Tour GCX

Thanks to reader Tuco for this fascinating Michael Buteau story from Bloomberg on a new club membership concept called Tour GCX. A few highlights:

Tour GCX has prospered by introducing fractional -- or time- share -- memberships at top clubs. Some could use the cash. Private U.S. golf courses, with $14 billion in annual revenue, are mired in a bunker of declining members and flat earnings, according to club officials and resort companies such as Dallas- based ClubCorp Inc. Tour GCX pays clubs a fee to discreetly schedule golfers and their guests into vacant tee times, usually at off-peak hours.

"If some members knew about this, they wouldn't be happy,'' says Gary Rosenberg, Tour GCX's marketing chief.

And this:

"The wives control the men,'' says Gold, 53. "A guy can join Tour GCX and not get the aggravation from his wife saying `Honey, we could have gone to Europe with that money.' He doesn't really want to go to Europe.''

And:

When Tour GCX golfers arrive at a club, they'll often find a locker has been prepared with an engraved nameplate like the ones given members.