Tee time booking and restrictions on how many times a week you can book

[Lord Tyrion]

No tee times? I am new to the Sport but as a member you can finish work and just roll up and play?

There are two systems at golf clubs. One has a booking system, BRS seem to be the most common provider of this software. All tee times are shown, you book your slot online or ring and ask your club to do it. Once that time is booked it is yours, no one can jump into it. You can book days in advance or minutes before if a slot is empty. Most clubs have a booking system now, it is perfect for the phone / computer age.

The other system is one where there is no booking system, you simply turn up, take your chances you can get out, wait in line. Some literally have queues of golfers, some have a chute where you put your ball and when your ball comes out it is your turn to go off. Clubs running with no booking tend to be quite traditional, members clubs.

I'll leave you to decide the advantages and disadvantages of both. It is a staggeringly divisive subject on here that never ends well.

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Likewise you can roll up and go straight out.
Having been a member of courses that do and this one that doesn't have tee times I prefer no tee times any day.

Both clubs I have been a member of have changed from roll up and play to booking system when I was playing there at the time.

For me the booking system works better in that I know my guaranteed starting time especially if I wanted to play Saturday morning.

You can roll up and go straight out on a booking system if there is no teetime booked, quick check with the pro and off you go.

Pro's and con's with each but as someone is time poor I know which works for me especially with a 20 mile drive to the course.

Bit like the long iron v hybrid debate, each has its own supporters

 

[KenL]

They should be firmer and just set the booking software so that members can only book whatever the max is.

All this "are encouraged" is unlikely to work, and is shifting the responsibility.

I agree but that's not the way my club operates, preferring a softer approach. Also not sure our (getting on a bit) booking software would have that option built in. Could be wrong and if people take advantage I am sure they will monitor and hopefully intervene.

 

[Crazyface]

Wow. Does that include weekend as well? If it does will your club not have comps in June?

Yup. Currently no plans to have comps they say that the golf gods have not decreed that we can yet.

 

[Crazyface]

Ours is also IG. It's set up to only allow a maximum of 3 tee bookings in a 7 day rolling period. The bookings open at 9am, and are fully booked within 3 minutes.
WE are 2 ball at 10 minute intervals 18 hole rounds off the first, but you can do 9 off the 10th in the window before the first groups get to the 10th. After 18:30 it's 9 holes only off the first.

I don't know anyone at my club who can't wait for the normality of no tee times and 4 balls again.

These should be banned. We're whizzing round at the moment. Even with some clowns holding things up.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

These should be banned. We're whizzing round at the moment. Even with some clowns holding things up.

Why, nothing wrong with 4 balls. Perhaps you need to have a word then with your members.

 

[Chris1967]

Best thing about the current state of play is no 4 balls.Absoulte pain 4 balls are, slowing everyone rounds down,should be banned from ever starting again unless all four players are single handicappers.

Hope 4 ball never ever returns in its current format of whatever the handicap.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Best thing about the current state of play is no 4 balls.Absoulte pain 4 balls are, slowing everyone rounds down,should be banned from ever starting again unless all four players are single handicappers.

Hope 4 ball never ever returns in its current format of whatever the handicap.

I'd nearly agree until you threw in the single handicap point. Low handicaps don't equal quicker golf. Lower handicappers take fewer shots but can be guilty of other behaviour that slows the game down, exaggerated psr, stalking putts etc that higher h/c don't do. It is too big of a generalisation.

I'd happily retain no 4 balls except for open 4bbb for example.

 

[upsidedown]

Likewise you can roll up and go straight out.
Having been a member of courses that do and this one that doesn't have tee times I prefer no tee times any day.

Like wise been member at both and prefer the booked tee time .
I look upon BRS as an online queue , at any given time you can see where you are in its ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Likewise you can roll up and go straight out.
Having been a member of courses that do and this one that doesn't have tee times I prefer no tee times any day.

This is how my club normally operates outside the situation we're in. The start times are published for all the roll up groups on our website and members are aware of them and new members are told when they run and are actively encouraged to contact the organiser for each one so they can come along and get involved. When it's running normally, leaving work and going to the club. getting clubs out of the locker and going out without booking makes such a difference. If the 1st is busy I can try and filter in off the 10th, go and work on short game or hit balls and go out later so all basis covered

 

[Bunkermagnet]

This is how my club normally operates outside the situation we're in. The start times are published for all the roll up groups on our website and members are aware of them and new members are told when they run and are actively encouraged to contact the organiser for each one so they can come along and get involved. When it's running normally, leaving work and going to the club. getting clubs out of the locker and going out without booking makes such a difference. If the 1st is busy I can try and filter in off the 10th, go and work on short game or hit balls and go out later so all basis covered

The start times of any of the swindles as they are called aren't published, they take their turn with everyone else. Not that there's many anyway.

 

[backwoodsman]

No tee times? I am new to the Sport but as a member you can finish work and just roll up and play?

Yep, you just turn up & walk out onto the course. Lovely.

(There's two schools of thought on this. Those who love the idea of "no booking", and those who think it's ludicrous. And never the twain shall meet. The argument has run for years, and will continue forever. But it's best we don't turn this thread into that argument ... )

 

[Fish]

The start times of any of the swindles as they are called aren't published, they take their turn with everyone else. Not that there's many anyway.

We publish ours, in the sense that they are an excellent way for new members to integrate into the membership scene should they wish to, especially if any have joined on their own and don’t know any or many existing members.

Most members know when the large roll-ups are (24+) and simply avoid those times, 9am Saturday, 08.30 Sunday are the 2 main ones for weekends, they’re both popular and anyone can join in. Most who take part regularly in these go on away trips with us also and end up in our WhatsApp group where we enter Opens all over the country, so they’re much more than just a roll-up, long term friendships are born from them.

In the midweek there are/were 2, 10am & 11am On Mondays, Wednesday & Fridays. Mainly seniors, mainly retired, ex captains and Presidents etc. I played in these when I first joined and got to know loads of members, but then went back to work again so joined the weekend ones.

The club recognises these as they’re a good marketing tool to help new members settle in, they’re run well, are competitive but fun.

 

[patricks148]

We publish ours, in the sense that they are an excellent way for new members to integrate into the membership scene should they wish to, especially if any have joined on their own and don’t know any or many existing members.

Most members know when the large roll-ups are (24+) and simply avoid those times, 9am Saturday, 08.30 Sunday are the 2 main ones for weekends, they’re both popular and anyone can join in. Most who take part regularly in these go on away trips with us also and end up in our WhatsApp group where we enter Opens all over the country, so they’re much more than just a roll-up, long term friendships are born from them.

In the midweek there are/were 2, 10am & 11am On Mondays, Wednesday & Fridays. Mainly seniors, mainly retired, ex captains and Presidents etc. I played in these when I first joined and got to know loads of members, but then went back to work again so joined the weekend ones.

The club recognises these as they’re a good marketing tool to help new members settle in, they’re run well, are competitive but fun.

are your club still allowing the roll ups?

the one we do have was asked to cancel its slots to allow more members to play, even the ladies 4 slots were stopped.... they were not so understanding

 

[Red scorpion]

I take it anyone can turn up and play in the time slots for the roll up, but not take part in the roll up

 

[Fish]

are your club still allowing the roll ups?

the one we do have was asked to cancel its slots to allow more members to play, even the ladies 4 slots were stopped.... they were not so understanding

No, it was a general statement, we’re in 2-balls like everyone and booking through the online IG system. We do try to get out all together, so we can have some Bantz across fairways or when greens are close to tees, and then take the pish within our WhatsApp group, but otherwise it’s an open booking system.

I don’t think any roll ups will materialise until we get to 18 holes, at least 3-balls and then only if regular tee times become empty as people start returning to work more.

 

[need_my_wedge]

We’ve always been a rock up and play when you want to club, except for competitions, which have tee bookings. With Covid, we have been forced to 2 balls with 10 minute tee slots. This worked great last week, nine holes only, play once a day, plenty of slots available. Originally we were asked to restrict to 3 times in the week, but because there were a lot of free slots, we were told to make use of them and play whenever. Because of the number of free slots, from yesterday we moved to 18 holes, max 3 rounds in 7 days, the course is now fully rammed until next Sunday.

A bad idea in my opinion, instantly reduced the playing field to 72 tee slots (144 players) a day, or 504 a week (1008 players), which means there are not enough tee bookings available in the week if everyone wanted to play twice, let alone three times. I appreciate that not everyone will play two or three times, but if half the members jump in and book twice as soon as slots are available, half the members wouldn’t be able to book one time in that 7 days.

 

[Red scorpion]

Reduce it to 1 time per week,same as 2 nines see how it goes from there.you just went from 27 holes a week to 54 holes a week

 

[rudebhoy]

We are allowed to book one midweek tee time and one weekend tee time in advance. Then, if there are free slots on the day, we can book them.

However, people are blatantly ignoring this and booking slots in advance for every day.

The club have said they will remove such bookings, but it's a mammoth task to manually cross check every booking, so I suspect a lot will get away with it.

Can BRS not be programmed to enforce this type of restriction?

 

[Billysboots]

Our club have been fantastic. Alas, some of our regular members are abusing things left, right and Chelsea.

We book via BRS and are allowed to book two times per week. The system goes live at 7am each day for the times seven days hence, and the slots are going really quickly, especially weekends. This coming Saturday saw every morning time gone within two minutes.

Committee members are allowed access to BRS, and are allowed to book times in advance of them going live. No problem with that, as without their help the club would not have reopened, but several regular committee 2-balls are booking a time each. They then play in their regular 2-ball, and turn the second time over to mates.

Some members have also got wind of this and are doing the same. As such, five regular 2-balls at the club managed to book ten tees last Saturday morning, leaving five spare times for their mates, which allowed them to arrange their normal money game.

Of course, what that means is that the less selfish members are really struggling for tees at peak times. We are less than two weeks in to post lockdown golf and arguments are raging.

The club have done their best to nip it in the bud, but there have already been committee resignations, along with some unbelievably rank childish behaviour.