Chipping in to cut the costs of golfing

It is a sport that attracts premiership footballers and Hollywood actors – but with prices starting at less than £5 for a game, golf doesn't necessarily have the celebrity price tag to match.

At Three Hammers Golf Complex, Coven, and Himley Hall Golf Club, near Dudley, people can pay as they play and not be committed to a costly membership.

"Pay as you play golf is a good idea especially with the current economic climate," says Brian Henderson, aged 58, who has played at the Three Hammers Golf Complex near Wolverhampton for 20 years.

"I used to be a partner at KPMG and now I'm self-employed so this fits in well around work and I come down two or three times a week for some practice.

Brian,of Old Acre Lane, Brocton, near Stafford, added: "No golfer will want to give up his sport because it is a social as well as sporting activity, but just paying for what you use is a good idea."

At Himley Hall prices start at £5.80 for pensioners doing nine holes on a week day up to £13 for adults to play 18 holes at the weekend.

At Three Hammers players pay from £4.95 for unrestricted all-day play for senior citizens in the week through to £8.95 for unrestricted play for adults at weekends.

Both courses are popular and some golfers who have given up membership of other clubs during the recession now opt for pay-as-you-play instead.

Tom Beard, 68, of St Andrews Drive, Tividale, has been using Himley Hall for two years. The club is between Himley Park and Baggeridge and families visiting the parks pop into the modest wooden clubhouse for a snack or ice cream.

Tom regularly plays with friends Bob McNaney, 70, of Commonside, Pensnett, and John Bowater, 70, of Stokesay Close, Tividale.

He says: "Some weeks we can come and others we can't so it suits us to use the pay as you play scheme. We only pay £5.80 for nine holes and I would never be part of a club that has a yearly membership.

"It is only since I have retired from being an electrician with MEB that I have had the time to play golf." Bob, who used to work for a plastics company in Tipton, added: "Golf can be an expensive hobby and I think that with the credit crunch people will be thinking about getting rid of their course fees.

"I know people that have dropped out of clubs such as Bobbington and Swindon because they can't afford the fees."

John says: "We like the course here because it is quite big and the prices here haven't gone up in two years.

"We all enjoy golf because it gets us out and its good exercise, because at my age I can't play rugby."

Alan Baker, 67, of Claverley, near Wolverhampton, has leases on ground at Himley Hall from Dudley Council since 1979 when he developed it into a golf course.

"It was just a field when we took it over and the council wanted a golf course with a pay and play scheme," he says. "The benefits of pay and play are that if you haven't got the mega money to pay for a private club, which can be £800 upwards, you can pay when you want to.

"The feedback we have had from new visitors is that people are struggling with membership at clubs and so coming to us where they can have more control over their finances."

Ian Bonser, owner of Three Hammers Golf Complex, says that having a pay as you play scheme doesn't mean you can't have a club with top of the range facilities.

"We have spent £1 million on upgrading our facilities and are the number one golf academy in the Midlands," he says.

"As we are open to the general public we have more than 200,000 visitors a year because we offer affordable golf 365 days a year." Debbie Drury, 47, of Bloxwich, Walsall, and Sheila Winzor, 59, of Bushbury, Wolverhampton, enjoy going to the driving range at the Three Hammers.

"In February we started one of the short golfing courses for women," says Debbie.

"For £69 our get four weeks of excellent tuition and now we come here for a game, have lunch and then go on the driving range."

Sheila added: "My husband plays golf and I thought it would be good exercise, it is also very sociable.

"Golf is not a necessity so it will be the first thing to go for some people who have lost their jobs during the recession.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of wives across the country who won't think twice about telling their husbands to give up the expensive golf fees."