It was about this time last summer that some Wall Street executives were accused of spending too much time on country club golf courses as their firms came under fire in the credit storm.

Yet as expenditures on luxuries like exotic vacation, jewelry and even Botox wane, country club memberships are holding surprisingly steady. Golf, it appears, is a Wall Street necessity, even in a downturn.

Storied clubs, like Shinnecock in the Hamptons, still have golfers waiting to get in. And some of the splashier clubs—like Shinnecock's two-year-old neighbor, Sebonack—are also not wanting for members. Even though initiation fees at Sebonack, for example—often cited as one of the most expensive nationwide—are at least $650,000 (with some speculation that the fees are approaching $1 million), membership is not on the wane.

And even those out of work are reluctant to relinquish their memberships. At places like National Golf Links in the Hamptons and Winged Foot in Westchester, as well as Shinnecock, the difficulty in securing an invitation to join makes it hard to give up. And when a golfer joins a club like Sebonack, or other Hampton's newcomers like Friar's Head or the Bridge, the steep price of admission makes it too expensive to walk away.

According to Jay Mottola, the executive director of the Metropolitan Golf Association, "those with great traditional courses are less impacted by economic trends than others because there is tremendous demand."

"They are not seeking additional memberships," he notes. "There may be fewer rounds played and less activity, but in those clubs the difference is more marginal."

He added that "those clubs have always had full memberships and continue to have pools who want to join."

Still, even the toniest of clubs are seeing a downturn in rounds played, says Tom Bruff, a principal with Global Golf Advisors in Dallas. And a decline in rounds means a decrease in food and beverage revenues, typically a profit center.  

The clubs most affected are those what is essentially the middle market.

Over the last 12 years,  Mottola said, "50 new courses have been built in the 75 mile area surrounding New York alone." He acknowledged that the growth, coupled with the economic slowdown, "is a concern." Additionally, golf itself has declined in popularity, which many attribute to a change in how families spend their time.

"Parents are spending a lot more time with their kids than a generation ago,"  Mottola said, in addition, to an increase in options in how to spend free time." In particular, he said, youth sports often take place on Saturday mornings and so conflict with the time when adults might instead golf." There is, simply put, "less time for golf."

 Bruff said that rounds were down 4 percent in May from the same time in 2007, which was "not an up year. Some equity clubs—those where memberships can be bought and sold—have waiting lists to sell, he added.

Clubs in the the metropolitan New York region are holding on, but they appear to be the exception. The economic slump has been taking its toll on clubs elsewhere in the nation.

According to a new study by the National Golf Foundation, up to 20 percent of golf clubs nationwide are at financial risk. Jim Kass, the foundation's director of member research and communications of the Jupiter, Florida-based organization said that the estimates stemmed from the clubs' self-assessment. The study was done, he said, in response to concerns that golf, as an industry, has declined in popularity over the last decade because of changing demographics and competing demands on golfers' free time. He said they found that "it is not a sky is falling situation."

Over the last 10 years, Kass said, 387 private courses have gone public to increase revenues (he noted that 288 converted from public to private, but those are largely clubs built as part of real estate developments).

Going public is one alternative. Some of the newer clubs have adopted member initiatives to encourage newcomers to join. One such club-replete with helipad--is Hamilton Farms in Gladstone, New Jersey. While the initiation fee of $250,000 ("young executives" pay a mere $175,000), does not rival its Long Island counterparts, it is nonetheless not cheap. According to general manager Timothy Bakels, the club allows members to invite guest to play for the season, paying only the dues for the year to determine if the golfer wants to join. This has helped shore up its membership. The club is holding its own, Bakels said, adding that golf revenues, as well as food and lodging, "are up."

But it's a precarious time and Mottola, for one, is watching closely. Clubs are then balancing their increased costs with declining use—and additionally balancing the needs of different generations.

As Mottola put it, "It's not your father's club anymore, but your father is still a member."