Florida Golf - Tipping

[cliveb]

My wife & I are off to Kissimmee in a couple of weeks. Have been reading a few reviews of courses and noticed that it is often mentioned that staff at the courses load your bags onto the buggies.

Do they expect a tip? If so, how much? I don't want to embarrass them or me by failing to tip the correct amount. I was hoping that for the simple task of putting a couple of bags on a buggy, a single dollar bill would be about right. But I could be way off.

 

[ADB]

My wife & I are off to Kissimmee in a couple of weeks. Have been reading a few reviews of courses and noticed that it is often mentioned that staff at the courses load your bags onto the buggies.

Do they expect a tip? If so, how much? I don't want to embarrass them or me by failing to tip the correct amount. I was hoping that for the simple task of putting a couple of bags on a buggy, a single dollar bill would be about right. But I could be way off.

Depends on the quality of the course to some respect. I was in Florida and played one round of golf at an ordinary club in Naples - we tipped the guy that got the clubs, loaded and unloaded etc $10 but there was 3 of us. The week before I was at the Waldorf Astoria and wandered down to the Club, which looked lovely. My guess is the tip would be more like $5 to $10 per person in that environment.

Personally, I wouldn't get too hung up on tipping - some tip more, some less, some none - whatever you feel the service deserves.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

My wife & I are off to Kissimmee in a couple of weeks. Have been reading a few reviews of courses and noticed that it is often mentioned that staff at the courses load your bags onto the buggies.

Do they expect a tip? If so, how much? I don't want to embarrass them or me by failing to tip the correct amount. I was hoping that for the simple task of putting a couple of bags on a buggy, a single dollar bill would be about right. But I could be way off.

Depends where you play, often you will be met at your car and the next time you see your clubs they will have been cleaned, on the buggy and waiting for you, after your game they will be cleaned and put back in the car for you. If so $5-10 for two sets should be OK.

If the course only puts them on the buggy then a $2 is plenty.

Generally the guys are students trying to earn a few $ so bear that in mind.

I was a member of a golf club in Florida and always enjoyed the attention to detail, giving a reasonable tip is fair exchange for that imo

 

[Break90]

I generally give them $5, it's very little really in the wider scheme of things.

Which courses are you thinking of playing?

 

[Hacker Khan]

One dollar is a bit cheap as tipping is the norm over there. I've always had rentals in the US, so they load them onto your buggy and sometimes even have some water on ice in the ice cooler on the buggy. Plus most of the courses I've played have free range balls. So 5 to 10 dollars per buggy to me seems about right, basically the money you saved on the range.

Best tip (no pun intended) is to accept you will be tipping people for not doing a great deal at times over there. You are looking at about 15% on a meal. A lot of people rely on tips to survive, but from my experience the service you get is better than over here in just about any service or retail experience.

 

[Val]

Tipped recently $3-$5 depending on what they did for me.

I've played plenty courses in Florida but played 2 for the first time recently and enjoyed both immensely, Windermere and Orange Lake - Legends.

Break90, I couldn't get on PL at the time suggested so played Celebration that day

 

[cliveb]

Thanks for all the replies. I already knew that 15% was the going rate in restaurants, but never had a clue when it's for something entirely trivial that is part of their job (eg. carrying luggage in hotels).

As for what courses we will play - it depends on what deals we can get on golfnow.com. A few that are conveniently close are Mystic Dunes, Orange Lakes, Falcons Fire, Highlands Reserve, Panther Lake, Crooked Cat, Grande Pines, Kissimmee Bay, Remington. Any of those we should avoid, bearing in mind that we aren't keen on long carries over water?

 

[ADB]

Thanks for all the replies. I already knew that 15% was the going rate in restaurants, but never had a clue when it's for something entirely trivial that is part of their job (eg. carrying luggage in hotels).

As for what courses we will play - it depends on what deals we can get on golfnow.com. A few that are conveniently close are Mystic Dunes, Orange Lakes, Falcons Fire, Highlands Reserve, Panther Lake, Crooked Cat, Grande Pines, Kissimmee Bay, Remington. Any of those we should avoid, bearing in mind that we aren't keen on long carries over water?

We had 18% added everywhere we went, and sometimes 20% - study the check carefully (you can reduce the gratuity).

 

[Hacker Khan]

Tipped recently $3-$5 depending on what they did for me.

I've played plenty courses in Florida but played 2 for the first time recently and enjoyed both immensely, Windermere and Orange Lake - Legends.

Break90, I couldn't get on PL at the time suggested so played Celebration that day

I played Legends earlier this year as well, was staying in an apartment just near the 5th green I seem to remember, had a stunning view of it out my window.

Wife wan't happy when the headlights and noise of the mowers woke her up at 6 am though. But I told her that's price you pay for such a great view,

 

[Val]

Thanks for all the replies. I already knew that 15% was the going rate in restaurants, but never had a clue when it's for something entirely trivial that is part of their job (eg. carrying luggage in hotels).

As for what courses we will play - it depends on what deals we can get on golfnow.com. A few that are conveniently close are Mystic Dunes, Orange Lakes, Falcons Fire, Highlands Reserve, Panther Lake, Crooked Cat, Grande Pines, Kissimmee Bay, Remington. Any of those we should avoid, bearing in mind that we aren't keen on long carries over water?

Ok, I've played a few of these.

Orange Lakes - If you are playing thew reserve course you'll enjoy it, nice course
Falcons Fire - Ok, not the greatest and always wet
Highland Reserve - Ok, resort style, tonnes of room if you are wild off the tee
Panther Lake - Good test of golf, one of the best in Orlando
Crooked Cat - Decent but not as good as Panther Lake, both on a cracking facility
Grande Pines - Always enjoyed it, tough course and benefits you if you can shape the ball both ways, lots of water.
Kissimmee Bay - Not bad but not great

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We had 18% added everywhere we went, and sometimes 20% - study the check carefully (you can reduce the gratuity).

Is that not local tax? Every price, clothes etc has local tax added to it at the till. The price shown is not the price you pay. I did not find a service charge added to any bills when I was there this year but then we did not eat anywhere flash.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Is the tip automatically added on the bill ?

Can never understand the etiquette in regards tipping ?

Surely it should be up to the customer if they believe the service is good enough to deserve a tip and I also prefer the money I top to go to the person who has served us as opposed to being put into a pot share ?

That's why I always say no on the machine then put some money on the tray ( if the service has been good )

 

[Break90]

In the US, certain jobs are classed as salaried positions, others are classed as tipped positions, e.g. waiting staff, bar staff. The basic hourly rate for a tipped position is very low indeed.

The tax they pay on their earnings is based on them receiving tips at (I think) 15% of the value of the bill. So if you don't tip them you are costing them money. Having said that, if the service is bad you should reduce the amount of your tip. You tip based on the service, not the quality of the food. If the food isn"t up to standard, speak to a manager and they will more often than not sort it for you. On a recent trip to the US

Sales tax (varies by state, e.g. Florida is 6.5%) is added to the bill, however should not be included in the calculation of your tip.

Totally different to the UK, where wait staff are salaried, tips are pooled and shared.

 

[Break90]

Valentino - No worries, I got paired up with a couple of Americans. Loved the course, probably the best one of the 5 I played this time around, although Southern Dunes ran it very close.

Also played Championsgate (both the National and the International) as well as Mystic Dunes, which I didn't think much of.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

In the US, certain jobs are classed as salaried positions, others are classed as tipped positions, e.g. waiting staff, bar staff. The basic hourly rate for a tipped position is very low indeed.

The tax they pay on their earnings is based on them receiving tips at (I think) 15% of the value of the bill. So if you don't tip them you are costing them money. Having said that, if the service is bad you should reduce the amount of your tip. You tip based on the service, not the quality of the food. If the food isn"t up to standard, speak to a manager and they will more often than not sort it for you. On a recent trip to the US

Sales tax (varies by state, e.g. Florida is 6.5%) is added to the bill, however should not be included in the calculation of your tip.

Totally different to the UK, where wait staff are salaried, tips are pooled and shared.

So do you "have" to tip ?

 

[Break90]

It's considered very rude not to, as I said if you just don't tip, your server is taxed on 15% of your bill anyway so it costs them money.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It's considered very rude not to, as I said if you just don't tip, your server is taxed on 15% of your bill anyway so it costs them money.

See I don't understand this - giving people money just because they are doing their job ?

Obviously if the service they provided was very good or went beyond just doing their job then yes would give a tip but only then

 

[Bratty]

On the basis that almost every restaurant I've ever been to in the US has provided impecible service, 15% is pretty cheap.

It's the 12.5% in this country that's gets added to the bill automatically that fills me with annoyance.

 

[Hacker Khan]

See I don't understand this - giving people money just because they are doing their job ?

Obviously if the service they provided was very good or went beyond just doing their job then yes would give a tip but only then

Well if you compare the US and UK then when you add in the tips and local taxes you pay roughly the same for a meal, or a pair of jeans. But the level of service (but not necessarily the quality of the food) you get in restaurants or shops is often much better in the US, so therefore I'd say it seems to be working.

It's just the local culture. I've been to countries where you will insult a person if you tip them. I've had someone in China who wasted most of his Saturday driving me 50 odd miles to the great wall, hanging around for a few hours whilst I walked along it and then drive me back 50 miles, kind of throw an attempted tip back at me! I tried to tell him to give it to his kids but he was having none of it. Different strokes and all that.

 

[Hacker Khan]

So do you "have" to tip ?

They often give you options at the bottom of the bill. So they say 'if you were tipping 12.5% you'd leave xxx', 'if you were tipping 15% you'd leave this' etc etc. Highest I saw it go up to was 25%. So no you do not have to tip, but you will be a tight wad if you don't.