Birches/Woods at Birchwood Farms Golf & Country Club

Member Beware

Northern Michigan has a bounty of great golf courses - scenic and challenging, public and private. Decisions as to where to play are made easy by the respect courses are given by those who have played them. But what about when interest turns to fondness and membership at a Club becomes appealing? Is it as simple as asking to join, paying an initiation fee and making a tee time, splashing in the pool or hitting the 19th hole?

It is not that simple. In fact, what is presented here represents two drastically different sets of rules and bylaws that can make club membership a wonderful experience, or a nightmare. Two long-standing golf clubs in the Harbor Springs area, Country Club of Boyne (CCB), and Birchwood Farms Golf and Country Club (BFGCC) represent vastly different approaches to membership, utilizing guidelines that govern how to join, rules of participation, and bylaws that dictate how and when you may resign your membership, and what it may cost You!

CCB, very simply, has an equity membership program. You buy, by way of an initiation fee, a membership that is sellable at the time you wish to no longer be a member. It may be that you can’t sell the membership immediately - their bylaws state that for every new membership sold an existing will be sold next - but you have something of value, a show of gratitude from the club for your dues over the term of your membership.

BFGCC, on the other hand, initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some “buildable” others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly. From that land purchase, like with CCB, you had something of value for your commitment to the club. The problem was the club had a decade of poor financial decisions by the management and board of directors that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. Even a member of good standing, with 30-plus years of devoted membership, who was too old to play golf or use the facility, was subject to the exorbitant buy out fee. Not only was there no gratitude for the members allegiance, they were being held a financial hostage for their servitude.

This is a classic case of read the fine print, or in this case, the bylaws. No well intentioned person, interested in joining a club, willing to commit to monthly dues, should ever be held over a fire for a club’s ineptness and greed.

Birchwood initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some “buildable” others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly. The problem is the club had a decade of poor financial decisions by the management and board of directors that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. Member beware and read the fine print

Birchwood, unlike many "equity" share clubs, initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some "buildable" others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly. The problem the is that the club experienced some questionable financial decisions by board and management that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. Not an enticing way for a club to go about its business. Member Beware, and read the bylaws fine print

Birchwood, unlike many "equity" share clubs, initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some "buildable" others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly. The problem the is that the club experienced some questionable financial decisions by board and management that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. Not an enticing way for a club to go about its business. Member Beware, and read the bylaws fine print

Birchwood, unlike many "equity" share clubs, initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some "buildable" others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly. The problem the is that the club experienced some questionable financial decisions by board and management that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. Not an enticing way for a club to go about its business. Member Beware, and read the bylaws fine print

Birchwood initially required property purchase for membership. There were varying lots of different sizes, some “buildable” others merely membership lots; prices were set accordingly.. The problem was the club had a decade of poor financial decisions by the management and board of directors that resulted in property values plummeting - to the point of being worthless. What the club chose to do to compensate for the downfall was implement bylaws that forced members, at the time they cared to resign their memberships, to pay a $15,000 buyout fee. And, additionally, should the family member who originally joined not buy their way out, upon their death the membership passed on to their family. A cautionary tale, beware member