After The Citizen’s recent coverage, The Clubs of Peachtree City and Newnan — owned by Invited, formerly ClubCorp — sent their first public statement addressing the sweeping 2026 membership changes that have sparked frustration across Fayette and Coweta counties.
The company says the restructuring is intended to improve access, reduce congestion, and create more membership options. But longtime members say the changes fail to address their core concerns about affordability, declining course conditions, and the loss of a community golf culture that once defined the region.
Invited declined an interview with The Citizen and did not directly answer nine follow-up questions submitted about the restructuring. Local club leadership has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The questions sought clarification on whether upgrades are planned for Peachtree City courses, whether private-equity ownership influences dues increases, how many members have resigned, and how the changes address member complaints referenced in the company’s own messaging.
Invited’s statement: “More choice, more accessibility”
In a written statement, an Invited spokesperson said the new membership structure is designed to “meaningfully improve the member experience by reducing congestion at the club’s most heavily used amenities.”
The company said two locations within the six-club network had been “absorbing a disproportionate share of total member usage,” creating issues with service and day-to-day availability. To address that, Invited said it is investing in “staffing, service resources, and operational enhancements” intended to make the clubs feel more private and consistent.
The restructuring also expands golf membership options from six to eleven and introduces a new four-location lifestyle category for members who want social and recreational amenities without full golf access. The company highlighted that its lowest-tier golf option now begins at $295 a month, compared to $320 previously.
“These updates provide more accessibility, more choice, and more ways for individuals and families to engage with the club,” the spokesperson said. “They reinforce our commitment to preserving a vibrant, well-maintained club community.”
While Invited highlighted that golf memberships now “begin at $295 per month,” longtime members note that the lower-cost options come with significantly less access than what most golfers previously received. Last year, many Peachtree City members paid between $415 and $465 for access to all local courses except Planterra. Under the 2026 structure, those same members must now select the $625 Braelinn Signature category to keep comparable access — a sharp increase that does not include additional fees such as food and beverage minimums or cart charges.
For many golfers, the only tiers priced below their current dues now exclude Braelinn entirely or restrict when they may play, which several members described as “paying more for less.” In earlier reporting, members said they would be required to spend substantially more to maintain the level of access they currently use, with one golfer noting his family would need to upgrade two categories above their existing membership to retain the amenities they rely on.
Invited did not respond to questions about specific facility upgrades, the number of members who have left since the announcement, or whether area profitability contributed to the increase.
A former board chair says the changes don’t address deeper problems
For Bill Butler, who joined the clubs 33 years ago and served as the first chair of ClubCorp’s Board of Governors in Peachtree City, the statement leaves major gaps.
Butler said the announcement fits a longer pattern: the gradual dismantling of structures that once allowed members to help shape local decisions. The Board of Governors, which served as a liaison between management and membership, was dissolved years ago, removing what he described as a vital channel of accountability and communication.
“There is a lack of transparency and a lack of engagement with the membership,” Butler said. “People are paying more and more, but they’re not seeing a return.”
Butler holds a legacy membership no longer offered to new members, costing him nearly $1,000 a month. It includes a limited number of monthly rounds at the exclusive Planterra Club — access he says he rarely uses, but continues to pay for because switching categories would cost even more under the new structure.
He said the new system risks fracturing long-standing golf communities, particularly groups whose members now fall into different access tiers.
Butler said one of the most damaging effects of the restructuring is the disruption of long-standing golf groups whose members will now fall into different access tiers. Some will no longer be able to play at the same courses or at the same times they have for years, he said, fracturing communities that have been central to the social fabric of Peachtree City golf.
He explained that small restrictions in access can dismantle groups that have played together for decades. “It broke up the communities. They see us as a cash cow. They know they have a monopoly.”
Butler, a former military strategic planner and senior consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, said the consolidation of ownership across Fayette County’s golf courses has allowed annual pricing to increase without corresponding improvements.
“My personal belief is that we pay more into their coffers than we receive back,” he said.
40-year member: “It is really, truly a gouging”
If Butler provides institutional memory, longtime golfer Kevin McDonough illustrates how the changes affect individual households. McDonough, 73, has been a member for four decades and now pays $925 a month for his membership — a level he said is “a real burden” even for financially stable retirees.
But membership dues aren’t the only cost. McDonough said Peachtree City members pay an 18 percent surcharge on food and beverage purchases, a charge he described as exclusive to the area.
“It is really, truly a gouging,” McDonough said. “We’re paying a premium price, and we’re not getting anything in return.”
He said servers do not receive the 18 percent as gratuity, which has led many to seek work elsewhere.
McDonough said that when ClubCorp first took over the Canongate system decades ago, his membership included access to 27 properties. Over the years, that number has dwindled to eight — even as dues have risen to the highest levels he has seen.
“There’s just so many people that cannot afford this,” he said. “And Invited has preyed on the fact that Peachtree City is a golf community. They know people play a lot of golf here.”
He said several older golfers he knows have already relinquished their memberships. Two new members who joined in August and September told him they had not been notified that a major dues increase was coming.
“People feel they were hoodwinked,” he said.
McDonough said an Invited employee once told him that if longtime members leave, “they’ve got three more ready to sign up,” citing the influx of younger families moving to the area with strong incomes.
“With a captured marketplace like this, they don’t have to care,” he said. “They own every course in the county.”
Course conditions, maintenance questions remain unanswered
While Invited emphasized upgrades in staffing and operations, both Butler and McDonough said that the condition of certain courses — particularly Flat Creek and the original Canongate “Palmetto” course — has deteriorated.
Members have raised concerns about aging cart paths, insufficient landscaping attention, and deferred maintenance that contrasts sharply with the higher-end appearance and resources at Planterra.
“They just don’t keep the courses up,” McDonough said. “Guys that play golf on a weekly basis see it all the time.”
Butler echoed those concerns, saying members are still waiting for evidence of reinvestment.
“You won’t find a significant capital improvement in the last several years,” he said.
Invited did not answer a question asking whether upgrades are planned or underway.
A critical deadline approaches
Members have until December 15 to select their 2026 membership category or be automatically converted into one of the new options, which may significantly increase their dues or reduce course access.
The transition comes at a time when many longtime golfers are weighing whether to stay, downgrade, or resign entirely. For some, the clubs remain central to their social lives; for others, the rising costs have already forced difficult decisions.
“This area was built on golf,” McDonough said. “A lot of people are being pushed out — older people, younger people, families. And I don’t think they really care.”
Butler said transparency and engagement — not just new membership tiers — are what longtime members are still hoping for.
“These changes don’t address the real issues people have raised,” he said. “People want to feel heard. Right now, they don’t.”
