Opinions on BRS - Help me!

[Maninblack4612]

My club have decided to give BRS a trial. Before making the decision a poll was taken of the members. 128 voted for the trial & 120 against, so a bit Brexitish. In my view the vote should not have taken place until after the trial but at least it went the right way, in my view.

There has been an animated discussion on the club’s Facebook page with some vociferous opposition. It is proposed that, initially, BRS will only apply to competitions & visitors, whose times will be strictly controlled. Arguments against are mainly 1. It will cost the club a lot of money, i.e. one fourball a day, at a time chosen by the club. 2. People will not be able to roll up & play when they want & 3. Big group roll ups will not be able to play at their usual time because they will not know until the day how many & who are playing. 4. A general “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

I don’t think that any of the “con” arguments hold water. I think that many of the “free” fourballs won’t be sold & the other points are easily overcome with proper management. I see the advantages as far outweighing the disadvantages.

So, opinions please. People whose clubs have BRS, how does it work? How are the perceived “cons” dealt with. What are the plus points? I intend to share this thread with my club’s Committee &, hopefully, give our members a better view of how it will work.

 

[brendy]

No cons really unless you are a technophobe. We have had it for years and cant believe we did without it so long. It makes for orderly competitions and knowing that the teebox is empty for maybe 20 mins means you can book and know you wont be putting a ball in the chute. Regarding the cost of a fourball, it costs the club zero to let a fourball on if it wasnt going to be sold otherwise anyway.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

BRS will work at some clubs and won’t work at others - and it will be mainly down to the members and their desires. We have it for comps via IG but it works for us at comps but it wouldn’t be welcome for social free play.

 

[fundy]

Was a massive negative for me at my previous club, proprietary club (albeit with 500 members) that soon started selling every tee time from 10am as pay and play every day midweek. Mon/wed/fri the seniors had the tee pretty much solid for the members only slots before this time, was usually a womens comp on the tuesday am.

Went from being able to play late morning as and when and be round in 3 to 3 1/2 hours to struggling to get a game mid week and expecting to endure 4 1/2 hrs as a minimum and often more in amongst a lot of pay and play. And to do that had to book a week or more in advance. Chance of just rocking up and picking up a game became unlikely. Course suffered from increased traffic (especially in winter) yet the owners put nothing more into the club, course or members side of things

 

[GB72]

This really is a contentious subject and one I have seen both sides of. I think that the main factor is whether the ability to pitch up and play is seen as a unique selling point of your club. I know many people at my old club who are members for just that reason and I equally know of people at my current club which has a booking system are just the same.
You will always have 2 groups of people, those who want to know exactly when they are playing irrespective of time and those that want to play at a certain time and are willing to wait around to ensure that they do.
To show my hand, I am generally in the second group. I have limited time at weekends and I want to play relatively early and be home in time to spend the rest of the day with my wife. As such, I am happy to turn up on the tee early to ensure that I am off by a certain time. I can only play once, or maybe twice a week, and I do not want to find that I cannot play at my ideal because it is all booked up and I am stuck with afternoon times.
The argument is that I am free to book a tee time the same as anyone else. The problem is that if you are at work when the times are released, there is always a group that will be in straight away to swoop up the prime spots. I would rather get to the first tee 45 minutes early to ensure that I am teeing off roughly when I want to. That works for me but does not work for others.
My old club did have tee booking in place for competitions and that did work OK. It faced the same opposition as you talk about but it did seem to bed in quite well and it did help people find playing partners as they could just attach to other groups.
The ability to sign in with other groups could be a plus or a minus. I can see many benefits of it for someone joining a club or looking for a round being able to find a smaller group booked in and tag there name on. There are, however, some who see that as an issue as they do not want strangers tagging along.
You also have the issue of playing a casual 9 holes. I was free last Friday afternoon and at my old club I would have nipped up for a quick 9 holes of practice. I could not do that at my current club due to the tees being booked. It is for reason like that that I am looking to possibly leave.
On the plus side, at my current club I know that the tee is booked for the roll up on Saturday morning so I know when I am playing and I know pretty much when I will finish. That can help in planning the rest of the day. What that does mean, however, is that the roll up is not really that. You have to confirm that you are attending in advance so as they do not waste tee times. There is little chance of just pitching up and fitting in on a busy day and sometimes the numbers have to be limited by the number of available tee times.
So, my argument is against tee booking. It is a selfish point but it is how I feel about it. I can sometimes be free to play at short notice and want to be able to get on the course and I want to play at certain times and queuing up ensures I do that.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

We have it and we don’t have any issues, Club events are booked 12 months in advance, so why can’t roll ups be blocked off in advance if they go off at the same time every week.
Great if you suddenly have the chance to go up the course for a round and rather than getting there and finding it busy, you can check before you leave the house.
Booking online for comps etc is easy.
I can’t see how it’s any different for visitors, you the club stipulate when slots are available and at what price, so instead of phoning and booking, they book online.

 

[fundy]

We have it and we don’t have any issues, Club events are booked 12 months in advance, so why can’t roll ups be blocked off in advance if they go off at the same time every week.
Great if you suddenly have the chance to go up the course for a round and rather than getting there and finding it busy, you can check before you leave the house.
Booking online for comps etc is easy.
I can’t see how it’s any different for visitors, you the club stipulate when slots are available and at what price, so instead of phoning and booking, they book online.

Thats great until every time you check you find out that the course is busy and you cant get a game

 

[williamalex1]

We just started using BRS a couple of months ago, for social golf only, we use HDID for booking comps.
We're still having teething problems , especially with some the older members that don't have internet access or don't want to learn or change things.
The regular sweeps/swindles can apply and book block tee times up to a month in advance.
It can be handy to be able to look and see what time certain people and sweeps are playing , if only just to avoid them.
You can still rock up and put a ball in the shute, but booked times do have priority.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Thats great until every time you check you find out that the course is busy and you cant get a game

How is it any different to just turning up and finding it busy?
I can log on and see instantly if busy or not, not every course suddenly becomes busier because they introduce BRS.

 

[fundy]

How is it any different to just turning up and finding it busy?
I can log on and see instantly if busy or not, not every course suddenly becomes busier because they introduce BRS.

because without the BRS there were known quiet times which enabled members to enjoy the golf course they paid a chunk to be a member of. By introducing the BRS the club soon realised that they could make more money selling these slots for 60 quid a fourball on tee off times and didnt care the impact it had on the members (then wondered why they lost a chunk of members)

 

[GB72]

How is it any different to just turning up and finding it busy?
I can log on and see instantly if busy or not, not every course suddenly becomes busier because they introduce BRS.

That is true but I would ask the question as to why it is being introduced if the current system is working. I can only see the expense being justified if it is applied to get more people on to the course, be it members of pay and play golfers and to attract more revenue to the course (not necessarily a bad thing but a point worth making).

I can see plus and minus points to both sides but I like the flexibility that pitching up and playing gives me. I agree that it does work for competitions and stops club comps getting held up by other groups playing in between but for general play it is not for me.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

because without the BRS there were known quiet times which enabled members to enjoy the golf course they paid a chunk to be a member of. By introducing the BRS the club soon realised that they could make more money selling these slots for 60 quid a fourball on tee off times and didnt care the impact it had on the members (then wondered why they lost a chunk of members)

Pretty much how it is at our place - everyone knows when the roll ups go out throughout the week , and they either join in or go out when its a quiter period , all the KO's are arranged in the quieter periods and a lot of the rolls ups dont have consistent numbers.

There is no "correct" answer - what will work will be what the members want - we enjoy a free tee and people can just rock up.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

because without the BRS there were known quiet times which enabled members to enjoy the golf course they paid a chunk to be a member of. By introducing the BRS the club soon realised that they could make more money selling these slots for 60 quid a fourball on tee off times and didnt care the impact it had on the members (then wondered why they lost a chunk of members)

That’s different to the short notice turn up argument, we can book up to 28 days in advance, like your course we know when it tends to be quiet and although it may be cheap to play it’s not full all the time, for those who wish to play at a particular time on a particular day it’s ideal.
South Shields is close to me and is a very good course and with no disrespect to them, unless they virtually charge next to nothing to play there it’s not suddenly going to get full due to BRS, they already get a lot of visitors at reasonable prices.

 

[virtuocity]

I need to know that I have a tee-time booked when I'm pressed for time (e.g. evening rounds), and I can book strategically at quieter times. Love BRS- there's even a decent app for the mobile.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

That is true but I would ask the question as to why it is being introduced if the current system is working. I can only see the expense being justified if it is applied to get more people on to the course, be it members of pay and play golfers and to attract more revenue to the course (not necessarily a bad thing but a point worth making).

I can see plus and minus points to both sides but I like the flexibility that pitching up and playing gives me. I agree that it does work for competitions and stops club comps getting held up by other groups playing in between but for general play it is not for me.

It maybe a bit of both, make it easier for members and to try and increase revenue for the Club, previously we ran a paper system, if you wanted to enter a comp on a weekend you turned up on a thursday night 9 days before and queued up, ideal for the retired and unemployed who could get to the Clubhouse early afternoon and get the front of the queue, we’d often have between 50-80 people queueing up.
Now we have BRS we have online booking in the Clubhouse only on the Thursday night and the system goes live on the internet 9:00am friday mornings, we now get no more than 15-20 turning up on the thursday.
As for the flexibility of simply pitching up, I, like others, enjoy that, but there has been instances when I’ve turned up to find societies booked in, I still enjoy just pitching up, but I’ll always now check BRS to save disappointment.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

because without the BdRS there were known quiet times which enabled members to enjoy the golf course they paid a chunk to be a member of. By introducing the BRS the club soon realised that they could make more money selling these slots for 60 quid a fourball on tee off times and didnt care the impact it had on the members (then wondered why they lost a chunk of members)

That is a club problem, not a BRS one. I wouldn't go near a club without BRS. Time is precious, I want to know that I can get out at a time of my choosing, one that I know in advance, and BRS allows that.

I've been at a club where you just turn up and spent too long waiting for my turn to go out. It's archaic.

 

[fundy]

That is a club problem, not a BRS one. I wouldn't go near a club without BRS. Time is precious, I want to know that I can get out at a time of my choosing, one that I know in advance, and BRS allows that.

I've been at a club where you just turn up and spent too long waiting for my turn to go out. It's archaic.

i agree its a club problem, but its only arisen due to the introduction of BRS. As someone paying a membership it led to a much decreased members experience.

have been a member at clubs with and without and much prefer to be somewhere without, but accept were all different and at times want different things.

 

[adasko]

My previous club did have BRS and it was really handy, especially for the comps when your regular playing partners wasn't able to play you could just quickly check is there any spaces available in the time you want to play. My new club don't have any booking system and it can be frustrating that you have to wait on the first tee and ask people can you join them for the comp. I am big fan of BRS

 

[Foxholer]

My club have decided to give BRS a trial. Before making the decision a poll was taken of the members. 128 voted for the trial & 120 against, so a bit Brexitish. In my view the vote should not have taken place until after the trial but at least it went the right way, in my view.

There has been an animated discussion on the club’s Facebook page with some vociferous opposition. It is proposed that, initially, BRS will only apply to competitions & visitors, whose times will be strictly controlled. Arguments against are mainly 1. It will cost the club a lot of money, i.e. one fourball a day, at a time chosen by the club. 2. People will not be able to roll up & play when they want & 3. Big group roll ups will not be able to play at their usual time because they will not know until the day how many & who are playing. 4. A general “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

I don’t think that any of the “con” arguments hold water. I think that many of the “free” fourballs won’t be sold & the other points are easily overcome with proper management. I see the advantages as far outweighing the disadvantages.

So, opinions please. People whose clubs have BRS, how does it work? How are the perceived “cons” dealt with. What are the plus points? I intend to share this thread with my club’s Committee &, hopefully, give our members a better view of how it will work.

While labelled 'Opinions on BRS', this thread is not really about BRS per se! It's about Club Booking systems and the relationship between the Club and its members!

From what I've seen, BRS itself 'does what it says on the tin'!

As for the attitude of members to booking systems...that's something for each club to address/consider imo! But as I've a tendency to decide in a rather ad-hoc way, I'd sooner know that I've booked a tee time than simply turn up and hope!

 

[Hobbit]

Was dead against it till 2 clubs I was a member of got it. The only downside experienced was the Thursday night that previously was busy with players coming to book times became almost dead.

Perhaps the best benefit I found was for evening golf. No more turning up on spec for a quick 9/18 only to find the first tee with a queue.