Tee booking

[NearHull]

i‘m assuming that the vast majority of golf clubs currently have a 100% tee booking system to satisfy Test & Trace as my club employs. At some time in the future, we think the Test & Trace requirements will diminish and 100% tee bookings will not be necessary. Some clubs will keep it going, it perhaps was their starting position prior to this pandemic, others will revert back to their former practices, perhaps others will find some middle ground.
I have been asked to review our club’s tee booking procedures and make recommendations for when a choice becomes feasible. Our former procedures were Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday am (Ladies Day) using the on line booking system, the remaining tees times, excluding organised visiting groups, free to turn up. We do have reserved tees for Seniors Matches Mid week. We think that this is our ‘red line’ and will always continue to book theses days on line.
I’m hoping for some advice and recommendations please. We are a member‘s club of just over 600 members consisting of Juniors, Ladies and Gents.

 

[Mandofred]

I think there needs to be a nice choice of booking on line and roll-ups times. The roll-ups are a vital part of a golf club. If I had a choice of similar clubs......one club was booking only, the other had roll-ups and bookings......I'd join the roll-up club. There needs to be a serious look at weekend mornings....and possibly delaying roll-ups to allow for booking times at weekends. There are people who don't want roll-ups and need to get their rounds in nice and early.....while old farts like me(63) can play pretty well any time. There can be compromise.....

 

[Golfnut1957]

We are a similar sized club and have had tee booking in place for a couple of years now. Initially with BRS and now via Club V1.

Bookings are available seven days a week 7:30 to 7:30 with members allowed to play without booking before and after these times. Members can also just wander up and fill any unbooked slots without a booking, obviously bookings take precedence. Club comps, matches, union days and societies are all pre-booked by the comps committee or the secretary. The daily roll up manage their own bookings without any issue.

Prior to the booking system being introduced members would just rock up, and it was always a lottery walking around the corner to the first tee to discover what kind of queue awaited you. I've never heard one member says that they would like to do away with the booking system and return to the old method.

 

[Mandofred]

Prior to the booking system being introduced members would just rock up, and it was always a lottery walking around the corner to the first tee to discover what kind of queue awaited you. I've never heard one member says that they would like to do away with the booking system and return to the old method.

I have the opposite experience.....tons of folks wanting the roll-ups to come back. There is going to be a battle royal if/when things get back to normal. Question.....seriously.....are the people you talk to younger, or older? When I say younger....I mean 40 or younger.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I have the opposite experience.....tons of folks wanting the roll-ups to come back. There is going to be a battle royal if/when things get back to normal. Question.....seriously.....are the people you talk to younger, or older?

When did the roll-ups take place?

At our place we have used the on-line booking system for quite a few years and always encouraged members to use it for any round, however, in quiet periods some don’t and they’d take a chance just rocking up.

Sat/Sun we need to use it as it’s at its busiest and until early evening (summer) it is fully booked, our Team home fixtures are block booked as are our Senior slots for 2 hours every Tue/Thurs morning.
Ladies (we don’t have many) get a block Sunday & Thursday midday.

All other bookings, Societies/Visitors etc are also booked on the system.

Members, if they have any sense, simply need to check BRS to see if there are any free slots and should/can book, some choose not to, but if they turn up and the Tee is booked they only have themselves to blame and get no sympathy.

 

[Mandofred]

When did the roll-ups take place?

At our place we have used the on-line booking system for quite a few years and always encouraged members to use it for any round, however, in quiet periods some don’t and they’d take a chance just rocking up.

Sat/Sun we need to use it as it’s at its busiest and until early evening (summer) it is fully booked, our Team home fixtures are block booked as are our Senior slots for 2 hours every Tue/Thurs morning.
Ladies (we don’t have many) get a block Sunday & Thursday midday.

All other bookings, Societies/Visitors etc are also booked on the system.

Members, if they have any sense, simply need to check BRS to see if there are any free slots and should/can book, some choose not to, but if they turn up and the Tee is booked they only have themselves to blame and get no sympathy.

I think this is my point......there needs to be a compromise between straight booking and roll-ups....it may differ with each club. Straight booking?....I'm not interested...and it would possibly get me out of golf completely. Roll-ups I like (as I've mentioned ad nauseam ). Why can't you have both?

 

[Golfnut1957]

I have the opposite experience.....tons of folks wanting the roll-ups to come back. There is going to be a battle royal if/when things get back to normal. Question.....seriously.....are the people you talk to younger, or older? When I say younger....I mean 40 or younger.

Age doesn't really matter. I talk to a lot of people of all ages, but the point is the booking system isn't ever a topic of conversation, nobody talks about it, it is just an accepted part of our lives.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I think this is my point......there needs to be a compromise between straight booking and roll-ups....it may differ with each club. Straight booking?....I'm not interested...and it would possibly get me out of golf completely. Roll-ups I like (as I've mentioned ad nauseam ). Why can't you have both?

I’m confused as to when the roll-ups take place at his course as in the op he said Sat/Sun were on-line bookings previously and then said there’d be battle royale if they didn’t come back, therefore they either took place on a different day or they were booked in on the system.

 

[Golfnut1957]

I’m confused as to when the roll-ups take place at his course as in the op he said Sat/Sun were on-line bookings previously and then said there’d be battle royale if they didn’t come back, therefore they either took place on a different day or they were booked in on the system.

Confusion? Near Hull is the OP. BanjoFred brought up "battle royal".

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Confusion? Near Hull is the OP. BanjoFred brought up "battle royal".

Well spotted, my apologies, I was answering the OP and Banjofred answering my post confused me.

 

[Bazzatron]

We are a similar sized club and have had tee booking in place for a couple of years now. Initially with BRS and now via Club V1.

Bookings are available seven days a week 7:30 to 7:30 with members allowed to play without booking before and after these times. Members can also just wander up and fill any unbooked slots without a booking, obviously bookings take precedence. Club comps, matches, union days and societies are all pre-booked by the comps committee or the secretary. The daily roll up manage their own bookings without any issue.

Prior to the booking system being introduced members would just rock up, and it was always a lottery walking around the corner to the first tee to discover what kind of queue awaited you. I've never heard one member says that they would like to do away with the booking system and return to the old method.

Used to hate that, we'd get there for 7 on a Saturday and have 4x4balls waiting. I want to know what time I'm going off so I can plan other stuff. Can't just hang around and wait.

 

[NearHull]

Thank you Golfnut 1957 for clarifying my post.

We do not have any Roll Ups at the weekend. I’ll add a little more to my dilemma. I’m also interested in forummers‘ opinions on how to gather and gauge the membership’s thoughts.

I’m toying with the idea of a 100% ‘survey’ which, in itself can be distorted to those who can be bothered to fill it in, those who reject any survey etc. Then, do I weight the members thoughts? If they only play at weekends ( the working population in the main) should they unduly influence what happens in the week? If they are 5 day members, or 6 day members, should they sway decisions ?

Personally, I enjoy partaking in the two main mid week Roll Ups and in the Seniors Roll Ups, as well as playing in the booked Competitions. I have played in eight 4balls since 28 March with about 20 different members. I have asked each pp two questions, what are their preferences? and how should I gather opinion?. I have been a bit surprised at the answers, perhaps I’m guilty of pre- judging or assuming they would think as I do!

One answer that did strike me as thought provoking was “we need to revert back to the previous procedures otherwise we haven’t returned to normal”.

I am very grateful to the Roll Ups that were in force when I joined. I did not know a soul and it was the Roll ups that got me to meet so many people. I strongly believe in trying to maintain them, but I may be out of kilter with the membership.

I really am interested in hearing your views.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Thank you Golfnut 1957 for clarifying my post.

We do not have any Roll Ups at the weekend. I’ll add a little more to my dilemma. I’m also interested in forummers‘ opinions on how to gather and gauge the membership’s thoughts.

I’m toying with the idea of a 100% ‘survey’ which, in itself can be distorted to those who can be bothered to fill it in, those who reject any survey etc. Then, do I weight the members thoughts? If they only play at weekends ( the working population in the main) should they unduly influence what happens in the week? If they are 5 day members, or 6 day members, should they sway decisions ?

Personally, I enjoy partaking in the two main mid week Roll Ups and in the Seniors Roll Ups, as well as playing in the booked Competitions. I have played in eight 4balls since 28 March with about 20 different members. I have asked each pp two questions, what are their preferences? and how should I gather opinion?. I have been a bit surprised at the answers, perhaps I’m guilty of pre- judging or assuming they would think as I do!

One answer that did strike me as thought provoking was “we need to revert back to the previous procedures otherwise we haven’t returned to normal”.

I am very grateful to the Roll Ups that were in force when I joined. I did not know a soul and it was the Roll ups that got me to meet so many people. I strongly believe in trying to maintain them, but I may be out of kilter with the membership.

I really am interested in hearing your views.

Unfortunately you will never please all members, but maybe you could try and please the majority followed by a review after 4 months or end of season etc.

 

[Mandofred]

Thank you Golfnut 1957 for clarifying my post.

We do not have any Roll Ups at the weekend. I’ll add a little more to my dilemma. I’m also interested in forummers‘ opinions on how to gather and gauge the membership’s thoughts.

I’m toying with the idea of a 100% ‘survey’ which, in itself can be distorted to those who can be bothered to fill it in, those who reject any survey etc. Then, do I weight the members thoughts? If they only play at weekends ( the working population in the main) should they unduly influence what happens in the week? If they are 5 day members, or 6 day members, should they sway decisions ?

Personally, I enjoy partaking in the two main mid week Roll Ups and in the Seniors Roll Ups, as well as playing in the booked Competitions. I have played in eight 4balls since 28 March with about 20 different members. I have asked each pp two questions, what are their preferences? and how should I gather opinion?. I have been a bit surprised at the answers, perhaps I’m guilty of pre- judging or assuming they would think as I do!

One answer that did strike me as thought provoking was “we need to revert back to the previous procedures otherwise we haven’t returned to normal”.

I am very grateful to the Roll Ups that were in force when I joined. I did not know a soul and it was the Roll ups that got me to meet so many people. I strongly believe in trying to maintain them, but I may be out of kilter with the membership.

I really am interested in hearing your views.

All of this......I like. Intelligent view on things.....not right or wrong, but wondering about the way forward.

One way is not necessarily the "right" way. It's just A way. I do find it interesting when golfers talk about tradition, roll-ups are tradition. Seems some people want tradition when it fits in with what they want to happen.....tradition is bad if it doesn't fit. Each club needs to find their own way......

My opinion....and really is just an opinion......is that the old way of showing up and hoping you could get on was a bit crazy. I was not golfing in a situation where that happened (I wasn't golfing at all), but I can sure understand how people hated it. I'd hate it. A members club has the choice of running things as they wish within reason.....roll-ups, no roll-ups, dress codes, behaviour etc etc etc. If you are looking for a job, and the requirement for working was something you didn't like......wouldn't you look somewhere else for a job that you could live with? The club that I've added as a 2nd club seems to be more roll-up oriented (if they start up again).....if my current club were to do away with roll-ups.....my choice is easy to make.

 

[Sports_Fanatic]

It feels like it should be a fairly basic thing to have a booking system which just greys out 3 roll up slots a week say. (Eg sat 9-11), and also on the system a roll up sheet so if you’ll play sat roll up you put your name down by Thursday. Quick random draw and allocate the roll up individuals to those bookings so they know time. Choice for them to turn up in slot or get there 9 for the chat and breakfast.

Benefit of inclusion, able to play with lots of different people and I expect better for pace of play as people going out with correct gaps rather than as soon as second shot been hit by group in front.

Appreciate allocating may need an individuals involvement so could take that out and just have a greyed slot and let them all queue at 9 if they really want to do the draw but that seems really inefficient.

 

[BiMGuy]

Personally, I much prefer booking a tee time.

When I play, I want to know what time I'm teeing off so I can plan my time accordingly.

There are two courses near me. Prior to Covid one of them had no booking. It was entirely possible to get there and find 6 or 7 groups, waiting to tee off.

People would tee off as soon as the group in front were just out of range, which caused very slow rounds.

Who wants to wait an hour and a half to tee off then spend 5 hours waiting on every shot?

 

[Mandofred]

Personally, I much prefer booking a tee time.

When I play, I want to know what time I'm teeing off so I can plan my time accordingly.

There are two courses near me. Prior to Covid one of them had no booking. It was entirely possible to get there and find 6 or 7 groups, waiting to tee off.

People would tee off as soon as the group in front were just out of range, which caused very slow rounds.

Who wants to wait an hour and a half to tee off then spend 5 hours waiting on every shot?

If that's the way it worked at our place......I'd agree with you. Haven't seen anything even close to this......but there seems to be a lot of different ways that roll-ups took place, some better than others.

 

[jim8flog]

Membership around 700 -800 18 hole and 9 hole course 9 minute tee intervals.

We have been all booked for a couple of years now. There was a little bit of silliness from those opposed to it initially eg deliberately booking slots they new they would not use and inserting names like Adolf Hitler but in the long run it has all settled down. Biggest opposition came form the early morning 'set' who reckoned they would loose there unofficial roll up grouping but it simply did not happen.

We have no club run roll ups but two or three groups every day who run one . They all work well they just agree the number of slots they need and allocate one person from the group to book a slot with 3 other players. It generally leaves plenty of unbooked slots most weekdays.

Ladies get every other week as a formal competition day on a Tuesday morning but any unbooked slots are released on the day. Seniors get every other Monday morning for a comp which is always completely full with a reserve list.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

It feels like it should be a fairly basic thing to have a booking system which just greys out 3 roll up slots a week say. (Eg sat 9-11), and also on the system a roll up sheet so if you’ll play sat roll up you put your name down by Thursday. Quick random draw and allocate the roll up individuals to those bookings so they know time. Choice for them to turn up in slot or get there 9 for the chat and breakfast.

Benefit of inclusion, able to play with lots of different people and I expect better for pace of play as people going out with correct gaps rather than as soon as second shot been hit by group in front.

Appreciate allocating may need an individuals involvement so could take that out and just have a greyed slot and let them all queue at 9 if they really want to do the draw but that seems really inefficient.

I believe roll-ups are a great idea, the problem I have with them (not aimed at you) is they tend to want the best time allocated to a minority.

Using your example of 9-11 you are basically closing off that time for just 48 members, the remainder of the membership, which will be 3 - 4 or even more times that and don’t wish to play in the roll-up are excluded, surely a roll-up, if they desire it that much, should be held outside of peak times, or the other issue you get is 2-3 roll-ups all wanting different times and all allocated block bookings.

 

[Boomy]

Booking tee times is 100% the way to go in my opinion. Time is precious and I personally don’t have it to waste on waiting about. Unless you play at a very quiet/low membership club where rolling up may work fine... I’d say it would (could) be chaos just rolling up!