From the Clubhouse: Are we being priced out of playing the UK’s top golf courses?
What is happening with pricing at our best golf courses? Is a true bucket list experience increasingly becoming out of reach for the average club golfer?
As we peer ahead into 2023 and start looking at booking our summer trips, it’s clear that it’s becoming ever more expensive to tick off a layout that appears in the various Top 100 lists, such as NCG Top 100s.
On this week’s From the Clubhouse, a podcast from National Club Golfer, Tom and I delve into visitor green fee costs at our most prestigious venues – considering the current set of increases, why courses are putting up their prices, and what it might mean for those of us who aspire to play them.
We also look at smart ways of lessening the impact on the wallet for those prepared to swerve a summer weekend tee time, and speculate on what might happen to UK golf in the future if prices continue to spiral.
You’re in for a lively hour of debate…
From the Clubhouse podcast on visitor green fees
You can listen in the player below, or click the button to go to your preferred podcast player.
Is a visitor green fee getting too expensive on the UK’s best golf courses? What are your thoughts? Let us know by tweeting us.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
