Ponte Vedra Beach Golf and Country Club Memberships: What Each One Costs

Drive A1A and Ponte Vedra Boulevard on a Saturday morning and you pass the gates of several private clubs within a few miles: the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club on the ocean, The Plantation, Sawgrass Country Club, and TPC Sawgrass a little farther west. From the road they look alike. Gates, palms, a glimpse of a fairway. What they cost, and how they connect to the house you're buying, is completely different.

I live in Ponte Vedra Beach, and buyers who golf almost always ask, "if I buy here, am I in the club?" Usually the answer is no. Here's each club, what's been published or reported about its fees, and what to ask before you write an offer.

The House Price and the Club Price Are Two Different Numbers

Most Ponte Vedra Beach neighborhoods have an HOA, and the HOA dues have nothing to do with golf. Living inside Sawgrass Players Club does not make you a member of TPC Sawgrass. Living on a Sawgrass Country Club fairway does not make you a member of Sawgrass Country Club. Marsh Landing homeowners voted in 2022 to let Concert Golf Partners buy the club, and membership there is optional too.

That matters for two reasons. The club cost doesn't show up in the listing price, so a home that looks cheaper than a Plantation home may not be once you add a club. And an optional club can have a waitlist that starts when you apply, so if golf is why you're moving, the club timeline belongs in your plan from day one.

The Cost Snapshot

Clubs don't all publish their fees, and they change them. The table shows each figure with where it came from and when. Treat it as a starting point and confirm the current number with the club before you count on it.

Club by Club

The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach

The Plantation is the one place in Ponte Vedra Beach where the club comes with the house. It's a member-owned club inside a gated community of 577 homes, and when you buy a home or lot there, you become a member. There's no waitlist and no outside membership. The club's 2026 fee sheet lists a mandatory $120,000 initiation fee due at closing and monthly dues of $2,046, or $2,331 for Garden Homes, where lawn care is included.

The fee sheet breaks the dues down: $1,523 for golf, fitness, tennis, the beach club and clubhouse plus 24-hour security, mail service and common area upkeep; $206 for capital repairs; $275 for the Amenities Improvement Plan, a 96-month assessment that began in May 2024; and $42 for trash and recycling. There's no food and beverage minimum. The course is an Arnold Palmer original renovated in 2016, with Har-Tru tennis, pickleball and a private oceanfront beach club.

Sawgrass Country Club

Sawgrass Country Club is private and member owned, with 27 holes across three nines originally designed by Ed Seay. It hosted the Tournament Players Championship from 1977 to 1981, before TPC Sawgrass opened. Membership is separate from owning a home in Sawgrass, and the Jacksonville Daily Record reported in October 2025 that the club was at capacity with a waiting list.

In that same month, members approved a $55 million capital plan. It covers a renovation of all 27 holes by architects Dana Fry and Jason Straka, a new beach club pavilion, 13 new HydroCourts for tennis and a larger fitness center. Club + Resort Business reported that part of it is funded by a monthly assessment on members over five years, but the amount hasn't been published. On joining fees, the St. Johns Citizen listed $85,000 in November 2024. Several local brokerages report that it rose to $125,000 on December 1, 2025. The club doesn't post fees online, so confirm the number when you call.

TPC Sawgrass

TPC Sawgrass belongs to the PGA TOUR and is home to THE PLAYERS Stadium Course with its island green 17th. Owning a home in Sawgrass Players Club doesn't come with membership. What TPC offers locals is a Dye's Valley Annual Pass, which lets you play Dye's Valley year-round for the cart fee with no monthly dues and no food and beverage minimum, and a Social Membership for dining and events. TPC lists both as "inquire for price" and says there's a waitlist for Dye's Valley. In November 2024, the St. Johns Citizen reported $15,000 to join, $7,500 a year, and a 7 to 8 month wait. A newer local summary shows higher numbers, so ask.

Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and The Lodge & Club

The Inn & Club has two 18-hole courses. The Ocean Course dates to 1928, with its famous island green 9th, and it was chosen for the 1939 Ryder Cup before World War II canceled the matches. The Lagoon Course was built in two phases in 1961 and 1978. Membership is by application, with Social, All Sports, Tennis, Fitness and Golf options. The club says there are no monthly food or beverage minimums and no capital assessment fees, and it's building what it calls a reimagined private club, due in early 2027.

The St. Johns Citizen reported a $120,000 initiation, dues of $2,930 to $6,188 a year and a three-year wait in November 2024. One local brokerage's July 2026 summary lists a much higher initiation, so this is a club where the only number to trust is the one the membership office gives you. The Lodge & Club, its beach club sister down the road, was listed at $40,000 to join and $4,200 a year in the same 2024 report.

Marsh Landing Country Club

Marsh Landing's 18-hole course was designed by Ed Seay and opened in 1986. In 2022, Concert Golf Partners bought the club for $5.4 million after 92 percent of the 800 homeowners who voted approved the deal, and membership is optional. The club offers Full Golf, Junior, Sports and Social categories, and it says the initiation is a one-time, non-refundable fee. It doesn't publish amounts, and the figures floating around online disagree by tens of thousands of dollars. Call before you budget.

The Yards (formerly Oak Bridge Club)

Inside Sawgrass Players Club, The Yards turned the old Oak Bridge course into short loops of 9, 6 and 3 holes, plus 12 lighted pickleball courts and 10 Har-Tru tennis courts. Its 2026 membership pages list a one-time $1,750 initiation (youth and young executive memberships excepted), annual dues by sport, and member play fees of $10 to $25 with a cart. Walking is free for members. If you want to play a few holes after work without six figures up front, it's worth a look.

Questions to Ask Before You Write an Offer

1. Is membership required, optional, or not offered to residents? Get it from the club or the community documents, not the listing remarks.
2. What are the dues for my category, and is there a food minimum? The Plantation, the Inn & Club and TPC's Dye's Valley pass say they have no food minimum. Ask everyone else.
3. What's approved but not yet billed? Capital plans and loans, like Sawgrass Country Club's five-year assessment or The Plantation's $275 improvement line, add to the monthly number.
4. How long is the waitlist, and is any of the initiation refundable? Most initiation fees aren't.
5. For The Plantation, what's due at closing? The $120,000 initiation belongs in your cash-to-close plan, and the association's estoppel letter will show current dues and balances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does buying a home in Sawgrass include a club membership?

No. Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass memberships are separate from owning a home in Sawgrass or Sawgrass Players Club. You apply to the club, pay its fees, and may wait on a list.

Which Ponte Vedra Beach club comes with the house?

The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach. Buying a home or lot there makes you a member of the club, with a $120,000 initiation due at closing on the 2026 fee sheet and no waitlist.

What is the least expensive way to join a golf club in Ponte Vedra Beach?

The Yards lists a one-time $1,750 initiation for its short-course loops. TPC's Dye's Valley pass has no monthly dues but carries an initiation and a waitlist.

Are club fees in Ponte Vedra Beach going up?

The reported numbers have moved up, like Sawgrass Country Club's joining fee going from $85,000 in late 2024 to a reported $125,000 in December 2025. Ask for the current fee schedule in writing.

What To Do Right Now

1. Decide what you actually want from a club: championship golf, a beach club, tennis and pickleball, or a place to eat with friends. That narrows the list fast.
2. Call the membership office of each club on your list and ask for the current fee schedule, the waitlist length and any approved assessments.
3. If The Plantation is on your list, add the $120,000 initiation to your cash-to-close math before you tour.
4. Call or text me at 904-863-6679. I'll line up homes in the neighborhoods that fit your club plan and run the full monthly cost on each one.

Cover photo: TPC at Sawgrass (3424749494) by Philip Larson from McLean, VA, US, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.