A month ago, for example, the golf rich Landings on Skidaway Island announced an initiation fee reduction from $55,000 to $30,000. Divide its well-kept and diverse roster of six courses and three clubhouses by the new initiation fee, and the charge appears quite reasonable for private clubs (about $5,000 per course). The Landings, which is a mature, decades-old community has virtually no unsold properties remaining, but club members are residents who understand that their home values depend on a brisk resale market. The lower initiation fees will encourage sales activity.
Just last week, the elegant, 900-acre enclave of Briar's Creek, on Johns Island just south of Charleston, announced it was dropping its fees from $160,000 to $100,000 -- and an additional $30,000 for those who purchase a home site from the developer's relatively large remaining inventory. Incentives are the common currency of developers pressured to move "dirt," as unsold lots are termed, but a price reduction of nearly 60%, especially at such a refined club with a wonderful Rees Jones layout, is unprecedented in my experience, except for a number of courses that are eliminating fees altogether.
For private club members, big reductions in new member initiation fees are less drastic than the alternative -- opening for public play. Those who have dreamed of joining a top-flight private club but couldn't afford it might look again. Golf is on sale.