By Dean Kirkland, Publisher, Affluent Golfer

A beautiful golf hole gets your attention. The place around it is what makes you start wondering whether you could rearrange the rest of your life.

That is the territory of Inside the Gates, Affluent Golfer’s department devoted to private clubs and the life that gives them character. The course matters, of course. But so do the traditions, the people, the setting and the conversation that continues long after somebody has finally conceded the putt.

I want to know what makes a club feel like itself. What was here before the fairways? Which details have survived because they are wonderful, and which have survived because nobody has had the nerve to question the committee? Who looks after the place, and what do they notice that a visiting golfer might walk straight past?

You can learn the yardage from a scorecard. Getting a feel for a place takes a little longer. Fortunately, looking around a handsome clubhouse has always struck me as a perfectly respectable use of an afternoon.

From course to clubhouse

Inside the Gates approaches private clubs as places with a life of their own. Architecture and landscape belong in the story, alongside the rituals, personalities and small details that make a round memorable. We are interested in how a club’s history meets its present, and in the people who keep its character alive.

The magazine’s current lineup includes Inside the Gates at Sherwood: Where the Trees Have Seniority and Pasadera, Revisited. They are part of a broader Affluent Golfer view of the game: a good day can include a memorable course, a proper lunch and no urgent desire to leave.

An invitation to clubs with a story

As we continue building the magazine, I would love to hear from private clubs and their representatives. Tell us what makes your place distinctive. It might be an unusual history, an architectural detail, a longstanding tradition or someone whose contribution deserves a little daylight.

Writers and contributors with a sharp eye for that world are welcome to get in touch, too. Bring curiosity, a sense of place and, ideally, a sense of humor. Golf supplies quite enough solemnity when a three-foot putt is involved.

Explore Affluent Golfer and its Inside the Gates department. For editorial ideas and contributor inquiries, contact Dean Kirkland at dean@affluentgolfermag.com.

Header illustration: AI-generated for Affluent Golfer. It depicts an imagined golf setting, not a photograph of a named club.