Wentworth Golf Club's astonishing fee
Wentworth Golf Club has announced a shocking new six-figure membership fee. Being a member of the right golf club has always been partly about status and who you meet on the green. At the exclusive Wentworth Golf Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, the new owner has decided to set the fees at the kind of level that will ensure you only mix with the very wealthiest of golfers: new members will have to pay £125,000.
Once you've forked out for membership, you'll need to pay the annual fees on top - which have been increased from £8,000 to £16,000. Existing members don't get much of a discount either, as they have to pay £100,000 - plus the annual fee. The BBC reported that members were unclear whether this was a debenture they would be able to sell on later, or effectively just a joining fee.
The fees have been set by the new owners, Reignwood Group, based in Beijing. They have declined to comment on them.
Members have generally agreed that the club needs more income in order to invest in updating its facilities - and the owners had promised to plough £20 million into the facilities over the next two years. Members wondered how the new owners would pay for these improvements, and the new fees seem to hold the answer to that question.
The move is also highly likely to weed out the non-millionaires, and ensure that the only people who can afford to play are the mega wealthy with hundreds of thousands of pounds to squander on their hobbies.
Most expensive
The club members have been calling this a cull on ordinary members, and many of them are expected to vote with their feet. Another exclusive club nearby told the FT it had already attracted three Wentworth members hoping to move clubs.
They can, however, console themselves with the fact that it could have been even worse. There are a number of clubs around the world that charge even more.
According to New England Golf Monthly, the most expensive is thought to be The Bridge Club in New York at which the Initiation Fee ranges from $750,000 to $850,000 (almost £549,000). This is followed by Sebonack Golf Club in Long Island at $650,000 (£420,000).
In third place is Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey at $450,000-$500,000 (£323,000), fourth is the East Hampton Golf Club at $400,000 (£259,000), and fifth the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster at $350,000 (£226,000). Golf News reported that the Trump course is actually joint fifth - alongside The Bear's Club in Florida.
But what do you think? Can golf really be worth so much? And can it ever be justifiable to ask people to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in order to indulge a sporting hobby? Let us know in the comments.
