Over at the GolfWRX I came across a really great deal for frequent travelers that like to golf when they travel. ClubCorp is currently offering its Travel Signature Gold Unlimited membership for $50/month, but are also discounting it to $25/month for those with residence in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Minnesota, and Montana. For that fee you receive the following benefits when traveling 100+ miles from your registered residence:

• Two free* green fees per club, each month at more than 200 country clubs
• Two free* 4-course meals per club, each month at business clubs in more than 50 cities
• Complimentary access to TaylorMade loaner clubs
• 21-day advanced tee times
• Access to pools and tennis courts at clubs across the country
• Special offerings at more than 1,000 hotels, resorts and restaurants
• And so much more!

In practice, the complimentary greens fees equates to 18 holes costing anywhere form $15 - $30 depending on the club, with some offering discounted twilight cart fees as well. Depending on the club, this can be a great deal or just so-so. The loaner club offer can also take some of the hassle out of traveling with your own clubs, but is only offered at the ClubCorp owned/operated clubs and not at affiliate/alliance clubs. Also, the 21-day advanced tee times" means you can book UP TO 21-days out... but you can also book as late as day-of, depending on availability (which there's usually plenty of during the week).

As far as dining is concerned, this is where I've found the real value of the membership. Most of the dining club locations are ClubCorp's "Tower Club" facilities, usually high atop office buildings in larger cities, well appointed, and offering quite good cuisine. A typical 4-course meal would end up with a bill in the ~$65 range of which you would pay only tax and gratuity. It's not advertised, but they will also honor it for their lunch buffets (usually ~$25) and Happy Hour usually starting around 5:30 local time (you pay for alcoholic drinks, complimentary hot hors d'oeuvres).

As I said, the dining is the real value for me. After explaining the program to my boss, he's allowing me to expense the monthly membership during any month where my receipted dining while traveling for work exceeds the $50 fee, as well as the tax/gratuity. This is a win-win since my employer saves significantly on my dining expenses as long as I make use of it at least once/month and I make use of the golf and other benefits of the membership.

Lastly, it seems you can sign up for the membership using any address where you can receive mail (mostly just to receive your membership card, which isn't really a necessity once you have your member number). You can also have a different billing address than your resident address. As such, I signed up using my parents' address as my residence so I can use the benefits at home as well. This is a boon because there are 15-20 member golf clubs within 40 miles, and 3 dining clubs within 30 miles. It seems likely you could use even any address for your residence, even a hotel you might be visiting in one of the discounted states, and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism to catch that.

As an example of the value that can be extracted from this membership, I'll present my trip to the FLL area this week. I played one afternoon round of golf at Lago Mar with rental clubs along with one buffet lunch and one 4-course dinner at the Tower Club Fort Lauderdale. Receipted cost for all would have been ~$230 ($65 for greens fees & cart, $60 for club rental, $35 for lunch, $70 for dinner)... price paid was $51 ($29 for cart fee, $7 for lunch, $16 for dinner)... and my out-of-pocket (not expensed) was just the $29 cart fee.

The main drawback is that availability of both golf and dining options vary widely by market. Dallas has 10+ golf options and 2 dining options. Atlanta has 15+ golf options and 3 dining options. Miami proper has ZERO of either, but you could hike up to West Palm to play PGA National. New York has lots of golf options out Long Island and dining at Le Cirque Cafe and Osterial de Circo as well as entry to members' events at James Beard House. There are X golf options in/around Chigago and dining includes Metropolitan Club (Willis Tower), Mid-America club (80th floor, AON Tower), and the Sunday Gospel Brunch at House of Blues.

Prior to signing up for this membership I was already a ClubCorp Young Executive golf member at my local course cluster (2 clubs, 3 courses, no travel benefits). This membership is basically the Signature Gold Unlimited add-on benefit for ONE members, just without a home club. By combining the Young Executive membership with this membership, I'm basically getting ONE + Signature Gold for about 1/3 the price. I have 8 months left on my local club membership and I may even drop it all together and just use the Signature Gold Unlimited benefits... I could only play my local courses each twice/month, but I'd have substantially more variety available as well.

For anyone who likes to golf and eat well when they travel, this membership is an excellent deal. For anyone who can take advantage of residence (or access to a mailing address) in one of the discounted states, it's an absolute steal.

Details & Sign-up - http://www.clubcorp.com/Clubs/ClubCo...lubCorp-Travel

Benefits Finder - http://www.clubcorp.com/Membership/Benefits-Finder (use any "My Club", None for "Community", and Signature Gold Unlimited for "My World")