Where You Can Play Golf With a Flexible Membership

By: Kieran Clark | Mon 04 Mar 2024

Our regular surveys with the Golfshake Community have shown that consumer habits in golf are evolving. Traditional memberships at clubs are robust and remain a significant foundation for the sport in this country, but there is a growing segment of the golfing population who are seeking alternatives.

Many choose to become nomadic, just paying as they play. For those who are put off by the annual cost of a subscription fee or simply don't have the time to justify that relationship with a specific club, this is a more than satisfactory solution for golfers.

However, there is rising demand for a bridge between these two existences. That's where flexible, or points-based memberships are becoming more common in the industry, essentially allowing golfers to buy a certain number of credits that can be redeemed for rounds as they go.

If you're someone who only plays semi-regularly during the peak weeks of the season, this might be a more cost-effective pathway to engage with the game.

This is something offered by several individual venues in the UK, including Crieff Golf Club in Perthshire, Goring & Streatley Golf Club in Berkshire, Coombe Wood Golf Club in Surrey and Mapperley Golf Club in Nottingham.

While that will appeal to some, more golfers will be aware of the umbrella organisations that encompass a wide variety of courses, where flexibility and adaptability are the key to ensuring that golfers have the form of membership that suits them best.

PlayMoreGolf

Haddington Golf Club

Arguably the most comprehensive of flexible membership offerings, there are over 200 clubs that are now registered with the PlayMoreGolf network. Golfers select one club to join - the cost dependent on the venue - with players being assigned a number of points that they can redeem throughout a particular golf season at their leisure.

If you desire to inject a bit more variety into your experience, then flexi points can be purchased too, which provides access to any of the courses that are under the PlayMore Golf framework.

We'd encourage you to search through their website to find places near to where you live, but for starters, golfers in the London area can look towards the likes of Croham Hurst Golf Club and Bletchingley Golf Club. If you're based in Birmingham, then how about Sandwell Park Golf Club and Penn Golf Club.

Based in Yorkshire? Then you can choose from layouts such as Pike Hills Golf Club and Low Laithes Golf Club. If you're located somewhere near Manchester, then Fairfield Golf Club and Withington Golf Club may appeal. Golfers in Scotland can enjoy the likes of King James VI Golf Club, Spey Valley, Aboyne Golf Club, Ratho Park Golf Club and Haddington Golf Club.

Get Golfing

Get Golfing is a charity that oversees 12 golf courses in England, each of which presents a variety of memberships from the traditional to the flexible. The categories have been tailored to offer golfers the best value, depending on when and how often they wish to play.

Additionally, there is a Golf Passport option that is available for existing members to enjoy unlimited golf at all of the courses that are part of the portfolio. Pick one place to join, get yourself in there, and then benefit from tremendous flexibility.

The venues to choose from are Ansty Golf Club, Arkley Golf Club, Cobtree Manor, Hampton Court Palace, Mill Green Golf Club, North Downs, Pyrford Golf Club, Redlibbets Golf & Country Club, Sherfield Oaks Golf Club, Warley Park Golf Club, Tadcaster Golf Club and Winter Hill.

QHotels

From just £295, golfers can play up to 50 rounds at one of the seven QHotels venues, namely The Telford, Belton Woods, Slaley Hall, Forest Pines, Oulton Hall, Dunston Hall and Westerwood. That itself sounds rather good, but there are additional membership options available from only £375 that would allow golfers to use their points at any of the courses!