new to golf- some questions

Cooled1

Hi could someone let me know the answers to these questions:
1. When booking an online slot, if i book say 9.30 and the group after is 9.40, what happens if the group due to go after me turn up at the tee at say 9.20 and I only arrive at 9.25? Do I let them start before me or do I tee off first, whats the normal etiquette?
2. The club i normally go to now only allows a minimum of 2 people to book a slot online, if I called them would they likely still allow me to play by myself or are clubs trying to ban people from going out alone? I dont know anyone in my area who plays golf so this is quite annoying.
3. I play quite fast so like to get out very early when i have a free course ahead of me and no one to slow me up but early slots always seem to be taken, is this likely due to the club setting aside these slots for members or is it just a popular time for people to get out?

dan_ep82

Cooled1 wrote: »

Hi could someone let me know the answers to these questions:
1. When booking an online slot, if i book say 9.30 and the group after is 9.40, what happens if the group due to go after me turn up at the tee at say 9.20 and I only arrive at 9.25? Do I let them start before me or do I tee off first, whats the normal etiquette?
2. The club i normally go to now only allows a minimum of 2 people to book a slot online, if I called them would they likely still allow me to play by myself or are clubs trying to ban people from going out alone? I dont know anyone in my area who plays golf so this is quite annoying.
3. I play quite fast so like to get out very early when i have a free course ahead of me and no one to slow me up but early slots always seem to be taken, is this likely due to the club setting aside these slots for members or is it just a popular time for people to get out?

They have to wait. A simple sorry lads we're out next or ask for their tee time. It's even more frowned upon now during the pandemic to tee off out of time.


They may or may not, some clubs can be odd about this as they don't want practice on the course. Try to get a time in the evening or whenever its quiet.


Most will just be the same golfers booking the same early slots every week before everyone else, they will literally have it booked 5 minutes after the timesheets open. Only option is to beat them to it

Ivefoundgod

Cooled1 wrote: »

Hi could someone let me know the answers to these questions:
1. When booking an online slot, if i book say 9.30 and the group after is 9.40, what happens if the group due to go after me turn up at the tee at say 9.20 and I only arrive at 9.25? Do I let them start before me or do I tee off first, whats the normal etiquette?
2. The club i normally go to now only allows a minimum of 2 people to book a slot online, if I called them would they likely still allow me to play by myself or are clubs trying to ban people from going out alone? I dont know anyone in my area who plays golf so this is quite annoying.
3. I play quite fast so like to get out very early when i have a free course ahead of me and no one to slow me up but early slots always seem to be taken, is this likely due to the club setting aside these slots for members or is it just a popular time for people to get out?

I'm not new to the sport but have recently rejoined a club after a 14 year absence so have gone through the new club experience recently. My 2 cents on this issues;

1. I have encountered this where I walk up to the tee box a few minutes before my tee time, usually coming from the putting green and there is a group there. Usually just ask what their tee time is, if I'm on my own and I'm ahead of them I'll still usually wait until the correct time and tee off then. It is annoying as I do still get the 1st tee nerves and would rather if it was just my group or just myself on the tee box rather than a crowd but that's just one of those things that you'll need to get used to. Particularly as clubhouses open up. Our 1st and 10th tee are right in front of the clubhouse. A related issue I've had is the group in front of me turning up late, this has happened me once and it slowed the whole course up. People behind me were getting agitated and so was I but not much I could do. They turned up 6/7 minutes late, chatted on the tee box and teed off a minute or 2 before my tee time. I explained to the group who were behind me who were ok with me but were checking to see who was in the group who were late to lodge a complaint. In retrospect I should have said something to them when I seen them chatting instead of hitting. I think these were just rude members generally as I noticed them regularly chatting and talking at each green/tee box instead of playing.

2. Thats a new one to me and pretty crap for new members, I'd check with the pro or the office and see if they know any new members in a similar spot who you could pair up with. Not sure why the club would block individuals though, seems kind of stupid. I've often put my name down and others have jumped on my booking which is great because you get to know people and aren't on your own. I would say though if you want to practise yourself or play alone then you should be looking at the late evening bookings after say 7pm as most people don't want to play that late so you can be relatively confident of being on your own and can take your time, replay some shots etc.

3. Aside from club captains/presidents there shouldn't be any pre-booked slots so once you login to BRS or equivalent when the sheet goes live you should be able to book on. These go really quick as almost everyone wants to get out early and finished early so they have some part of the day. In my experience 8am-11am slots go really, really quickly.

I would say that if you can at all just start putting your name down with members but I do appreciate how intimidating that can be for a new player who's just getting used to the game. It might be worth asking at the pro shop if there are some members you could be put with out, most pros would know some sound lads with a similar level of play or just nice people who you can get out with. One thing to keep in mind is that almost nobody cares about your game as long as you play quickly and are sound. Everyone has bad days and most are out to enjoy their time rather than get put out by someone playing poorly (not saying that this would be you but its something new members are often concerned about I think).

Cooled1

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

I'm not new to the sport but have recently rejoined a club after a 14 year absence so have gone through the new club experience recently. My 2 cents on this issues;

1. I have encountered this where I walk up to the tee box a few minutes before my tee time, usually coming from the putting green and there is a group there. Usually just ask what their tee time is, if I'm on my own and I'm ahead of them I'll still usually wait until the correct time and tee off then. It is annoying as I do still get the 1st tee nerves and would rather if it was just my group or just myself on the tee box rather than a crowd but that's just one of those things that you'll need to get used to. Particularly as clubhouses open up. Our 1st and 10th tee are right in front of the clubhouse. A related issue I've had is the group in front of me turning up late, this has happened me once and it slowed the whole course up. People behind me were getting agitated and so was I but not much I could do. They turned up 6/7 minutes late, chatted on the tee box and teed off a minute or 2 before my tee time. I explained to the group who were behind me who were ok with me but were checking to see who was in the group who were late to lodge a complaint. In retrospect I should have said something to them when I seen them chatting instead of hitting. I think these were just rude members generally as I noticed them regularly chatting and talking at each green/tee box instead of playing.

2. Thats a new one to me and pretty crap for new members, I'd check with the pro or the office and see if they know any new members in a similar spot who you could pair up with. Not sure why the club would block individuals though, seems kind of stupid. I've often put my name down and others have jumped on my booking which is great because you get to know people and aren't on your own. I would say though if you want to practise yourself or play alone then you should be looking at the late evening bookings after say 7pm as most people don't want to play that late so you can be relatively confident of being on your own and can take your time, replay some shots etc.

3. Aside from club captains/presidents there shouldn't be any pre-booked slots so once you login to BRS or equivalent when the sheet goes live you should be able to book on. These go really quick as almost everyone wants to get out early and finished early so they have some part of the day. In my experience 8am-11am slots go really, really quickly.

I would say that if you can at all just start putting your name down with members but I do appreciate how intimidating that can be for a new player who's just getting used to the game. It might be worth asking at the pro shop if there are some members you could be put with out, most pros would know some sound lads with a similar level of play or just nice people who you can get out with. One thing to keep in mind is that almost nobody cares about your game as long as you play quickly and are sound. Everyone has bad days and most are out to enjoy their time rather than get put out by someone playing poorly (not saying that this would be you but its something new members are often concerned about I think).

When you say its worth putting my name down with members, dont think thats possible with the online booking system?

BraveDonut

I've seen an incident where we were due to tee off at say 08:30 (not late) and one of the group from 08:40 showed up on the tee box. One of our 4-ball told him, in no uncertain terms, to get off the tee box and wait until we had cleared.

In another situation (casual golf) there was a 3-ball on the tee booked for 10 minutes ahead of us (2-ball). From the chipping green we could tell that they were not going to hit on time. I wandered over to find out the craic to be told that they were waiting for someone. I told them they had missed their spot and it was now our turn to play. Luckily enough there was no-one in the next time slot so they could just go after us.

Simply terms
1. Be on the tee no more than 10 minutes ahead of your tee-time once the group in front has cleared.
2. Tee off AT your allotted time.
3. Don't be late

Ivefoundgod

Cooled1 wrote: »

When you say its worth putting my name down with members, dont think thats possible with the online booking system?

What booking system are you using? If you're a member its just a matter of sticking your name down where there's a slot available in a tee time. So if its a 2 or 3 ball just put your name down beside them and play with them.

coillcam

Cooled1 wrote: »

When you say its worth putting my name down with members, dont think thats possible with the online booking system?

I think the club is restricting in that you can't make a brand new booking on your own and must have a min 2 ball booking.

However, I don't see any reason why you can't add yourself to the 3rd or 4th slot of someone else's booking. I do it all the time when my mates aren't available. After a few rounds with different people, I'm sure you'll create a small group of people to play within no time at all.

Cooled1

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

What booking system are you using? If you're a member its just a matter of sticking your name down where there's a slot available in a tee time. So if its a 2 or 3 ball just put your name down beside them and play with them.

Brsgolf.com, all it says is tee booked, theres no option to see how many people are playing in that slot and no option to add my name. Im not a member if that makes a difference?

Cooled1

coillcam wrote: »

I think the club is restricting in that you can't make a brand new booking on your own and must have a min 2 ball booking.

However, I don't see any reason why you can't add yourself to the 3rd or 4th slot of someone else's booking. I do it all the time when my mates aren't available. After a few rounds with different people, I'm sure you'll create a small group of people to play within no time at all.

Would a group ever be annoyed that you added yourself to their group?

Ivefoundgod

Cooled1 wrote: »

Brsgolf.com, all it says is tee booked, theres no option to see how many people are playing in that slot and no option to add my name. Im not a member if that makes a difference?

Ah yeah if you aren't a member you probably can't see who has booked a slot. Are you just booking through the club site and paying green fees when you turn up or how are you playing? Would get expensive quickly I'd imagine if you are paying green fees often.

Cooled1

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

Ah yeah if you aren't a member you probably can't see who has booked a slot. Are you just booking through the club site and paying green fees when you turn up or how are you playing? Would get expensive quickly I'd imagine if you are paying green fees often.

Yeah thats how I am doing it so far. I work Mon to fri 9-5 so I basically have no opportunity to play during winter. I dont want to play in competitions until I improve so playing at weekends is out for me. So it is cheaper for me to pay green fees. In saying that I do plan to get a 5 day membership somewhere as it would be handy to just head out for 6 or 9 holes after a days work without needing to do 18 holes to get my moneys worth if i was paying green fees.

Ivefoundgod

Cooled1 wrote: »

Yeah thats how I am doing it so far. I work Mon to fri 9-5 so I basically have no opportunity to play during winter. I dont want to play in competitions until I improve so playing at weekends is out for me. So it is cheaper for me to pay green fees. In saying that I do plan to get a 5 day membership somewhere as it would be handy to just head out for 6 or 9 holes after a days work without needing to do 18 holes to get my moneys worth if i was paying green fees.

That makes sense allright, I know its easy for me to say when I'm a member somewhere but I wouldn't worry too much about getting to a high standard or anything before joining. As long as you're not a slow player people won't mind a skill gap. Pity there's no one you know who's playing as well that you could play with.

Euphoriasean

If you don't know anyone in the area playing golf you should really consider joining a club. You can put your name down on any slot for comps and you'll get to know people that way. As long as you play at a decent pace no one will mind what ability you have. You might meet the odd contrary yoke but 99% of golfers are sound.

As long as you can get someone to sign your first 3 cards for your handicap, you can enters comps and always have someone to play with. If you do consider joining a club I'd ask in the proshop if they could help you getting paired up for your initial handicap cards, they are usually pretty good at helping out.