“The members’ sweat equity cuts our maintenance budget in half.”

Bill Pennington's superb Sunday front page New York Times piece from Sunday is surely making the rounds at clubs across the land. And if it hasn't gone viral--entirely possible in a world where email is still a new thing--here is a must read for all the struggling clubs out there looking to get more out of their dues paying members!

It seems there is a trend toward members taking on various tasks to keep their clubs either from falling into disrepair or from requiring a dues increase.

In the case of South Carolina's Timberlake Country Club...

“The members’ sweat equity cuts our maintenance budget in half,” said Timberlake’s general manager, David Madden, whose maintenance budget is about $250,000, or about one-sixth of annual revenue.

Cutting down those three Timberlake trees, for example, would have cost about $1,800 if done professionally. Earlier this year, when it came time to construct a new fitness center, grill and card room in the clubhouse there, one member donated the wallboard and other members installed it. When the club decided it needed rolling bar stations for outside parties, two members built them by hand. In 2011, the club president, Julie Nelson, counted nearly 3,000 hours of members’ labor.

The club does pay a small maintenance staff for mowing fairways and greens, and the heavy-duty labor performed by members is done under the supervision of the course superintendent. But the hands-on ownership attitude runs deep. With the Timberlake community about 70 percent retirees, it is common for four or five couples living on a particular hole to adopt the hole. They keep an eye on the flower beds around the tee boxes, cut and trim the edges of sand traps, weed the fringe around the green and remove loose debris, tree limbs or trash from the fairways and rough.

If they need a reminder of what is at stake, they look east toward the ocean, where 22 courses in the once-booming golf haven of Myrtle Beach have all but vanished in the last decade, with young trees sprouting through the old greens.

“I hope the economy improves and the members might not have to do all this extra work,” Mr. Madden said. “But right now, it’s letting us survive and prosper.”

There was also this reminder for clubs not owned by members:

Not far away, the developer of D’Andrea Golf Club in Sparks, Nev., lost money year after year without the revenue that a robust housing market was expected to provide. In March, Will Gustafson, the managing partner of the ownership group, asked the D’Andrea homeowners association for a $28 monthly maintenance fee to keep the golf course open.

The homeowners voted against paying the fee. The next day, Mr. Gustafson closed the course. Within weeks, the fairways were burned from the heat. At night, bikers were doing wheelies on the greens and vandals invaded the majestic clubhouse set high on a bluff.

Nick Oddo, a retired real estate executive who lives nearby, quickly organized a neighborhood group to raise $90,000 to pay for the temporary watering of the golf course. He brought in the local Guardian Angels at night for security. Mr. Oddo is still trying to come up with $5 million to keep D’Andrea afloat.

“Not what I expected in retirement,” Mr. Oddo, 82, said. “But the golf course is a jewel we shouldn’t let go. In life, things can’t always be about the money; otherwise, we would not have any museums, libraries or playgrounds.”

Give it time Mr. Oddo, give it time!