Reasonable to request a partial membership refund?

[evemccc]

Bookings only at my club so not a chance of anything guaranteed. Might be able to join a smaller group but would mean waiting by the first tee to see if you could join them. This is for members only, visitors wouldn't get on without a pre booking

For all the talk of dress codes and how prohibiting football shirts and hoodies is driving young people away / not attracting younger players, IMO by far the single biggest thing that limits younger golfers is the domination of the tee-sheet by roll-ups and the lack of a booking system

If golf is something you want to do for a few hours at the weekend (rather than spending most of your day at the club, having a coffee, having a beer etc) or if you’ve other hobbies / have a young family / WAG etc, then not knowing how long a weekend round is going to take, and knowing it can often take 5 hours if you’ve got to wait around at a roll-up and be last out is very annoying

It’s not hugely appealing to have half the day’s bookings (or more in winter) blocked off with roll-ups. Why would a youngish golfer who works midweek and can only play at weekends, stay at a club that clearly exists for its mostly retired members.

People want to plan their weekends and know when they’re playing and when they’re going to be back home to get on with the rest of their weekend

Booking system > dress codes

 

[Bratty]

We have a booking system, so as others have said, rock up and hope for the best. Usually a spot if you're alone. Same can be said for comps, one or two days before, there's always dropouts. I have yet to not play in a comp when not booked in advance.
Non members are after 12pm, but you haven't got a hope in hell of getting on then either, as we get a ton of socities and pay and plays, and no guarantee they'd want you joining them, and if the club forced them, it probably wouldn't make for a fun round!

 

[Oddsocks]

I think the biggest challenge at my current course is Saturday mornings have 5 roll ups between 8am and 11.00, what i do like is they are generally smaller roll ups and are split by half hour slots for members who want fixed group games. Sunday is only one roll up which goes off at 11am so 7.30 -10.50 is all pre book slots which again go weeks in advance.

It’s clear that people are waiting by the pc at 7.29 to book three weeks in advance and that is a ball ache, the frustration of needing to book this far in advance amazes me and is no doubt my biggest issue. I suppose as a compromise if you play early every Sunday it becomes a rolling routine, however miss one Sunday and the cycle breaks down. I think we have a big portion of members who play in the summer afternoons and when they are fighting for winter tee slots it magnifies the problem.

Someone asked a question about other homes. There are options:

One course is open tee time roll up from 7.30 to 9.00 on both Saturday aged Sunday, then pre book slots for the rest of the morning with green fees available from 12noon. This is subject to availability and are only released on Thursday AM. The course knocks the socks of my current course and the work going into the course (whitenesses on Monday) is great. My only concern with this club is the only roll up at weekends is Saturday at 11am (against 5 Saturday options currently) and no swindle on Sunday (against the current 1)

Option 2 is one with two early swindles but on a course that has only 350 seven days members. This is great and with two swindles is pretty appealing, the downside is they sell green fees after 11.

What’s clear is London courses are in demand, does a perfect club exist or is it about finding the balance …

 

[evemccc]

I have got a perfect club for you..not too far from London - two great courses, very low membership so you’ll be able to get a game, very good practice facilities, plenty of green-keepers to keep it immaculate

Yep, I think Sunningdale must be the perfect club ?

Seriously though, as long as you can pre-book a game I think you’re fine. You probably can’t complain about 3 weeks ahead…we plan holidays and trips way ahead.
We all have accept the courses are busy during the ‘boom’

 

[Oddsocks]

Believe it or not wrotham Heath ticks every box…. But it’s 40 mins drive and 100 on a waiting list!

 

[upsidedown]

Serious question then for the forum, if I turned up at your club at 900am on a Saturday, unannounced, what time would i tee off?

At my very normal club, i wouldnt get a guaranteed time until at least 1330, and would budget at least 2 hours before the chance to join a 3 ball as a single player.

Would be worse in summer...

As a member there is a slot at 10.48 for a single , as a visitor you're looking at 13.30

 

[nickjdavis]

Serious question then for the forum, if I turned up at your club at 900am on a Saturday, unannounced, what time would i tee off?

At my very normal club, i wouldnt get a guaranteed time until at least 1330, and would budget at least 2 hours before the chance to join a 3 ball as a single player.

Would be worse in summer...

I doubt that you would get out anything before 12:30pm and possibly 2-3pm in the summer. Saturday is our busiest day with both visitors and regular groups (tee booking 7 days in advance).

However....if it was known that a group of members had a space, then the pro-shop would try to accommodate you....some groups are more amenable than others to having a "stranger" join them.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Serious question then for the forum, if I turned up at your club at 900am on a Saturday, unannounced, what time would i tee off?

At my very normal club, i wouldnt get a guaranteed time until at least 1330, and would budget at least 2 hours before the chance to join a 3 ball as a single player.

Would be worse in summer...

At the moment it would be 9:46 then two slots at 10:02, and 4 slots in the rollup to go off sometime (to be drawn Sat am) between 10:34 and 11:22

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Serious question then for the forum, if I turned up at your club at 900am on a Saturday, unannounced, what time would i tee off?

At my very normal club, i wouldnt get a guaranteed time until at least 1330, and would budget at least 2 hours before the chance to join a 3 ball as a single player.

Would be worse in summer...

You would most likely be invited to join a group waiting their turn.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

At my old club Saturday was comp day and in the Summer was full from 0700 till about 1630 with people playing in the comp. And there was usually a reserve list. It was very much frowned upon if you were a no show.

If you weren’t playing in the comp, you didn’t play, and visitors generally weren’t allowed on a Saturday.

Then after the comp there was usually a queue of other people wanting to play. So you’d maybe get a space with one of those groups.

I’m not sure what it’s like there now.

At my current place you would probably get a game at some point in the morning.

 

[SteveW86]

Serious question then for the forum, if I turned up at your club at 900am on a Saturday, unannounced, what time would i tee off?

At my very normal club, i wouldnt get a guaranteed time until at least 1330, and would budget at least 2 hours before the chance to join a 3 ball as a single player.

Would be worse in summer...

just checked our booking sheet, and there are 3 available tee times available between 9 am and midday.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

just checked our booking sheet, and there are 3 available tee times available between 9 am and midday.

Just checked ours and between 9am and 1pm there are spots for two x 2 balls and three X 4 balls. This is typical. I could book myself as a 1ball into any of the three empty tee times or join either of the two 2 balls - I'd check with them in case they are playing a match.