Club Corp's Play Away Membership; Your Access to Free Golf at Private Clubs Across the USA.

Ok as we all know, nothing in life is free so I should clarify.  Club Corp's Play Away Membership allows you to play country clubs around the USA (and even other countries) without paying a green fee.  If you travel a lot for work or pleasure, this program can be an amazing deal for you.

Let's take a closer look at what the Play Away Membership actually is.  Club Corp owns a lot of golf properties and has access to many more within their network.  In general the program works with you paying a monthly fee and then can golf twice per month per club without paying any greens fees (must pay cart fee).  The catch is this is a travel membership and with that you can't play any member club within 100 miles of where you live.  So while Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines is part of the network, I can't play there because I live in the area.  If you also live in the Des Moines metro some of the closest options include Davenport Country Club, Champions Run Country Club (Omaha) and Somerby Golf Club (Rochester, MN).  You can view the full list of available courses on the link above, which includes some high profile courses like Firestone Country Club in Ohio.

The monthly membership fee varies depending on location.  The closer you are to lots of network courses the more you will pay.  If you live in Iowa the rate is currently $60/month, which is an amazing deal if you can work in a few rounds per month.  

Another perk with Club Corp is the benefits extend beyond just golf.  At the golf club you will have access to other amenities like the pool and tennis courts.  And there are hundreds of city clubs you have free access to, which may include free meals.  Locally in Des Moines the Embassy Club is an example, but again you can only go to ones outside of your 100 mile radius. 

Of course there are some other rules and restrictions so make sure your fully read through all of that information for any network golf membership.  One big one is that you can't play on Saturday & Sunday mornings at most of the facilities.

If regular travel is not on your calendar there are a few other ways to access great private courses around the country.  Mastercard members have a great benefit they may not be aware of.  If you are an Elite or World Elite member than you have access to the whole TPC course network, of which many are private courses.  And there is also a Hidden Network of clubs that you can find more about when calling their concierge number.