Private Clubs USA

USA

Atlanta Athletic Club
The initiation fee for the Atlanta Athletic Club which was founded in 1898 is over $40,000. Once you pay your fees the world class facilities you can enjoy are two 18-hole golf courses, nine-hole Par 3 courses, 42,000 sq. ft. athletic center, indoor and outdoor tennis facilities, Olympic-sized swimming pool, and beautiful club rooms with dining facilities. As well as the Athletic Club there is also the yacht and country club.


Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club has around 300 members with fees reported to be around $25,000 - $50,000.

Membership is strictly by invitation with archaic laws that discriminate, which got the club into some serious trouble in 2003-2004 when the club televised the tournament without commercials due to the pressure put on the sponsors.

Since women are not allowed to become members the only way they can play there is as a guest of a member.


California Club
This club was established in 1887 and has over 2,000 members with an initiation fee of over $10,000. Members include leaders in business, industry and government who give this club its excellent reputation. Once inside the club you will find fine antiques, handcrafted furniture and rich imported fabrics that make this clubhouse beautiful. 


Classic Car Club Manhattan
This is a private club that offers members unlimited use of an amazing fleet of the worlds most spectacular cars. Once you are paid up all you do is walk in to the show room pick out whichever car you want to drive and off you go. The one-time joining fee is US$1,500 and the Gold Membership fee is US$10,500 with the choice of a lifetime membership coming in at US$55,000. Members include Chef Jamie Oliver and Donna Karan.

Cosmos Club
This very private club was est in 1878 in Washington. Over the years members have included three Presidents, two Vice Presidents, a dozen Supreme Court justices, 32 Nobel Prize winners, 56 Pulitzer Prize winners and 45 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Cultural and social events include lectures, forums, musical concerts, book and author dinners, movie nights, special dinners, sightseeing, travel, chess and bridge tournaments. The Cosmos Bulletin is e-mailed weekly to inform members of activities. There is also overnight accommodation which guests of members may use as well.

There are 20 committee members who oversee 350 members. Impress the 20 and you’re in! Membership by invitation only. Residents pay an initiation of $1,800 and annual dues of $2,068; nonresidents, $1,200 and $1,034. Residents under 45 pay an initiation of $900 and annual dues of $1,034.

Detroit Athletic Club

This glorious old club which was established in 1887 and re-born in 1913 must be one of the hardest to get into. The requirements for membership are as follows:

A candidate submitting an application needs one member to act as proposer and another to second the application.  Then 6 letters of recommendation from DAC members other than the proposing members are required. Then a candidate must attend an interview with a member of the Board of Directors and meet at least six other members of the Board of Directors. Next the candidate's name must be posted on the bulletin board of the Club and voting membership notified by mail at least ten days prior to action by the Board. Lastly an election to membership takes place at the monthly Board of Directors meeting where it is decided if you are successful.

It is surprising to learn that there are over 3,200 members, considering this process. The best Detroit has to offer must all be members. Could possibly be the best club in America to join.


Duquesne Club
There are 10,000 private clubs in America and this one is the most exclusive and constantly voted the best of all. The club was founded in 1873 and some of it earliest members included Carnegie and Schwab.

Once an existing member has invited you to join there is a one year wait but that is if that member has written support from five other members. Then there is the $9,000 initiation fee and annual fees of $3720.

There is 325 staff that caters to 2,700 members that also has 60 exquisite dining rooms where the dining is second to none and 30 luxurious guest rooms.


Grand Havana Room
This is one of the most exclusive clubs in Beverly Hills and the only way to join is by invitation only. The annual fee is US$2000. The heart of the club is the humidor which is a room with walls of glass and 350 private, personalised humidors.

Inside these humidors are some of the world’s most exclusive smokes and the only legal Cubans in the U.S. The monthly maintenance fee is US$150.  There is a private elevator for celebrities to enter unnoticed which takes them to a secret smoking room and gives them access to their own personal humidor.

Members include Mel Gibson who you will find smoking his favourite Romeo y Julieta’s at US$100 each and Arnold Schwarzenegger whose favourite cigars are Davidoff’s Dom Perignon Smokes at $4000 a box. He was once reported to have bought 10 boxes in one go at a cost of US$40,000. (Photo courtesy of Grand Havan Room, pictured above right.)

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