Albany’s business community oftentimes networks on the links. The variety of courses available include both public and private options, including some that have the sort of initiation fees that place them solidly among the facilities intended for the economic elite. The courses available, however, do not contrast from one to the next so much that a small initiation and membership fee automatically equates to a diminished experience on the links, or among the people that frequent them. One of Albany’s golf courses, Grand Island, in fact, has recently proven that courses with open membership policies can be astonishingly popular.

Grand Island’s recent problems, and impressive comeback, seem to indicate that there’s more than one philosophy that can lead to a successful country club. Boasting very affordable membership fees, this course, once a burden on its public administrators and a place where money seemed mired in the kind of hazards and traps that characterize the challenging course itself, has become a story of how a once endangered enterprise can become a resounding success. After almost being shut down, the course turned a profit of over $47,000 in the 2009-10 season. Changes in the relationship between the county and the course have brought this about and, like Albany’s business community in general, the course has proved very resilient.

The Doublegate course offers more of an exclusive vibe. The course is popular with businesspeople and, to that end, the facility maintains meeting and banqueting spaces for its members. Membership fees at this course are substantial, a cost that members feel is offset by the play on the course. For those who are looking for an affordable place to network, however, the $2,400 initiation fee, according to its website in July, 2010, may be prohibitive, though the facilities are wholly upscale.

Rated as the best new golf course in 1997 by Golf Digest, Stonebridge also offers an exclusive feel. This course is designed around both play and aesthetics, with tranquil spaces offering players a place to get lost in their game and a recently-renovated clubhouse offering a place to socialize. As is the case with many golf courses, this one has other facilities included among the offerings to its members, such as the fitness center, replete with nautilus equipment and free weights. The socializing among the well-to-do at this course includes extravagant holiday gatherings. This course features different levels of membership but, like Doublegate, the membership fees run over $2,000 for initiation.

River Pointe makes an effort to offer the best of both worlds. This is among the courses that are classified as public/private, with the greens and tennis courts being available to those who just want to wander in for a game or two without having full memberships to the club. The comparatively low $500 initiation fee at this course does not mean that the facilities are at all lacking, however. This course has won popularity contests in local publications consistently, has its own pros on staff and offers comfortable facilities next to the Flint River.

Course Specifics:
· Grand Island: Par 72, 7,012 Yards, Slope 130, Rating 73.3
· Doublegate: Par 72, 7,000 Yards, Slope 123, Rating 72.1 (championship range)
· Stonebridge: Par 72, 6,913 Yards, Slope 134, Rating 73.1
· River Pointe: Par 72, 6,915 Yards, Slope 134, Rating 73.1

All of these courses prove one thing: even the most established forms of business networking have gone online. Each of them has a website devoted to reaching out to new players, showing that even exclusive clubs are always seeking new members.