New member what to do

[GB72]

In all honesty, I have found at previous clubs that is becomes a bit like the wild west after about 5.00 with people doing what they want. People start from anywhere, head out to the back holes to practice, skip around holes to find the clearest route and avoid annual knockout matches, some have young kids with them, some have their partner with them having a walk. Honestly, I have always expected it to be a bit of a free for all later in the day.

 

[SteveW86]

In all honesty, I have found at previous clubs that is becomes a bit like the wild west after about 5.00 with people doing what they want. People start from anywhere, head out to the back holes to practice, skip around holes to find the clearest route and avoid annual knockout matches, some have young kids with them, some have their partner with them having a walk. Honestly, I have always expected it to be a bit of a free for all later in the day.

At our place we even get the horses and cows wandering around the course as it gets quieter in the evenings.

 

[Blue in Munich]

I take the view that as a member, if the first tee is clear, then I can help myself. Booking in at that point achieves nothing. If I find that there are others in front of me, booked in or not, then that is normal on a golf course. If it’s a quick evening game just for a few holes I’d be more than happy to join in with others if I catch them up.
If the OP has seen something blatantly wrong then it should be reported but if it is just something that he doesn’t like then, as a new member, he’d be advised to be tolerant until he realises what the common practices are. Above all, don’t spoil your own game because you are put off by what other people do.

Apart from potentially letting the greens staff know that there is now someone out there playing at a time that they may have thought the course was clear. I think our course also likes to know who is supposed to be out there from a health & safety perspective; if someone is missing and the NoK rings the club, it may make the difference between coming out to look for you or telling the NoK that you were never there.

 

[Backache]

Apart from potentially letting the greens staff know that there is now someone out there playing at a time that they may have thought the course was clear. I think our course also likes to know who is supposed to be out there from a health & safety perspective; if someone is missing and the NoK rings the club, it may make the difference between coming out to look for you or telling the NoK that you were never there.

Must admit this is the kind of reasoning that irritates me and think it means someone in the club is fretting about the trivial.
If someone knows you are there great, if someone doesn't its your responsibility, not the clubs.

 

[RichA]

I haven't read the whole thread, but the issue the OP raises could be as simple as booked in members skipping holes, if they haven't time for a full round.
Especially in the afternoon, people at ours often skip from 4 to 16 or 6 to 14. If you were to notice a new arrival in front or behind on one of those holes then check your booking app and not see them near your tee time, you might find them in a totally different time slot to where you had assumed.
Jumping around the course, as long as you don't inconvenience anyone, is a benefit of an unlimited golf membership.

 

[RichA]

Must admit this is the kind of reasoning that irritates me and think it means someone in the club is fretting about the trivial.
If someone knows you are there great, if someone doesn't its your responsibility, not the clubs.

At ours, even if you've booked online you have to let the clubhouse know you've arrived. They like to know who's out on the course and they like to know if members are booking tee times but not using them.
It seems perfectly reasonable and sensible.

 

[John Evans 9]

At ours, even if you've booked online you have to let the clubhouse know you've arrived. They like to know who's out on the course and they like to know if members are booking tee times but not using them.
It seems perfectly reasonable and sensible.

Why? What is this information used for? And as for members not using booked tee-times then there are umpteen reasons why this may be the case - and peer pressure usually sorts it out. Sounds like over-management to me.

 

[Backache]

At ours, even if you've booked online you have to let the clubhouse know you've arrived. They like to know who's out on the course and they like to know if members are booking tee times but not using them.
It seems perfectly reasonable and sensible.

If the information is useful for course useage I have no problem. My point was that the rationale appeared to be a rather nutty example of Health and Safety. ( I have no objection to many apects of H&S by the way, just the way it is sometimes quoted to rationalise strange decisions.)
The booking and checking in system appears to be at odds sometimes with evening use of the golf course for playing a few holes which troubles no one and is a useful perk of being a member.

 

[RichA]

Why? What is this information used for? And as for members not using booked tee-times then there are umpteen reasons why this may be the case - and peer pressure usually sorts it out. Sounds like over-management to me.

The club own the course and make the minimal rules, which cause me zero inconvenience and presumably help the smooth running of their business.
If members are blocking tee times and not using them, then other members or visitors might miss out and the course is potentially losing revenue that supports the club.
I'm struggling to see the issue.

 

[RichA]

If the information is useful for course useage I have no problem. My point was that the rationale appeared to be a rather nutty example of Health and Safety. ( I have no objection to many apects of H&S by the way, just the way it is sometimes quoted to rationalise strange decisions.)
The booking and checking in system appears to be at odds sometimes with evening use of the golf course for playing a few holes which troubles no one and is a useful perk of being a member.

If there were no checks whatsoever then anybody could stroll onto the course, paid up member or not.

 

[Jimaroid]

At a previous members club, where I served on committee for a few years, I can recount a number of instances where knowledge of tee bookings were useful which I suppose came under the umbrella of health and safety. Couple of examples that come to mind. In one instance it assisted in the investigation of a crime that took place when a member assaulted a passing walker. In another instance staff were able to locate a member who's wife had been rushed to A&E.

The most important use case for member bookings though was for commercial reasons, during some tough times we were able to plan visitor offers and evening bar openings during the summer around demand which helped to turn a loss into a profit. Nearly all members saw the benefit in this and the use of tee bookings went up dramatically.

 

[Slab]

I remember playing in the UK and the local muni being deserted of staff etc from early evening with players (paying and non-paying I’d guess) being on course till late evening. Likely the very limited staff meant it just couldn’t be covered all daylight hours. I suppose its prime time for kids/fence jumpers/lapsed members to get a few holes in on the side. But I’d also imagine this problem is as old as the game itself?

Re booking in etc. Here members and visitors all expected to book in and get their ticket to hand to starter. The local course to me doesn’t even allow personal buggys to be used.
Two holes with blind landing zones mean club carts (with GPS) show up on the screen of the following group telling them not to tee off yet until the group move out of range. Also each hole has no-drive zones programmed to prevent straying into areas they shouldn’t. Not so with personal carts obviously. Probably a combo of H&S and the cynic in me thinks they’ll coin extra revenue from cart fees

 

[Neilds]

With regard to the booking in for H&S reasons, which I sort of get - how many clubs require you to book out as well as in with the Pro Shop? If not it is a bit of a half hearted approach.

And my club expects you to check in but not out

 

[GB72]

At my old club, the pro shop shut at around 6 and then there was nobody but bar staff on the premises so no way to check in and nobody marshalling the course or tees. They did have a period of sending member volunteers out in buggies when there were reports of people playing for free but that was about it. To be fair, during the summer, if you were out on your own you pretty much had to jump between holes and loops of 9 because there were knockout matchplay rounds all over the course

 

[Oddsocks]

Most clubs are only monitoring tee time usage to see if there is the potential there to sell them to p&p, period!

 

[Blue in Munich]

Must admit this is the kind of reasoning that irritates me and think it means someone in the club is fretting about the trivial.
If someone knows you are there great, if someone doesn't its your responsibility, not the clubs.

At a previous members club, where I served on committee for a few years, I can recount a number of instances where knowledge of tee bookings were useful which I suppose came under the umbrella of health and safety. Couple of examples that come to mind. In one instance it assisted in the investigation of a crime that took place when a member assaulted a passing walker. In another instance staff were able to locate a member who's wife had been rushed to A&E.

The most important use case for member bookings though was for commercial reasons, during some tough times we were able to plan visitor offers and evening bar openings during the summer around demand which helped to turn a loss into a profit. Nearly all members saw the benefit in this and the use of tee bookings went up dramatically.

I wouldn't call that trivial. And whilst it might be the member's responsibility to book in, that doesn't absolve the club from a duty of care.

 

[Billysboots]

We have always been led to believe, rightly or otherwise, that a failure to register with the club (note, I am not referring to booking a tee time), has implications on the club’s insurance. Nobody has ever explained how or why, and at best I am sceptical, but club management, committee members and shop staff have all made reference to it.

 

[Jimaroid]

I wouldn't call that trivial. And whilst it might be the member's responsibility to book in, that doesn't absolve the club from a duty of care.

Absolutely not trivial, I'd agree. In terms of the general duty of care, you're right, the staff would still have acted but the benefit in that case was simply one of fast response to the call. They would have responded similarly without the tee registration but they felt it was specifically because they had BRS in front of them in the bar that they were able to say to the family in an instant "don't worry, he's on the course, I'll go and get him" and they got a buggy out to him straight away without the general call of "What car does X drive? Does anyone know if he's here or on course today?" The staff member felt highly empowered and heroic in that moment and she went on about it in the clubhouse for weeks after to anyone that would listen! It helped shift a lot of opinions about the value of checking in.

 

[Backache]

I wouldn't call that trivial. And whilst it might be the member's responsibility to book in, that doesn't absolve the club from a duty of care.

The person may just as easily have gone to the shops where there is no requirement to sign in. Such are the wonders of all these new fangled gadgets that were my wife to be unfortunately taken ill they would probably try something I carry that is called a mobile phone.
Everyone can invent a scenario where something could conceivably help ,it is not normally a health and safety requirement to let someone know where you are every time you step outdoors thank goodness. Inventing H&S reasons is idiocy.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have always been led to believe, rightly or otherwise, that a failure to register with the club (note, I am not referring to booking a tee time), has implications on the club’s insurance. Nobody has ever explained how or why, and at best I am sceptical, but club management, committee members and shop staff have all made reference to it.

I can see how that may have been the case with track and trace but otherwise not so sure