These Country Clubs Make Flagstaff’s Look Low-Priced

Some of the country clubs in Flagstaff can get fairly pricey. We know, because we made a country club comparison chart for them. At $60,000, the Flagstaff Ranch equity buy-in can be jaw-dropping if you don’t know golf very well. (Equity is different from a simple joining fee or membership purchase, since often you can get your money back upon leaving.)

But how do they compare with the most exclusive clubs out there? What about the ones where membership is invitation-only, or where memberships are bought and sold like commodities because they are artificially limited? Read on to find out.

Japan

Comparing anything to Japan’s golf prices may not even be fair. The first-world country is smaller than California but has about half the population of the entire U.S., so land is at a premium. Golf courses, therefore, are even more of a luxury there than they are in the U.S.

Here’s a New York Times story—from 1987, no less—where a man made an open offer of $3.57 million to buy a membership at the Koganei Country Club, and no one took him up on it!

Granted, the sport has declined nationally since the early nineties. A Bloomberg article has this to say about Japan’s golfing heyday:

Back in the late 1980s and early 90s, new company hires would get golf lessons as part of their training, and lines of recruits would stand by phones to book tee-off times for their bosses at courses that were often more than 100 kilometers from Tokyo.

As their own game improved, they’d have to rise at 3 a.m. to pick up senior executives before driving two hours or more to a course. They had to arrive before the clients, who would be presented with gifts of new golf balls, clubs or attire. As the game progressed, they needed to be good enough to always lose to the client by only a few strokes.

These days, there are about half the active golfers in Japan as there were, as show by this chart from The Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan:

Today, while memberships aren’t sold as high, and while companies don’t likely purchase memberships as investments anymore, the Koganei Country Club is still regarded as one of the most expensive in the world. We couldn’t find information on what memberships are currently going for, but it can be up to $354.50 just to play.

Singapore

Here again, space is limited. This is the only island city-state in the world, and the small nation is known for its prosperity, to boot—it is a hub for world finance, transport, and commerce. It’s rated the highest in the world in “technology readiness” according to the World Economic Forum.

Supreme Court of Singapore at Night

I mean, just look at the structure at the top of their justice system, the court of appeals building. (It’s the spaceship at the top.)

A site called singolf.com keeps lists of memberships for sale, and monthly and yearly price charts. $330,000 Singapore dollars—$228,156.99 USD—is the highest we saw here. Actually, if you search for “country club membership sales” without the quotes on Bing, this site is currently the second site in the search results!

Or, click here for a list of memberships for sale at the Singapore Island Country Club, complete with the seller’s name and contact information, listed right on their website!

New Jersey

Want to play golf with a nice view of the Stature of Liberty and New York City? Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem once said:

It costs quite a bit to take full advantage of it. The Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey has been rated the #1 most expensive club before. With a joining fee of $374,400 at the time of one article we found, its price is just as jaw-dropping as its setting.

Well, I hope this little jaunt has made you more appreciative of the price of Flagstaff golfing luxuries. If you have any clubs or membership stories you would like to add, please leave them in the comments below!