What is your opinion on ride along fees?

This past weekend my girlfriend and I took our annual trip to Bully Pulpit Golf Course, which is one of the finer courses in North Dakota.  She plays a little, but this course is extremely difficult for newer players so she was just along for the ride to take pictures and film my round.  As I am finishing up paying for my fee in the clubhouse,my girlfriend walks up to me at the counter (she had been in the bathroom) and the person behind the counter tells me that they have a ride along fee.  I have no problem with paying for a ride along fee, however, nothing on their website or behind the counter would have let me know that they have a ride along fee.  If my girlfriend hadn't walked up to me at the counter I would have never even known to pay for this extra fee.

How do courses you golf at handle non-players that are riding along?  The course nearby that I play the most has switched from a standard cart fee to having you pay on a "per seat" basis regardless of if the extra seat is playing or not.

It makes sense to have a ride along fees or to make golfers pay on a per seat basis.  However, I could see it also deterring people from taking others along with them when they golf.  Having non-golfers riding along could be a great way to interest them in the game.

Overall I don't think it is that big of an issue either way, but I am definitely curious as to your opinions.

I disagree that it "makes sense", what makes sense to me would be charging an appropriate fee for the use of the cart - full stop. Whether you put a playing partner, a non-playing friend or a duffle bag of spare socks in the seat beside you should make no difference. Perhaps I'm missing something and there is a good reason for this, I just view it as a money grab by management. I know some courses do not allow non-players to accompany without paying a green fee and I can understand that, but if you're going to allow non-players to accompany it seems kind of silly to to charge an extra cart fee. What if the non-player just walks? Do they still charge? Not a very logical approach IMO.

Yeah, I definitely agree that it is a money grab.  However, I said that it makes sense to charge because this person is on the course and is presumably walking on the course and not just sitting in the cart.  However, I think you make a good point in that I have never seen a course charge for a non-player walking fee.

As soon as my course instituted the "per seat" paying rule, I saw a man argue that if he is having to pay a separate cart fee then he wanted a separate cart.  However, the course held firm and made them share a cart.

It's a screw job on the course's part that charges the fee...most of the time. The idea that it's a liability fee does not wash either.  I say this because some courses don't charge for the rider.  I have even been to courses that charge the rider fee, then tell you that the rider also has to rent a set of clubs. Then when you ask for all your money back, the counter guy points to the "No Refunds" sign.

My wife rides with me quite a bit, and she even brings an extra putter with her for the clubs required rule.

I can understand paying a rider fee being reqired if the course is crowded, and the non golfing rider is taking a paying golfer's seat.

The liability issue looms large, as I found out at an area golf course.

I hadn't played the course in a couple of years, in part because two water hazards had turned into marshy bogs with high vegetation which impeded play on the holes. A friend told me the place had been really cleaned up, so I went to check it out.

I started to walk out onto the course, and the starter - a retired police officer - came out and stopped me. He said I couldn't go out onto the course - for liability issues - unless I was playing. I said I just wanted to check out the improvements, and he threatened to have me arrested for trespassing if I didn't leave.

I left, and haven't been back since. So much for "growing the game."

He may have been a little over zealous but....

I would imagine if you went into the pro shop and explained what you were going to do, they might have let you take a cart and go out and check out the course.  I have done this before and most times...never had a problem.  But, to just walk out on the course without the shop knowing about it, I can see where they would have an issue with this.

I cant believe they would charge for a non player.

My wife and I go to the golf course each year on holidays, I will pay a much higher green fee just because it is holidays as a treat to myself. My wife loves to watch and will come along.

If she had to play I will find something else to do.

If a course can make a profit with me by myself in a cart then they can make the same money by having my wife as a passenger, they will make double from meals and drinks too.

Sounds like a pretty cool dude.

Most of the courses I play have a non player rule. Plus you pay for a cart, not a seat.

Depends on the situation. If you are talking about a 3 people, with 2 people playing. Then they are basically allowing that person to take a cart for free. That is losing money.

Also the course has the right to pair you up with a group. So if you have two people going off, and a third wants to tag a long now another tee time needs to be used for those two, instead of pairing them up with the other two who brought a third that isn't playing.

I do think on a slow day the course should be more accommodating. During peak hours of play or on a busy day then I have no problem with them charging something for a third to go out on the course.

It's not nonsense - it's dollars and cents.  Buying or leasing carts cost money, and golf carts aren't cheap.  Maintenance costs money, and gas costs more every year.  Golf carts are regularly abused by stupid golfers and some the resulting repairs can be pricey,  (Repairing steering linkage from front end damage caused by trying to go over a curb cost $1500 five years ago and the cart mechanic said it happened as often as 10 times a year.  I don't even want to think about the 2 or 3 carts each year that end up in the irrigation ditch that runs through the course.)  If that ride along requires sending an additional cart out with the group, then the course would be pretty stupid not to charge for it.  The only time I can see logic in not charging is if there would already be a golfer riding solo in the group so that the additional rider doesn't require another cart.  That would be a hard policy to manage - easier to just have a standard fee.

At my old home course, it was standard to charge, unless the right person is behind the counter.  In that case they might give a break for a regular customer as long as it was a weekday, he didn't advertise the fact, and it didn't require an additional cart.  Maybe not entirely fair, but most courses will give some under the counter perks to long time loyal customers.

When they do charge, which is most of the time, they just charge the normal fee for sharing a cart - certainly no green fees for a non player.  That would be over the top.

I think the fee is an extra money grab. If the course it thinking clearly, they would remember that the rider will probably purchase refreshments from the cart and the 19th Hole, and to earn any extra revenue in that manner.

Sure.... it must be a money grab.  Courses are closing all over because they have made so much money from charging ride alongs that the owners can retire.

If you had ever worked at a public access, daily fee course you wouldn't make such a cynical, I might even say short-sighted statement.  It's true that courses will do all they can to improve the bottom line, but often enough that bottom line isn't exactly equivalent to what Bill Gates makes.  They have to stay competitive while still making a profit, and in the retail world that is almost always a tricky balancing act.

It's not like ride along customers are a huge part of their sales plan.  I could work for a week without ever seeing one, and even then it was more likely to be a small child who could just squeeze between the two players for no extra charge.  If my home course brought in $75 in a week on such sales, it was an aberration.