Have you played private country clubs?

I received a great email from one of my members at Reciprocal Golf the other day after he had played a round at a private country club that we had arranged for him. Garrett Garland has to be the best golfer among our members. A few months ago I had set him up to play a private club where he played with three of the club's members.

The three members played from the white tees, and Garrett played from the blues, and played the ball down. Garrett shot a 63 and beat the course record of 64 by one stroke! The members took him into the clubhouse after the round and had a party for him, acknowledging that he was the new course record-holder. Garrett is 65 years old.

Here is his email he sent to me after he played the TPC Course at Piper Glen last week:

Pete, I played the TPC Course at Piper Glen today that you set up for me. They used to host a Senior Tour event there until Quail Hollow got a PGA Tour event and then they canceled it. Arnold Palmer ran it.

I came down alone as my buddy had to work. It is expensive but very nice and in terrific condition. The pro even gave me two bags of Tour Only Pro V's to hit at the range.

I talked to the head pro for about five minutes, thanking him for letting me play his course. I talked to the assistant pro for about fifteen minutes and the starter for another ten minutes. I then hit balls and chatted with the members on the range.

I got paired up with the President and Senior Vice President of Fluor, one of the largest builders in the world; both great guys and the VP was a 3-handicap. The President doesn't play all that much and he was pretty erratic early on. I gave him a tip on the 6th hole and he started hitting it much better. We played the tips and I shot a few under, 68 or 69. We had a lot of laughs.

After the round we went in for a beer and talked for about half an hour. They asked if I would play with them again, and of course I said, Yes. I know we both harp on this but let your members know to be especially nice to everyone they meet at a course where they are a guest. They will not remember what you shot but they will remember what you were like as a person. It always pays off.

Take care Pete.

Garrett

It is golfers like Garrett Garland that prompted me to start Reciprocal Golf in February of 2003. Even members of private country clubs have trouble getting onto other private golf courses because their head pros are too busy to set it up for them. And many non-members of a private club wish they could play many private golf courses when they travel, rather than spend a small fortune to join one club and only play that one club!

I enjoy receiving emails like Garrett's above from our members. They remind me why I do what I do.