Booking tee times online - I hate it

[vandyfan]

48 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

did NOT charge a convenience fee

 

So, I am also a tiny bit irked by the convenience fee. Generally I think it is $2.95, more/less, at least where I have booked. The one way I rationalize it is if I bring my own food I probably save $2.95 on margin. Doesn't really solve that problem (particularly if I cancel) but for anyone that is buying a marked up beer and hotdog at the turn, I don't think they can also complain about the convenience fee (not saying that is you). Ultimately it is a cost of doing business and I have two small kids so I have had tee times that I have had to cancel last minute and eat the convenience fee (and sometimes the round) because someone hurt themselves outside or was just overall having a bad day, haha. 

[Sp4zRX]

6 hours ago, vandyfan said:

 

Personally, I don't think people are "scared" to pick up the phone. And I also don't think it is more convenient.

 

Fair enough. I think that was just my generational rant. Like when at the grocery store and a person with an overflowing cart goes through self check when a clerk has an empty line with a bagger. 
 

I stand by the fact that I find calling way more convenient. 

6 hours ago, vandyfan said:

1. The online tee sheet can show you all the available tee times by day, down to the minute vs. you asking the person "what do you have between 8-9 am? Oh nothing? What about 9am -10 am? On 9:50 am...but only for two people?" etc. How is that more efficient? I don't think I have ever booked a phone tee time in 20 seconds. Online, yes, if the credit card is saved. 

 

Referencing the online tee sheet is convenient, I’ll give you that. 
 

When I call it usually goes

Me: “Hi, I want to book a tee time for a foursome this Friday around 830am”

Pro shop: “Sorry, the earliest available time on Friday is 10:15am”

Me: “I’ll take the 10:15am”

Pro shop: “Can I have your name?”

Me: Spaz Medicine

Pro shop: Ok Spaz Medicine, we got you in there. 
Me: Ok, thanks, bye. 
Pro shop: Bye. 
 

Usually under 20 seconds, if not then under 30, MAX 45 seconds. No websites, usernames, passwords, captchas, credit card numbers, and most importantly no “convenience fee”. 
 

But to each his own. If people prefer online, that cool but just don’t do away with the old pick the phone way. 

[vandyfan]

16 hours ago, Sp4zRX said:

captchas,

 

Now you are speaking to me. Captchas might lead me to jump off a cliff one of these days haha

[Argonne69]

10 hours ago, vandyfan said:

 

Now you are speaking to me. Captchas might lead me to jump off a cliff one of these days haha

 

I might be tempted to commit a violent murder. 

 

Click on the traffic lights. Well, that square has a small portion of the light, so I'm going to check the box. 

 

Son of a b****. 

 

Click on the crosswalk. Well, that box clearly has a small portion of the crosswalk. 

 

Son of a f+++ b***. 

 

I swear. I want to sit down with the person who decides which squares contain the clue. If any portion is in a square, and it's not part of the solution, I get to punch them square in the face with a brick. 

 

[robin_w]

as a newer golfer, I was so shocked when I first learnt you can book a tee time without any credit card on file. So I did some research and learnt golf courses does facing a large amount of no-shows, which is a huge cost for them.

 

[Masterhacker]

We showed up at our local course this past weekend and four groups had booked tee times through golfnow.  We of course had our standing tee times at 800 in the morning for our dogfight.  We tee off first every Sunday.  Needless to say this caused quite a stir and it looks like they would notify the course or the course would have the option to cancel or something.  Of course, they were slow and appeared to have never played before in their life as they held up everyone throughout the round

[StudentGolfer4]

2 minutes ago, Masterhacker said:

We showed up at our local course this past weekend and four groups had booked tee times through golfnow.  We of course had our standing tee times at 800 in the morning for our dogfight.  We tee off first every Sunday.  Needless to say this caused quite a stir and it looks like they would notify the course or the course would have the option to cancel or something.  Of course, they were slow and appeared to have never played before in their life as they held up everyone throughout the round

Is your standing tee time in the computer system? “We tee off first every Sunday.” Is it 8am 52 weeks a year or is this weather and daylight dependent. 
 

With limited information, it sounds like the course messed up something on their end. If there isn’t a tee time available for 8am in the system then Golf Now won’t have that option to sell that specific tee time. 
 

 

[Bonneville85308]

7 hours ago, Masterhacker said:

We showed up at our local course this past weekend and four groups had booked tee times through golfnow.  We of course had our standing tee times at 800 in the morning for our dogfight.  We tee off first every Sunday.  Needless to say this caused quite a stir and it looks like they would notify the course or the course would have the option to cancel or something.  Of course, they were slow and appeared to have never played before in their life as they held up everyone throughout the round

This is probably the fault of someone in your pro shop. On a GolfNow-powered booking engine, the course controls when tee times start for the day, can block off times, squeeze in times, etc. Some courses set the first tee time to auto-adjust based on sunrise time. In your case someone messed up on setting the first time of the day and customers booked it. Or maybe they just wanted the money and figured they’d sell a few times ahead of your group.

Edited April 16 by Bonneville85308

[Argonne69]

I was booking a round the other day, and saw something I haven't seen before. Many courses will not allow a single to book in an open 4-slot, so you'll see '2-4' displayed. A time with '1-2' or '1' indicates an existing twosome/threesome, and a single can join them.

 

The site I was on was displaying a handful of '3-4' slots, along with the usual '2-4' ones. Seems that the course is holding a limited number of slots for threesome and foursomes. I assume this is to prevent twosomes from grabbing all the available openings at the expense of foursomes. Since it wasn't on every open slot, it would appear that the course can control the allotment on a per-slot basis.

 

[Bonneville85308]

8 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

I was booking a round the other day, and saw something I haven't seen before. Many courses will not allow a single to book in an open 4-slot, so you'll see '2-4' displayed. A time with '1-2' or '1' indicates an existing twosome/threesome, and a single can join them.

 

The site I was on was displaying a handful of '3-4' slots, along with the usual '2-4' ones. Seems that the course is holding a limited number of slots for threesome and foursomes. I assume this is to prevent twosomes from grabbing all the available openings at the expense of foursomes. Since it wasn't on every open slot, it would appear that the course can control the allotment on a per-slot basis.

 

 

I see this a lot on tee sheets that use the Sagacity Golf booking engine, some tee times will allow "1-4' and others will be restricted to "3-4". The specific tee times allocated to "3-4" seem to change dynamically based on what else gets booked that day. 

[Argonne69]

1 minute ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

I see this a lot on tee sheets that use the Sagacity Golf booking engine, some tee times will allow "1-4' and others will be restricted to "3-4". The specific tee times allocated to "3-4" seem to change dynamically based on what else gets booked that day. 

 

Makes total sense to me. I'd be livid if I tried to book a foursome, and found the entire morning showing '1-2'. 

 

[slocalifglfr]

When I see a series of twosomes playing I call it "Noah's Ark Golf." You know, two by two.