the stadium at sawgrass, scottsdale, and pebble beach. And honestly I was little let down. It wasn't that i didn't have a great time or that they were in bad shape. It was more that the notoriety of the course and the image that i had built up in my head was never going to be able to live up to what i imagined. At the end of the day they were all still courses. But i also understand that the money we are talking about those people spending is absolutely nothing to them.

New life goal-  Get a membership at augusta... Right after i buy a that mega yacht to park next to my buddy Mr.Khan.

I can only speak to Pablo, but the course is in incredible condition, not only because of the attention to detail but because of the limited/lack of play.  Places that you listed get beat to crap by tourists and get played a ton when PGA events aren't near.

At Pablo, you go out there with your group and your caddies and you see no one else; it's just you and the course and beautiful mother nature.  They also pay a lot of attention to the little details when it comes to the club house and service, etc.

That is pretty bad awesome. It put it into a different perspective when you put it that way. So there are no golf carts? My buddy caddied for the one my uncle was a part of in penn. I am curious if pablo is exclusively caddie courses or not. He said all his tip would come from how his player did on 18 most of the time. If he set him up and he nailed it, he got as much as a 750 dollar tip from a guy who was playing his buddy for money an won on the last hole. He did say the biggest pain was what was how heavy the bags got. They had to carry all the player gatorade and food and every packed away on to o the normal stuff plus they obviously did not have stand bags they were the big [BLEEP] leather ones. He use to have to get the course at 530 because the caddies would stand there with there star rating and guys would pick them or something along those lines. He said it would suck if you got a [BLEEP] player and they would screw up the round, it would always be his fault and he would get a crap tip if any LOL .

---

I can only speak to Pablo, but the course is in incredible condition, not only because of the attention to detail but because of the limited/lack of play.  Places that you listed get beat to crap by tourists and get played a ton when PGA events aren't near.

At Pablo, you go out there with your group and your caddies and you see no one else; it's just you and the course and beautiful mother nature.  They also pay a lot of attention to the little details when it comes to the club house and service, etc.

That is pretty bad awesome. It put it into a different perspective when you put it that way. So there are no golf carts? My buddy caddied for the one my uncle was a part of in penn. I am curious if pablo is exclusively caddie courses or not. He said all his tip would come from how his player did on 18 most of the time. If he set him up and he nailed it, he got as much as a 750 dollar tip from a guy who was playing his buddy for money an won on the last hole. He did say the biggest pain was what was how heavy the bags got. They had to carry all the player gatorade and food and every packed away on to o the normal stuff plus they obviously did not have stand bags they were the big [BLEEP] leather ones. He use to have to get the course at 530 because the caddies would stand there with there star rating and guys would pick them or something along those lines. He said it would suck if you got a [BLEEP] player and they would screw up the round, it would always be his fault and he would get a crap tip if any LOL .

I think they allow some golf carts but limited, and even then you have a fore-caddie.

My buddy is a caddie and said sometimes it was great and sometimes he got stiffed, really just depends on how well the player knows the etiquette and also how well they played, etc.  

I'm heading up to Kiawah Island next week to play the Ocean Course (and some other courses but the Ocean is the mac daddy), where they've held the Ryder Cup and the 2020 (I think?) PGA Championship.  They don't allow carts before like 12 and for a walking caddie they recommend a $100 tip per player dependent on service.

---

There was one tournament at Kiawah that had a nickname like "Shootout by the Sea" or something. Which tournament was that?

---

Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

That is pretty bad awesome. ..

I think they allow some golf carts but limited, and even then you have a fore-caddie.

My buddy is a caddie and said sometimes it was great and sometimes he got stiffed, really just depends on how well the player knows the etiquette and also how well they played, etc.  

I'm heading up to Kiawah Island next week to play the Ocean Course (and some other courses but the Ocean is the mac daddy), where they've held the Ryder Cup and the 2020 (I think?) PGA Championship.  They don't allow carts before like 12 and for a walking caddie they recommend a $100 tip per player dependent on service.

Kiawah looks amazing. I went to a wedding at their clubhouse recently and watched a few groups come in on the 18th green before the party. Would love to play that track one day.  I noticed at least one group walking the course on their own without caddies BTW.  The others had caddies in the full white jumpsuit.

---

I think they allow some golf carts but limited, and even then you have a fore-caddie.

My buddy is a caddie and said sometimes it was great and sometimes he got stiffed, really just depends on how well the player knows the etiquette and also how well they played, etc.  

I'm heading up to Kiawah Island next week to play the Ocean Course (and some other courses but the Ocean is the mac daddy), where they've held the Ryder Cup and the 2020 (I think?) PGA Championship.  They don't allow carts before like 12 and for a walking caddie they recommend a $100 tip per player dependent on service.

Kiawah looks amazing. I went to a wedding at their clubhouse recently and watched a few groups come in on the 18th green before the party. Would love to play that track one day.  I noticed at least one group walking the course on their own without caddies BTW.  The others had caddies in the full white jumpsuit.

Isn't that the PGA course in South Carolina? My dads landscaper at his house in Charleston does maintenance on that course and can get me on pretty cheap but i have yet to take him up on it.

---

1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah was known as the "War on the Shore."

---

Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

Kiawah looks amazing. I went to a wedding at their clubhouse recently and watched a few groups come in on the 18th green before the party. Would love to play that track one day.  I noticed at least one group walking the course on their own without caddies BTW.  The others had caddies in the full white jumpsuit.

Isn't that the PGA course in South Carolina? My dads landscaper at his house in Charleston does maintenance on that course and can get me on pretty cheap but i have yet to take him up on it.

It's not a regular tour stop like the one in Hilton Head - but a handful of tourneys have been played there. 
Not since the 2012 PGA championship though. 

Maybe your Dad's guy works for Harbortown or Sea Pines in Hilton Head?

---

I stopped at Top Golf yesterday to check it out. Has anybody been there? Is it any fun? Compared to real golf it just looks kinda lame. It felt like a bowling alley to me with the tables and the drinks. Is this "golf" of the future?

My son showed up unexpectedly and we were looking for something to do. This isn't it for me. Am I just too cynical?

---

Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

I stopped at Top Golf yesterday to check it out. Has anybody been there? Is it  any fun? Compared to real golf it just looks kinda lame. It felt like a bowling alley to me with the tables and the drinks. Is this "golf" of the future?

My son showed up unexpectedly and we were looking for something to do. This isn't it for me. Am I just too cynical?

I played it with my sons and I enjoyed it. It's more challenging than it looks and there are several games with different strategies. It's a fun way to pass some time while having food and drinks, although there are some who take it pretty serious. There's a national tournament which the Golf Channel airs. My son tells me his boss even keeps a set of clubs at the facility because he's so into it.  

It's a tool to grow the game. Greg Norman, a former world #1 who only played 5 rounds last year because he is so occupied with his business interests, made a compelling argument for the importance of Top Golf. Of the 90 million people who played there last year, half had never set foot on a golf course. If the golfing industry can get a fraction of those people to visit a course, it would grow the game tremendously.

---

So we had our trip this last weekend. My boss and his boss where cool showing us newbies the course and how it all works. We picked up our balls ALOT I only finished one or two holes. I tee'd off the red spots while they tee'd off the ones really far back that made it easier. It was beautiful and I get the appeal of the game now. Alot more exhausting than I expected and at least where we played way more expensive than I imagined. But it was a good time.

---

So we had our trip this last weekend. My boss and his boss where cool showing us newbies the course and how it all works. We picked up our balls ALOT I only finished one or two holes. I tee'd off the red spots while they tee'd off the ones really far back that made it easier. It was beautiful and I get the appeal of the game now. Alot more exhausting than I expected and at least where we played way more expensive than I imagined. But it was a good time.

That's great. Glad you had a fun round with no big pressure from the experienced guys.

---

So we had our trip this last weekend. My boss and his boss where cool showing us newbies the course and how it all works. We picked up our balls ALOT I only finished one or two holes. I tee'd off the red spots while they tee'd off the ones really far back that made it easier. It was beautiful and I get the appeal of the game now. Alot more exhausting than I expected and at least where we played way more expensive than I imagined. But it was a good time.

Glad to hear it went well. It is a great game, I walked 9 quiet holes alone today in New England with just one club, a 4-hybrid. The birds were everywhere singing, squirrels chased each other through the woods and I even saw a deer.

Well worth $18.

---

Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

I stopped at Top Golf yesterday to check it out. Has anybody been there? Is it  any fun? Compared to real golf it just looks kinda lame. It felt like a bowling alley to me with the tables and the drinks. Is this "golf" of the future?

My son showed up unexpectedly and we were looking for something to do. This isn't it for me. Am I just too cynical?

I played it with my sons and I enjoyed it. It's more challenging than it looks and there are several games with different strategies. It's a fun way to pass some time while having food and drinks, although there are some who take it pretty serious. There's a national tournament which the Golf Channel airs. My son tells me his boss even keeps a set of clubs at the facility because he's so into it.  

It's a tool to grow the game. Greg Norman, a former world #1 who only played 5 rounds last year because he is so occupied with his business interests, made a compelling argument for the importance of Top Golf. Of the 90 million people who played there last year, half had never set foot on a golf course. If the golfing industry can get a fraction of those people to visit a course, it would grow the game tremendously.

I'm mildly concerned with growth in the game but it takes too long to play rounds on public courses as is.  And if the game starts growing at any kind of increased pace, it'll only get worse.  I also have to think in some way, the amount of time it takes to play a round is what scares some people off. 

Top Golf is such a great idea.  Surprised it didnt come around sooner.  Great way to have fun even if you dont like golf.  Hitting off mats doesnt help my game(you dont get punished for hitting it fat) so I never go to work on my swing.  But a lot of fun to go with friends, have a few drinks, and screw around.

---

________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

I played it with my sons and I enjoyed it. It's more challenging than it looks and there are several games with different strategies. It's a fun way to pass some time while having food and drinks, although there are some who take it pretty serious. There's a national tournament which the Golf Channel airs. My son tells me his boss even keeps a set of clubs at the facility because he's so into it.  

It's a tool to grow the game. Greg Norman, a former world #1 who only played 5 rounds last year because he is so occupied with his business interests, made a compelling argument for the importance of Top Golf. Of the 90 million people who played there last year, half had never set foot on a golf course. If the golfing industry can get a fraction of those people to visit a course, it would grow the game tremendously.

I'm mildly concerned with growth in the game but it takes too long to play rounds on public courses as is.  And if the game starts growing at any kind of increased pace, it'll only get worse.  I also have to think in some way, the amount of time it takes to play a round is what scares some people off. 

Top Golf is such a great idea.  Surprised it didnt come around sooner.  Great way to have fun even if you dont like golf.  Hitting off mats doesnt help my game(you dont get punished for hitting it fat) so I never go to work on my swing.  But a lot of fun to go with friends, have a few drinks, and screw around.

It's all about course management. Using starters and having a course marshal to make the rounds keeps things flowing nicely. Courses in other parts of the country, which have to capitalize during golf weather months, do a good job of maximizing course utilization. Florida tends to be complacent because we have year round playing weather. 

Hyde Park is a perfect example. If a bus load of Japanese beginner golf tourists sharing the same bag of clubs had just cleared the first green, the club house would gladly take your money and not say a word about it while watching you tee off. My son and I once had to cut a game short after the third hole because there were, I kid you not, 16, S-I-X-T-E-E-N players stacked up between the 4th and 5th tees. We motored back to the clubhouse to let them know and possibly get a rain check. They just shrugged while the 'manager' sat in the back office and picked his nose. I believe there's plenty of room to grow the game if managed correctly. Promoting 9 hole play and faster play, like Jack Nicklaus's Tee It Forward campaign, are good ways to get casual players out and spending.

---

The Tee It Forward idea is vastly underrated. I played with my stubborn son-in-law last week who insisted on playing from the 6100 yd blue tees while I played from the 5600 white tees. I was enjoying my round and he was generally miserable. On the 9th hole, I convinced him to play the whites on the back nine.

His front nine 58 became a respectable back nine 50 and we had a good time. He's just not a 6100 yd golfer. 

You see it a lot, even guys playing from the black tees at, say, 6800 yds and they are playing poorly. Move up...enjoy it more.

---

Season Ticket holder since 2004.