Fastest finger first. Booking tee times

[KenL]

For some strange reason my club does not allow us to book on brs at weekends. All bookings have to go though our Pro. This means he automatically puts in all known groups every week, at the times he knows they want. Seems to work ok.

So, people who have a regular slot get to maintain that as the pro just puts them in?
That’s very wrong in my opinion. Should be fair and open to all members.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Interesting comments
Where tee times are hard to come by are your clubs oversubscribed in general or is it just the ‘attractive/popular’ times?

If known; roughly how many rounds will be played at your course this year?

It’s mainly in my experience during the winter months where tee times are restricted due to day light hours

During summer most groups get the times they want

 

[Golf is fun]

I genuinely don’t get this thread?
People have described organised teams of people sitting at computers at 17.59.59 every night all clicking furiously to get huge blocks of daily times and not one person suggested this wasn’t fine.

But if you think a bit and get your home computer to do the same thing with a little automation (so it does it much better) it’s suddenly not OK?

They’re both attempting the same thing just in different ways. One is smarter than the other.

Sounds like characterising the fact that you did it the dumb-repetitive-hard-work-every-day way while someone else used their brain and did it better, by automating the repetitive task, as “disgraceful”. How silly. Don’t like the endless click war and getting beaten? Nothing at all stopping you from using your brain too to spend less time clicking and more time coding to achieve the same.

If a slot opens at 6pm and someone books it at 6.00.00.0000001 then they’ve stuck to the rules. Why should the committee intervene? As for “disadvantaging” other members, if you’re doing it manually you’re disadvantaging others who wanted that time but are a little slower or have a poor internet connection than you. What’s the difference?

Anyway , I like playing at quieter times and the scrum of block-booked 4-balls starting at first tee and lasting 2-3 hours, when you can play millionaire’s golf on an almost empty course in the afternoon, has always puzzled me. Same people that think playing at this time is utterly essential probably come in and complain bitterly about slow play having chosen to only play during the most congested time….

I was thinking the same.

I suspect those that think using a script is unfair mostly believe so because they can't or won't do it. Are the same people concerned for others or is it just tough luck for those who depending on the release times of slots may be unable to book due to: childcare duties, working shifts, working in general, not having a smartphone and not being at home, not having home internet (surprisingly still about 1.5 million households in the UK), just to name a few examples.

 

[Crazyface]

So, people who have a regular slot get to maintain that as the pro just puts them in?
That’s very wrong in my opinion. Should be fair and open to all members.

Well, you'd think. But we haven't loads of members and even with doing this we have gaps in the booking system where people can get a slot so it just works.

 

[Mandofred]

So, people who have a regular slot get to maintain that as the pro just puts them in?
That’s very wrong in my opinion. Should be fair and open to all members.

Who decides what is fair? I don't think it is "fair" to have a Tuesday morning blocked off for just the women's group. I don't think it is fair to block off whole Saturdays for comps. I don't think it is fair to have large blocks of times reserved for visiting parties. I can go on and on with this..... One of my clubs has prebooked tee times on Wed+Thursday mornings for rollups that are very well supported. Some would say that isn't fair to people who don't want to play in the rollups. Why? They can still play.....they just can't play the way that they want to play. Who decided that rollups were the "wrong" way to play? Each club is a little different.

 

[Yorkhacker]

I've moved to a quieter club now, fewer members. You get the hang of it though. Set your alarm for 2 minutes before and get ready. There's a knack to it, it becomes a mission

A man after my own heart! Exactly what I do.

At this time of year, when the days are short, I can feel my heart beat a little quicker, as the clock ticks down.

 

[wjemather]

For some strange reason my club does not allow us to book on brs at weekends. All bookings have to go though our Pro. This means he automatically puts in all known groups every week, at the times he knows they want. Seems to work ok.

I'm sure it works very well for people who are in with the pro; probably not so much for many others, particularly newer members - out of interest, is there guidance on how to get into the right clique in order to secure your preferred tee times?

 

[pendodave]

Who decides what is fair? I don't think it is "fair" to have a Tuesday morning blocked off for just the women's group. I don't think it is fair to block off whole Saturdays for comps. I don't think it is fair to have large blocks of times reserved for visiting parties. I can go on and on with this..... One of my clubs has prebooked tee times on Wed+Thursday mornings for rollups that are very well supported. Some would say that isn't fair to people who don't want to play in the rollups. Why? They can still play.....they just can't play the way that they want to play. Who decided that rollups were the "wrong" way to play? Each club is a little different.

Yep, there's roll-ups, and there's... slightly more exclusive roll ups
.
Our club sounds like yours - our Tues and Thurs roll-ups are genuinely open to all and (with the help of the pro) actively encourage new members to join in. After all, it is a golf CLUB, not just a bunch of strangers passing like ships in the night.
Not wanting to open a can of worms, but outwith weekend morning comps, we just rock up and play when we like. We have 3 starting tees, so even when the roll-ups are on you can normally sneak on somewhere. Not that I'd want to follow them round.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Yep, there's roll-ups, and there's... slightly more exclusive roll ups
.
Our club sounds like yours - our Tues and Thurs roll-ups are genuinely open to all and (with the help of the pro) actively encourage new members to join in. After all, it is a golf CLUB, not just a bunch of strangers passing like ships in the night.
Not wanting to open a can of worms, but outwith weekend morning comps, we just rock up and play when we like. We have 3 starting tees, so even when the roll-ups are on you can normally sneak on somewhere. Not that I'd want to follow them round.

We only have a tee time blocked booked for competitions , and any club matches , societies

All tees open for all - any member roll up is booked when the tee sheet opens by the members and if someone beats them to that time that’s just the way it is

 

[nickjdavis]

For some strange reason my club does not allow us to book on brs at weekends. All bookings have to go though our Pro. This means he automatically puts in all known groups every week, at the times he knows they want. Seems to work ok.

No such favoritism at my place.

I play in a group on a Friday....usually between 12 and 24 of us....traditionally we have had our first tee at 12.00 in summer, 11am in winter...all booked via the paper tee book in the shop. We moved to IG a few years ago and everything went automated. We just organise ourselves appropriately, half a dozen of us each picking a unique tee time and when the clock strikes 8pm we are there, primed and ready. Nine times out of ten we get the half a dozen continuous tee times we want. Occasionally someone will "sneak in" on one of our desired times but usually this is solved either with a quick message asking if they want to swap with our first or last group, or, on the day having a chat. Most of us know each other so its not difficult to sort things out.

However...despite the group having played similar times for 20+ years it is not unusual to see that the club have booked a society or two (sometimes only 4-6 groups) in covering "our" tee times. Cant blame the club really as they'll make more money from 16 golfers turning up for bacon roll coffee, 18 holes and ham egg and chips and a couple of pints, than from our group of members....you cant turn that income away if potential visitors are insistent that they want to play at that time.

Its a pain, but we usually find a way round it, usually by aiming for tee times earlier than the society.

 

[jim8flog]

Of course it is. Giving some members an unfair advantage over others.
I’d like to think your club would comment to stop this practice.
Unless, of course, it is an urban myth.

Back when I was on the committee the manager used to get complaints about players booking early but he could tell from the software exactly what time they booked. How do tell if someone booked at precisely the right time by using a script or by superfast broadband and fingers?

 

[jim8flog]

Eh it runs on their own PC

Somebody with that sort of of knowledge may well have IP masking as well.

 

[Mandofred]

We only have a tee time blocked booked for competitions , and any club matches , societies

All tees open for all - any member roll up is booked when the tee sheet opens by the members and if someone beats them to that time that’s just the way it is

You don't have a ladies section that gets a slot? Opens? Business days or charity events? Junior events? How many comps do you have?.....at the course I am leaving there are way too many blocked days where we can't play and have to use another course if we want to play. There are a LOT of large visiting parties in the summer.....just really annoying when you can't play on your own course.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

You don't have a ladies section that gets a slot? Opens? Business days or charity events? Junior events? How many comps do you have?.....at the course I am leaving there are way too many blocked days where we can't play and have to use another course if we want to play. There are a LOT of large visiting parties in the summer.....just really annoying when you can't play on your own course.

The ladies section don’t get any slot

No business days

junior events are competitons

We have one midweek comp for the men’s , 4 ladies comps and 3 weekend comps a month

Even on days there is a comp there is tee times available either before or after

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The ladies section don’t get any slot

No business days

junior events are competitons

We have one midweek comp for the men’s , 4 ladies comps and 3 weekend comps a month

Even on days there is a comp there is tee times available either before or after

That's confusing. You say the ladies don't get any slot but then say they have 4 comps.

The last paragraph, the course is then closed if you don't want to play the comp or are the wrong gender / age

 

[Arthur Wedge]

That's confusing. You say the ladies don't get any slot but then say they have 4 comps.

The last paragraph, the course is then closed if you don't want to play the comp or are the wrong gender / age

As I said earlier

“We only have a tee time blocked booked for competitions , and any club matches , societies”

The comps the ladies play have a blocked slot , same with the comps for seniors , juniors , mixed , men etc

Any tee times not taken up by players playing in the comp are also opened up

 

[Mandofred]

As I said earlier

“We only have a tee time blocked booked for competitions , and any club matches , societies”

The comps the ladies play have a blocked slot , same with the comps for seniors , juniors , mixed , men etc

Any tee times not taken up by players playing in the comp are also opened up

Yeah....that's what our course has.....blocked out times for ladies days......every Tuesday. EVERY TUESDAY. They call them comps.....and continue to do so. It sounds like you might have more blocked out times than you indicated.....

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Yeah....that's what our course has.....blocked out times for ladies days......every Tuesday. EVERY TUESDAY. They call them comps.....and continue to do so. It sounds like you might have more blocked out times than you indicated.....

Not at all - the ladies comp is a booking for 2 hours

We have around 85% of the tee times each month just free for anyone