l am a junior golfer.i live less than two minutes from a private golf club, the membership is £200 p.a, the people there(from wat l saw) are less than friendly, and it seems a bit 'dead'. the public course is about 10 minutes away, the membership is half the price, with access to many other courses. l mite feel slightly more 'at home here''.The condition of the courses are similar, but obviously, the private one is of a higher standard..pls advise

If your going to end up playing by yourself, l would definitely choose the pubic course. This way if you get paired up with a threesome, you will at least run into some nice people who you can enjoy playing with. At the private course you could run into the type of players who dislike the younger players because in my opinion, they are mad because were better than them. Less money, more enjoyable, better atmosphere, and you can feel at home at the public course, trust me.

As a junior golfer, l would definitely go for the public course. Private courses r more for the social, elite or business golfers that want to meeting others of the same level, & want privacy & leisure when they play golf. For the price u pay to join the private club, u can probably get a lot more rounds of golf in a public course.

Another important fact is that for u to improve ur game, u should not just play 1 course. Different courses offer different challenges that would better tune ur over all game.

You will probably meet more down-to-earth people on the public courses too that r much friendlier, which will translate to a more enjoyable round of golf for you.

Go for the lower fee and be with those of your age and paying ability who are members of the public course. When you have several juniors in the same status as you , there is much competition, easier to find a game and a more relaxed atmosphere. Spend part of the savings on fares to get you to other public venues.