"Marty Ross" wrote
Thanks for any/all useful advice!

Get all the rules up front, and find out what it takes to have new
rules made. My experience with clubs has been that the people who
have the pathological need to make rules always seem to find their way
into club positions where they can. The result is that when you want
to do something fun and challenging, you find it's against club rules.

This does not always happen - some clubs seem to be immune - so find
out what kind you are dealing with before you drop the dollars.

Michael