Typhoon You on a diet? No lunch??

Yes. Plus because of the winter rates we save a little eating lunch at home.

      Eguller Why is that? Isn't the most significant change for 2024 the addition of "course rating minus par" to the calculation of course handicap? How would this change affect the impact of rounds like this to one's handicap index?

        Spartan didn't understand that at first. I'm used to winter rates that are cheaper than summer

        Yeah, we’re in snow bird season. The rates go up drastically. January thru March being the highest. We get a discount card that lowers it.

        For example one course we play a lot is $59 during weekday mornings. With the Paradise Card it’s $35. Then it’ll go up after Christmas to $41.

            Sneakylong Yeah, we’re in snow bird season. The rates go up drastically. January thru March being the highest.

            Whenever we're trying to book the Tampa golf trip, many course rates jump up the end of Feb. One "high end" course would be about $85 weekday mid Feb, but a week or 2 later it would be twice that and $250 weekend.

                KCee Whenever we're trying to book the Tampa golf trip, many course rates jump up the end of Feb. One "high end" course would be about $85 weekday mid Feb, but a week or 2 later it would be twice that and $250 weekend.

                I wouldn't know. We'd never pay that. On the Paradise Card for example Fox Hollow is $75 after Christmas. Right now it's $47. With our card most of the courses jump up after Christmas thru March.

                Then in April they come down. Then we get the summer card which is from April thru October. TPC in Lutz used to be $41 on the card. Now it was $125 until 12/10 and is now $149 thru March.

                Summer is the best time for locals to play here. Rates are much more reasonable.

                  DonM don't even want to know what I pay per round. Membership has its privileges. But low priced golf is not one of them

                  Yeah, I was a member for 10 years at one of the Tampa areas best semi private courses. It’s the last course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr.

                  The only way I could justify the cost was playing 3 times a week and walking. Otherwise it made no sense. When factoring in the cost of a cart it made no sense for me as well.

                  I now enjoy pay as I play and playing different courses. There’s no feeling of I have to play to justify the cost.

                    DonM I used to figure it out, but I don't want to know right now. My membership has doubled in cost since I joined 6 years ago and I played less this year. With a family and full time job I can't really play enough to justify it, but if I didn't join I'd probably hardly play at all.

                    If I was retired I don't know that I'd have a membership. You can play Mon-Fri then when everyone else is working and skip the pricier weekend rounds.

                        KCee If I was retired I don't know that I'd have a membership. You can play Mon-Fri then when everyone else is working and skip the pricier weekend rounds.

                        Exactly what my friends and I do.....we rotate around 7-10 of the nicest courses in the area (in our opinion anyway!), play them each 3 or 4 times a year and pay around $20 a round to walk.

                            fatshot That’s great! Walking saves a ton of money too. I love the kids that come to our place and say something about the cart price. I tell them they can walk.. saves $20/person. “ oh we can’t walk, we walk all week at work”🙄🙄🙄

                            Cha-Ching mother F’er.

                                KCee Our club offers a 5 day membership. For the first two years I've had the 7 day membership but I am leaning strongly to 5 day for 2024.

                                Mostly I consider it a luxury good that I've saved my money for and now I can afford it. Some people have other expensive things, I have a golf membership but don't spend money on much else.

                                  fatshot Midwest/Great Lakes pricing! You can't beat it. Chicago was expensive but we were just far enough away that we didn't have high prices. Since Covid, though, the rural northern Illinois prices have gone up a lot. There is nothing close to $20 walking except for an old nine holer way out in the sticks, play all day for $20 or so.

                                      DonM Midwest/Great Lakes pricing! You can't beat it.

                                      Yeah....we pay anywhere from $14 to $22, depending on the course. Talk about SHOCK when we get to
                                      Florida in January-February.....can't believe how lucky we are playing golf around here in the summer !!

                                        Typhoon depends on how I'm feeling, how much the cart fee is, and how many elevation changes there are...

                                            Walterjn Not to mention how far it is between tee boxes. On one of the courses I play a lot, it is probably about a quarter mile from the 16th green to the 17th tee. It's crazy.

                                                rsvman2 A lot of the courses around here are that way. They were built jointly as part of housing development and as much of the layout is to maximize residential lots as it is to create a good golf course. The courses are still good, but not particularly friendly to walking with tee boxes often separated by large distances from the last green.

                                                  Played yesterday. Looks like it might have been the last round of the year. Played the backside first, shot 43 with 2 doubles. Shot 41 on the front for 84. Great day for the 15th of December.
                                                  Damn mind.