PLAYING golf can be an expensive exercise … lost balls, broken clubs and the unplanned stop at the 19th hole can add up to a fair sum of money at the end of the day.
Then, of course, there’s the actual cost of getting on to the greens.
According to the WA Business News list of golf courses, membership of Joodalup Country Club requires a $6000 outlay plus an annual fee.
If it’s a casual round of belting the ball you’re after, WA golf’s biggest employer of full-time staff charges $90 for a mid-week, 18-hole round and $140 for a weekend whack and walk.
The Vines is significantly cheaper in both membership fees and green fees, and it throws in the opportunity of a set or two of tennis as well.
Lake Karrinyup Country Club employs 80 staff to tend its greens, swimming pool, clubhouse, two restaurants and billiards tables, but 50 of those staff are part-timers.
WA’s oldest golf club, the Royal Perth in South Perth, was established in 1895 and is a little shy about publicly disclosing what amenities it offers patrons. Perhaps the club works on the principle that if you have to ask, you don’t need to be told.
The joining fee at Royal Perth is not such a secret – 4,000 big ones guv’nor.
Most of Perth’s golf courses do not differentiate par rounds between men and women, but those that do allow the ladies an extra shot or two include the aforementioned Royal Perth and Karrinyup courses, as well as the Hillview public golf course, the Western Australian Golf Club and the Kwinana Golf Club.
The 1980s were obviously boom years for golf, with 10 of WA’s top 20 clubs established in that decade.
