Courtesy: Thornhill Golf and Country club

Do you play golf at a public course or are you a member at a private club?

Are there advantages to private membership that make the high costs worthwhile?

Or are the vast number of public courses the best way to go?

Private memberships offer a number of attractive aspects: ongoing fellowship with other members, club championships, good tee times, social functions. These are the usual benefits of belonging to any club.

And you get all this in a very nice package.

My father-in-law belonged to a beautiful private golf club in Toronto until his failing health forced him to give up the membership last fall.

He was a member for more than 30 years and frequently used his membership as a business tool. There's another reason for private membership - a very large reason, in fact. Doing business after a round of golf at one's private golf club is very common.

Private clubs usually fall into two categories: equity membership and non-equity membership.

With equity membership, you actually own a piece of the club and have a say in how the club operates. It's a lot like owning a condo.

That equity membership takes on a market value, too.

In other words, in good times, your membership can increase in value. It's bricks and mortar, after all. Real estate.

And your membership could rise in value due to demand for your particular club.

The downside, of course, is that you and the other members all shoulder the financial burden of any repairs or expansion needed. Those could be very costly if a tornado blows across your course and there's not enough dough in the emergency fund. Insurance doesn't take care of everything.

And if the economy tanks and a few members fire-sale their memberships, everyone's values tumble. Just like the stock market, right?

The other form of private membership is non-equity. You own nothing. You pay a large fee to join and that money goes into a capital cost fund that the club uses for ongoing maintenance and repairs. But, just like the equity guys, you're not immune from a special levy in times of financial need.

Membership at my father-in-law's former club is not cheap. Just to get through the front door costs 40 grand. Per person. And that initial 40K outlay is not an equity membership, either.

Private clubs have struggled to maintain members over the years.

Four years ago, when the US economy wasn't quite so robust, private clubs were offering cut rate deals to attract business.

Golf Digest reported then that there were three reasons: a stagnant growth rate in the game, too many new private courses and the sluggish economy.

Four years later, one could argue that all three conditions still exist.

If I were to join a club today, it would be via an equity membership.

But there are so many great public tracks around, why would I want to restrict myself to playing just one?

What are your thoughts? If you're a private club member, we'd love to hear your take on this. Is it worth it or not? Drop us a line under "Comments" and let us know!!