Tee booking

[Bazz]

Problem is many don't understand a great number of golfers, especially the younger ones have a life outside of the golf course.

Must be nice to be able to put in a full 8 hour shift at the club.....

"What time will you be home?"

"Anytime between 12pm and 5."

 

[DanFST]

We had a chute to throw your ball in and wait.

Bookings now, I really hope it doesn't go back. There are absolutely no cons currently, although you do have to be a bit more organised when getting 4 tee times together.

 

[KenL]

We had a chute to throw your ball in and wait.

Bookings now, I really hope it doesn't go back. There are absolutely no cons currently, although you do have to be a bit more organised when getting 4 tee times together.

Last time I saw that was in the 80s.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

So being pedantic, it’s no longer a “roll-up” it’s a pre booked slot and no different to a Society booking or a Club Comp.

Which is true as we can’t just ‘roll up’ on the day to join in. In fact with tee booking in advance required there can no longer be such a thing as a roll up. The only thing I guess that differentiates it from a club comp is that you don’t need to be in one of the 40 reserved times to play in the roll-up. How things work in the context of WHS for those not in the 40 I don’t know but have asked.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My club never booked times. It was a club "non negotiable."

On a Saturday morning, you could be off in 10 mins, or 90, depending on when you got there. Made planning your day impossible

Post covid, everything is booked on line. Makes life easier, I think its much better.

The chatter about keep/remove when we're able to will be fun!

Snap! Will indeed be interesting.

 

[Golfnut1957]

Why would bank Holidays be any different to a normal day if there is a booking system? They aren't at my place.

Fog is a problem at times. If the course is closed due to fog you lose your time. When the course is deemed safe to play, the order of play is whatever the order is at that time on the booking system.

I was replying to Buzzatron who had replied to my post and was highlighting what he disliked about not having a booking system. I was agreeing with him by introducing other issues which made just rolling up even more of a pain in the chuff.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

We are currently using tee times like all clubs, but before Covid didn't have them at all. If we don't go back to no tee times I wont be playing and will let my membership finish and not renew. Golf is too sterile with tee times.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

We are currently using tee times like all clubs, but before Covid didn't have them at all. If we don't go back to no tee times I wont be playing and will let my membership finish and not renew. Golf is too sterile with tee times.

Sorry I don’t understand that ? Can you clarify what you mean

Today I got a message from a new member asking to join our threeball - that’s something he wouldn’t have been able to do without tee times. The new member now has joined a swindle and met two new people.

We for years had no tee bookings apart from comps but tee bookings has been a great success for us

Roll ups/swindles are still happening and will continue to happen but a tee sheets makes everything transparent and has helped new members integrate into the club a lot easier than before

 

[KenL]

What does "too sterile with tee times" mean?

I cannot see how going to the course and knowing when you are teeing off could be an issue for anyone.

 

[Billysboots]

We manage to run swindles within a tee booking system. On non-competition weekends the club kindly block books me half a dozen tee times on a Saturday and leaves it to me ensure they are filled from a list of about 30 members. In return, when new members join the club and want a game on a Saturday they are pointed in my direction and included within our group.

It works well, has done for years, and any number of new members have been quickly integrated into the club via our swindle and a couple of others.

Why anyone would want to rock up at 9am on a Saturday with no booking and no idea whether they’ll be home by tea time is beyond me.

 

[Orikoru]

We are currently using tee times like all clubs, but before Covid didn't have them at all. If we don't go back to no tee times I wont be playing and will let my membership finish and not renew. Golf is too sterile with tee times.

Can you explain this comment? I don't understand what you mean, or how being able to book a start is such a bad thing?

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Can you explain this comment? I don't understand what you mean, or how being able to book a start is such a bad thing?

There’s nothing to explain. I dislike having to book a tee time and prefer the freedom of turning up at an agreed time with your friends, balls in the hat, get in the queue for the first and off you go.

 

[Mandofred]

There’s nothing to explain. I dislike having to book a tee time and prefer the freedom of turning up at an agreed time with your friends, balls in the hat, get in the queue for the first and off you go.

Here is where you will get slated for having this opinion....by others, not me. I personally am glad this roll-up method is going away....luckily I have never played with it like this. BUT.....this is the way you like to play and there is nothing wrong with wanting to play like this....it fits with what you want golf to be. There are others who prefer total bookings, knowing exactly when they will tee off....nothing wrong with this way of playing and it fits with how they want to play. I'm in the middle myself.....a lot of clubs block out certain tee times, and within those tee times roll-ups can pretty much operate like they used to. I like that....it fits with the way I want to play. The club I've just joined seems to operate like this.....I like it and will probably be giving that club my money into the future.

There is a way towards compromise.....one side doesn't have to get their way with no compromise.

One thing I have learned concerning roll-ups, there are/were a lot of different ways that they were organised (or not organised)....some of the horror stories (to me) of the ball in the tray method and sitting around for a long time waiting have made a lot of people mad. Let it go, those times are over. Roll-ups can happen within the booking system....it just needs to be organised.

What some people consider roll-ups....are not roll-ups....but they hate them at this point just because they are called roll-ups.

 

[YorkshireStu]

There’s nothing to explain. I dislike having to book a tee time and prefer the freedom of turning up at an agreed time with your friends, balls in the hat, get in the queue for the first and off you go.

This feels like something that must surely be adapted for the 21st century. What about the young members the sport needs to grow who have young families? Or anyone else who can’t throw an hour away to sit around with work commitments? I can’t think of another organised amateur sport where roll ups are normal. Squash, tennis, 5 a side etc all need bookings.
They should set aside a few tee times for those who want a mid week roll up but in my view courses should operate a tee booking service for the bulk of the time.

 

[Billysboots]

There’s nothing to explain. I dislike having to book a tee time and prefer the freedom of turning up at an agreed time with your friends, balls in the hat, get in the queue for the first and off you go.

I don’t really understand the logic.

If you’re going to arrive at, say, 9am for a get together with 7 mates and throw the balls up to see who is playing with whom, what’s so off-putting about arriving at 9am but with the knowledge that you have two tee times booked half an hour after you get there? You can still throw the balls up.

That has to be infinitely better than rocking up at 9am, only to find the world and his wife have done the same, with chaos ensuing at the first tee, surely? All you are doing which is different from me is queuing, and I find it really strange that you would enjoy it!

I’ve been a member at both types of club and far prefer the type where I know I’ve got a game. At my last place, where bookings weren’t accepted, I often saw the hordes near the first tee and drove straight back out of the car park.

 

[DanFST]

There’s nothing to explain. I dislike having to book a tee time and prefer the freedom of turning up at an agreed time with your friends, balls in the hat, get in the queue for the first and off you go.

We do that with bookings, no problem. No queues to wait for with bookings either!

I feel it's just one of those things people dislike cause it's different. There really is no downsides.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We manage to run swindles within a tee booking system. On non-competition weekends the club kindly block books me half a dozen tee times on a Saturday and leaves it to me ensure they are filled from a list of about 30 members. In return, when new members join the club and want a game on a Saturday they are pointed in my direction and included within our group.

It works well, has done for years, and any number of new members have been quickly integrated into the club via our swindle and a couple of others.

Why anyone would want to rock up at 9am on a Saturday with no booking and no idea whether they’ll be home by tea time is beyond me.

One reason some will have is that they don‘t mind grabbing a tea or coffee and maybe a breakfast roll and having a chat with other members - folks they are unlikely to meet up with outside of the golf. Having pre-booked tee times as well as randomly drawn groups significantly reduces that social element of membership. It is a really nice aspect of my club and the rollup that 20-30 guys gather and share a laugh as one before going out to play. Indeed it is the one thing that would have me voting against keeping tee booking once the necessity is removed.

Of course even with pre-drawn four balls and known tee times - any of the group who are so minded can always turn up at what would have been the normal ‘draw’ time (15mins before first tee time) for a chat even if their tee time is not for another hour or whatever.

 

[Robobum]

Is it not a downside when booking the time?

If you get caught in the rush for tee time booking which is inevitable at certain times, your 2 tee times with mates may be nowhere near each other. Harder for a social beer afterwards if you are 30mins apart when teeing off in the first place ?‍

Our roll up used to be prime time Saturday morning, very tricky to coordinate booking at such a busy time so it’s died a death. No bad thing.

 

[KenL]

You can still meet up for a blether regardless of tee bookings, no?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

One reason some will have is that they don‘t mind grabbing a tea or coffee and maybe a breakfast roll and having a chat with other members - folks they are unlikely to meet up with outside of the golf. Having pre-booked tee times as well as randomly drawn groups significantly reduces that social element of membership. It is a really nice aspect of my club and the rollup that 20-30 guys gather and share a laugh as one before going out to play. Indeed it is the one thing that would have me voting against keeping tee booking once the necessity is removed.

Can you quantify this statement or are you guessing, what’s to stop your Club giving your roll up a 2hr slot and then everybody 20-30 guys turning up 1 - 1 1/2 hrs early to grab a tea/coffee/roll and have a chat?

All these threats about voting against things or leaving Golf etc seems very petulant.