The San Diego Union-Tribune has documented the incredible shrinking initiation fees at some of Southern California’s premier private clubs.
The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe, which opened in the late 1990s with an initiation fee of $350,000, has cut its entry fee by nearly two-thirds, to $125,000. The levy at The Santaluz Club in San Diego, which charged $140,000 when it opened in 2002, is now $50,000. And The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, where members once paid more than $100,000, attracts just $20,000 today.
“We’re out of the recession, really, but we’ve still got the over-saturation,” said Bruce Bennetts, the general manager of The Farms. “We’ve just got too many golf clubs. We need more of them to close, and then everybody would be healthier.”
Of course, it’s important to note that lower prices attract members, and the name of the game in golf these days is monthly dues, not initiation fees.
