Are you a member of both the Country Club and the Army-Navy Club? I have looked into the dues for the Club and found them extremely cheap....$120 a year for the first 5 years. I thought that it seems to be an incredible deal especially with the fact that after Lt. jg you have to have a sponsor. As a newly commissioned officer you don't. I would be a nonresident member but I thought that it would be a good idea to join now.
As far as the Country Club goes, I couldn't find any information on the dues or membership. Your saying that they have reciprocal clubs also?
I'm a member of both, but I'm afraid I "mixed my metaphors" in the first post - I meant to include a section on the Army Navy Club, and then didn't preview the message....
The Army-Navy Club (the non-golf one, on Farragut Square in DC) is the one with the well-established reciprocal club list - all of which are traditional British-style "gentleman's clubs" (no, not that kind.). When you go stay at or visit one, you have a letter of introduction from ANC, and they then bill your membership at home. For Army Navy Country Club, they can help you set up a tee time at another club, but this is a
much more rare occurrence - a scenario you might use them is when you are going to the UK, and the clubs there want some "letter of introduction" from your home club, stating your handicap, membership, etc. Nothing is free, though - you'll still have to pay. Also, it's not like you can show up at Cypress Point or Burning Tree waving your ANCC handicap card; you'll get laughed out of the parking lot.
The golf at ANCC is always free, though - you can play dawn til dusk every day for a month and you'd still only pay your monthly dues. You still have to pay for a cart, though. But golf is a walking game anyway, so that's not an issue.
They are both great deals, but the "bigger deal" is probably ANCC. The Army Navy Club is nice, and for the first 5 years the dues are incredibly cheap, especially as a non-resident. But it's still pretty much a restaurant and mini-hotel - the ANCC is a huge country club complex with all the amenities.