Honestly, neither one is better. It comes down to how often you play, how you like to book, and whether a handicap matters to you. If you play once a month, pay-as-you-play almost always wins on cost. If you are out most weekends, a traditional membership usually works out cheaper per round and gives you a club to belong to. And if you sit somewhere in the middle, as most golfers do, there is a third option worth knowing about. Here is how the sums, and the less obvious trade-offs, actually stack up at The Hertsmere in Elstree.
By The Hertsmere team4 min read
The honest answer, before the sales pitch
Golf clubs are not always straight with you on this question, so we will be. A traditional membership is a commitment. You pay up front, and the value depends entirely on how many rounds you actually play, not how many you plan to play in January. Pay-as-you-play is the opposite. You only pay for the golf you get, but you give up some of the things that make club golf feel like club golf: a handicap, priority booking, and a place that knows your name. The right choice is the one that matches your real diary, not your ideal one.
What pay-as-you-play gets you
At The Hertsmere, pay-and-play means exactly that. You book a tee time, you turn up, you play the same 18-hole Donald Steel parkland course the members play, a full par 72 measuring 6,376 yards from the whites. There is no interview, no waiting list, and no joining fee, because there is no joining. The best rates are always online, and with over 250 free parking spaces and a location 20 minutes from London inside the M25, it is an easy course to play on a whim.
The trade-offs are real, though. Green fees vary with demand, so peak weekend times cost more than a quiet weekday afternoon. You cannot hold an official England Golf handicap through green fees alone. And when the sun comes out and everyone wants Saturday morning, visitors book behind members, not alongside them.
What traditional membership gets you
A full membership flips all of that. Your cost per round falls the more you play, your booking access improves, and you get the competitive and social side of the game: club competitions, an official handicap, and a clubhouse that functions as your local. At The Hertsmere that clubhouse is the Script Restaurant and Bar, open seven days a week from 7:30am, serving Modern British food with a balcony looking out over the course. It is the sort of place a membership quietly earns its keep, one coffee and one Sunday roast at a time.
The catch is the maths. If work, family, or weather cut your season short, a full subscription can end up costing more per round than simply paying as you go. Be honest about your likely rounds per year before you commit.
The middle ground: Flexi membership from £300 a year
This is where most Hertfordshire golfers actually sit, and it is why we built the Flexi membership. From £300 a year you get 120 points to spend on golf, and the useful parts of membership come with it:
- No joining fee, so there is nothing to lose by trying it for a year
- An official England Golf handicap, so your golf counts
- A 14-day booking window, so you can plan ahead of visitors
- 10 per cent off food and drink at the Script Restaurant and Bar
- Points-based golf, so quiet times cost you less and nothing goes to waste if you have a busy month
Think of it as membership without the gamble. You are not betting a full subscription on a season you cannot predict, but you are not locked out of handicaps and booking access either.
See which option fits your golf
Compare Flexi and our other membership options in full, or just book a tee time and come and see the course first. No interview, no hard sell.
How to decide
Count your realistic rounds for the year, not your hopeful ones. A handful of rounds a year: stay pay-and-play and book online for the best rates. Once or twice a month, or you want a handicap: Flexi is almost certainly your answer. Most weekends, plus competitions and the social side: look at a full membership and do the cost-per-round sum yourself. And if you are undecided, use the rest of the club while you think. The 26-bay floodlit Toptracer range is open until 10pm, there is a free 30-minute coaching assessment to sharpen you up, and Srixon custom fitting on site. You do not need a membership card for any of it. That is rather the point.
