When I have joined a club, always been pro rata apart from one club.
That club instead made me wait to join until the beginning of the subscription year before I was allowed to join. That was on top of the waiting list wait, so I had been on a waiting list, also I had played my round with committee members, been interviewed, not been blackballed(yeah they do pull the balls out, never believed that to happen, gave me a chuckle
!) etc all prior to the final few months wait.(not sure if that was their normal procedure or just happened to be the timing that I joined but it didn't bother me)
Tough choices with the virus situations, not that what you say above makes completes sense to me. Sure if you speak to the manager or secretary, they will be able to help you out or explain it in better detail.
