Chelsea System/Bundled Golf

[leekgolf]

Hi we are looking at bundled golf communities in SW FL. Most if not all seem to have something called a Chelsea System for tee times. Is access a problem on these courses? I understand this Chelsea somehow penalizes players for playing often. Can anyone explain this and whether access really is a problem?

[Negncic]

Be careful when choosing a community. SW Florida is littered with bundled communities. Choose wisely. I think most important is to find out how many members they have and how many holes of golf. At some of the courses I looked at the membership per hole was ridiculous. Some courses had a lottery system to assign t-times. You told them what day you want and if you were lucky, they picked you and told you what your t-time was. The place I moved to, NE Florida, has 45 holes of golf with 350 members. And MUCH better weather. No issues whatsoever with t times.

[raynorfan1]

We use the Chelsea system at our municipal course. Basically, you get a point every time you play, with points accumulating on a rolling 14 day basis.

 

You put in a request for a tee time, and then requests are granted based on whoever has requested the time and has the lowest number of points (/has played the least). If you are flexible in your request (i.e. "any time between 7:00 and 10:00) there's almost always a time where you will be the low number. If you're really specific...not so much.

[GolfSRQ]

Where are you looking ? Some communities are very well funded with beautiful clubhouse course amenities etc. but the golf is way too busy. 18 holes with a morning and afternoon shotgun 144 players each time. It’s crazy. Do your homework. In season the courses in communities like this are too busy

[gr00vetech]

Chelsea is a system the manages the tee time lottery each day and works on the point system described above. Please note that a bundled community and a private club are not the same thing. Many of the communities have 800 to 1200 doors in the development meaning potentially 2000+ people trying to play the same 18 hole golf course day in day out for 4-5 months straight. If you are thinking you are going to play before 10:00am 5 days a week there is zero chance of that happening. It's really just simple math that regular access is an issue.

[leekgolf]

Thanks everyone. We're looking around Ft. Myers and Bonita Springs. I would be happy playing 2-3 times weekly and for the most part I'm not particular on time of day unless it's summer. For those who have played under this system, how hard is it to walk-on as a single? I don't really know anyone to play with yet.

 

I've heard public golf is a non-starter in that area. Is that true?

[GolfSRQ]

Why that area ? Vs naples or sarasota ?

[leekgolf]

> @GolfSRQ said:

> Why that area ? Vs naples or sarasota ?

 

Naples is a lot more money. I'd guess Sarasota might be as well. I'm thinking farther south than Sarasota is warmer in winter