Tee Time Brokers

Getting a tee time can be very challenging at most public courses, but leave it to Los Angeles to take it to a whole other level

By Jim Bebbington

A group of LA golfers has sued the city of Los Angeles alleging that the city has been negligent in managing its tee time booking systems for the city’s public courses.

This all came to light this winter as reports spread of tee time brokers hoarding choice tee slots, and then selling them for a $20 to $40 surcharge.

Los Angeles manages 13 18-hole courses, and tee times in the dense metro area have always been hard to come by. The city’s own rules state that re-selling tee times is prohibited, and in early April the city added to its rules that it is prohibited to use bots or computer programs to book tee times en masse.

Tee times at city courses can be booked nine days in advance for people who have purchased a Player Card. The general public can make tee times seven days in advance.

The lawsuit alleges that because the city has done nothing to curb the broker business the purchasers of the Player Card have been defrauded by the city. The golfers who are suing the city allege they looked into the issue themselves last October and reported names, phone numbers, Zelle accounts and other information that the brokers use to city officials.

Golfers packed a standing-room-only meeting on March 18 of the city’s golf advisory committee to demand action.

In Colorado, tee-time competitiveness is renowned. At the city of Denver’s public courses, purchasers of a city pass can book tee times beginning at 7 p.m. 14 days in advance. In at least one example last summer tee bookings for one Saturday at City Park Golf Course were booked up in less than 5 minutes.

A spokesman for Denver’s golf program said they have had no reports of widespread use of brokers. In Fort Collins, which manages its Collindale, South Ridge and City Park Nine courses, there is a similar demand for times but they have not yet seen evidence of anything systematic, according to Elijah Harp with the Collindale Golf Course.

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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