Pay extra for your timesheet spot

By Peter Owen

GOLFERS at my club who choose to play in the mornings set their alarms for 5.15am each Wednesday and Saturday, creep through the dark to their phone or laptop, then wait, steely-eyed, for the clock to reach 5.30am.

That’s when the time sheet opens for bookings for the following week’s Wednesday and Saturday competitions.

Such is the demand for spots that the entire morning time sheet is filled within 60 seconds. Hesitate for a moment, land on a time slot that’s already been found by another golfer, or fumble at any stage and you’ve missed out.

Let me tell you, it’s the most stressful moment of the week for many of my fellow members. And for me.

The irony is that, by the end of the week, there will be as many as 20 vacancies on the timesheet, and anybody who just wants a game need only to wait until the day prior to the competition and then pick a time that suits them and book the spot.

But at my club – and, I assume, at many others – there are golfers who like to play with their particular friends. I know of at least one group of four players who have teed off together early on Wednesday and Saturday mornings for the past 25 years. 

And the only way they can do that is by taking part in the early morning online skirmish.

There is a solution to this problem – one that removes the stress of competing with dozens of equally anxious members, ensures golfers get to play in the group of their choice at a time that suits them, and which actually generates income for the golf club.

Allow members to pre-book their places on the time sheet up to a year in advance.

Invite them to pay, say, $50 a year for the privilege – perhaps even $100 – and guarantee them a spot in, say, the 7.40am group teeing off the first tee.

They’ll never have to get up at 5.15am again and log on to the member’s section of their club’s website. Their spot on the time sheet is secure. And if a golfer’s three mates sign up to pre-book, they’ll always be able to play together in the same group.

For $1 a week – perhaps $2 a week – that’s a pretty good deal, I’d have thought. But, when the plan reached the board table at my club it was rejected, seemingly because of claims it might be considered elitist, and that some members might feel they’d paid enough already.

Of course, those who don’t want to pay a pre-booking fee don’t have to. They can continue to take their chances on the 5.30am online challenge. Nothing changes for them. 

Only a certain number of groups, and even fewer single players, would see any value in taking up the offer, so there’s no chance of the entire time sheet – or even a substantial part of it – being pre-booked by paying customers. 

At another course not far from mine, club officials have attempted to overcome the timesheet shambles in an innovative manner.

They’ve moved the time sheet opening to 6pm, at which time members can get online and make their booking. 

But if securing a spot for your group of mates at a specific time is really important, members can make their way to the clubhouse an hour earlier – at 5pm, where they go into a ballot for the opportunity to make an earlier booking in person.

A club official calls out a number, starting with No 1. If that’s your number you go to a terminal and make the booking for you and up to three of your mates. The process continues until the demand is met. Then, at the stroke of 6pm, online bookers get their opportunity.

As well as rewarding those who are prepared to make the effort to attend, the exercise raises, on average each week, about $1000 in bar takings.

I’ve also heard of another club that’s brought forward its timesheet booking process for Saturday golf to Thursdays – on the assumption that by delaying the procedure until two days before play, only those who really intend playing will register their names.

The theory is that it will discourage the practice of members booking three of their regular partners, even if one – or more – of them is in hospital, travelling overseas or celebrating their wedding anniversary. 

For many clubs, none of this is necessary. Timesheets are filled in an orderly, restrained manner with plenty of spots to accommodate everybody who wants to play. 

But, for an increasing number of clubs, that’s not the case. And we need to consider ways to manage an issue that, for some people, is creating unnecessary distress.

Get in touch – If you have an opinion on this or any other topic in the magazine, send your letter to the editor to david@insidegolf.com.au and you’ll be in the running to win a gripping prize.