We are not your typical golf club. We do not own a golf course. The world is our golf course. We take trips to the best golf destinations in the world with others who share our passion for golf and travel. No a--holes allowed.
We were founded in 1994 by Tom Dwyer of Prescott, Arizona. Dwyer taught us that "golf is mostly about with whom you play." In other words, for us, it is mostly about sharing this wonderful journey with other golf-loving addicts. Life is too short to play golf with a--holes. Yes, we have removed folks from the membership roles for violating this hard and fast rule — two in fact. If you have to ask where the boundary lies, that is not a good sign.
Friars come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us are scratch golfers, even aspiring professionals, others not so much. Some of us are young, others are running as fast they can from the Grim Reaper. Some of us come with deep pockets and others scrape together their precious dollars to go on trips. Some of us just love to play great courses, others just love to play any course with great people. Some of us drink a little too much, others not at all. Some of us tell great golf stories and love an audience, others are more solitary. And so on.
Join: The Friars Golf Club
We have many eccentric characters who may not fit neatly into your usual round of golf with friends. The keys to unlocking the potential of The Friars are acceptance and engagement. Accept everyone for who they are, faults included, even if very different from you. And engage with your fellow Friar members, learn as much about them as you do about the courses you play. We have folks who never would have met but for The Friars, and have become lifelong friends. Now, this doesn't happen every time. But it can happen on every Friars trip where you arrive by yourself and end up with a bucket of new friends.
We play "Friars Rules of Golf," which may disappoint those who live by the real Rules of Golf. A four-hour round is the expectation not the exception. When we hit drives off the planet, we don’t hit provisionals — we drop nearest to the point of entry. We don't hit shots off rocks or tree roots. The competition is more to keep it interesting than to find out who the best golfer is. We award "The Bag of Sand" to those sandbaggers who play the best, and then mock them mercilessly.
The late Gord LeRiche summed it up best. LeRiche was a four-time amateur champion in his native Ontario, Canada, in his youth. In his later years, he was a 10-handicap who struggled with chipping and putting yips. When asked why he continued to play the game and come on Friars trips despite his obvious struggles, LeRiche would smile and say that he loved the camaraderie and the challenge of hitting one perfect shot each round. He played with folks of all abilities, and was always the first one to celebrate a great shot, no matter what your handicap was.
The Friars Golf Club is not for everybody. You have to love golf, travel and people. You can't sweat the small stuff. No one gets out of life alive — so we might as well enjoy the time we have. This is the spirit that animates us, and every trip and event we do.
The Friars Golf Club is a strategic content partner of The First Call. The views and opinions expressed by The Friars Golf Club are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The First Call.