Charlie Rymer Says "No Tee Times!"

[David in FL]

11 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Went to the top and realized that there was a poll accompanying this thread. I voted FOR tee times! I want to have some idea when I will be teeing off! I grew up in the days when you showed up, stuck a ball in a long metal tube, and waited for the starter to pluck it out of the bottom to announce the fact that your group was next on the tee! 

There would be 40-50 guys hanging around the first tee, and the pressure was immense! The new systems and technologies make things much easier these days! 

 

4 hours ago, geo63 said:

A while back I was telling my neighbor about those tubes. He couldn't believe it. 

Back then I played most of my golf at Tamer Win. Always just showed up. If the lot was full we headed to Northwood or another course that wasn't crowded. 

I had forgotten about the tubes!  A standard piece of equipment of most munies back in the day!

[BC-to-MI]

Having no tee times seems like a recipe for disaster, especially for people who are busy. If I'm not going to be able to play at the time I want, I would much rather know that ahead of time than drive out to the course only to turn around and head back home when it was packed.

Plus, with our online tee sheet, if there is a twosome scheduled for the time you and one other person you want to play, you are able to add yourself to the group. If you don't random people filling the open slots with you, there is a way to block it off, but this way more people are able to get on the course in a given day. I figure if the course is nearly full, but you are dead set against joining another pair, you must not need to play that bad.

[Cantankerish]

14 hours ago, jamo said:

I don't even really understand his point. I've never been a member at a private course, but I imagine you can still show up whenever, right? They just put you out as soon as they can?

I think he has revealed what he is looking for.

---"Pay big money to join a club and you should be able to show up when you want and be put in a game."

It's the George Steinbrenner effect.  Throw enough money at a problem and it should go away.

 

[vonbonds]

8 hours ago, David in FL said:

If it works for you, that’s great, but what happens if you want to play with your group at 10:00 next Saturday, maybe because you absolutely have to be home by 3:00, but you get there and find 20 other guys wanting to play at that same prime time?

No thanks.  I’ll make my time well in advance knowing that it’s mine, and I can manage my own day.  I’d never join a club that didn’t afford me that courtesy.  

There's a standard rhythm to our club in season. The Dew Sweepers go out at 7am, those are the scratch like players, we all suck so they don't want crap in front of them..lol. I'm in the next wave at 8am called the Misfit Toys which is about 1/3 of the membership and we play your classic big and mandatory internal games...lots of fun and how I've met most of my friends there. There's a lull until 10am and that's when the seniors go out 7 days a week. Casual players go off around 11-2pm or so and then juniors can start going off at 2pm on to 3:30PM depending on what they've been rated for per our junior program bag tag system for them. If you want to play on Friday with work buds make sure you're off before noon as lots of guys take half days around then is when it gets that weekend vibe going.

It works for our club as they've never had tee times apparently since the club was created in 1922. I'm starting my second year now and I haven't seen a problem yet but I get how it can be an issue for huge clubs. I think we have 300 full time male players with an active female and junior programs that have all sorts of set times to play during the week. It just works for us and I love the freedom of getting there knowing I can just whack balls at the range until 1 opens up.

[mcanadiens]

At least where I am, its pretty easy to walk in most places and play without too much of a wait, but the tee time assures your spot. If you are playing with a specific group of people, it's the only way to go. Besides guaranteeing the spot, it gives your partners a definite time to be ready. 

By myself, I'll probably just show up and see if they can fit me in. If not, it's no more than 10 minutes down the road to the other course.

 

 

[iacas]

49 minutes ago, vonbonds said:

There's a standard rhythm to our club in season. The Dew Sweepers go out at 7am, those are the scratch like players, we all suck so they don't want crap in front of them..lol. I'm in the next wave at 8am called the Misfit Toys which is about 1/3 of the membership and we play your classic big and mandatory internal games...lots of fun and how I've met most of my friends there. There's a lull until 10am and that's when the seniors go out 7 days a week. Casual players go off around 11-2pm or so and then juniors can start going off at 2pm on to 3:30PM depending on what they've been rated for per our junior program bag tag system for them. If you want to play on Friday with work buds make sure you're off before noon as lots of guys take half days around then is when it gets that weekend vibe going.

In other words, you have unwritten tee times.

[vonbonds]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

In other words, you have unwritten tee times.

No place goes true anarchy. If we get enough players for the 8am game you might not get off until 8:45 or even later so that is what it is.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, vonbonds said:

No place goes true anarchy. If we get enough players for the 8am game you might not get off until 8:45 or even later so that is what it is.

Right, so:

• That's not that many players. "No tee times" can work for small clubs.
• Like I said, you effectively still have tee times, they're just unwritten.

That's not quite the same as what Charlie is talking about.

[KevinX]

Charlie Rymer an idiot

[vonbonds]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

Right, so:

• That's not that many players. "No tee times" can work for small clubs.
• Like I said, you effectively still have tee times, they're just unwritten.

That's not quite the same as what Charlie is talking about.

Fair enough. I was just explaining how my place works. I mean I am more than welcome to play with the seniors or scratch guys if I want but that isn't my crowd. I hear ya though.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, vonbonds said:

Fair enough. I was just explaining how my place works. I mean I am more than welcome to play with the seniors or scratch guys if I want but that isn't my crowd. I hear ya though.

Yeah, and it's great when it works that way. I've seen it at two clubs that I can remember. One of them was Allegheny Country Club near Pittsburgh. They get about 30 rounds a day. 🙂

[rehmwa]

As a solo, I walk on all the time.

Despite that, I like tee times because it helps me just walk on.  I can go to the website and see how busy it is by looking at their schedule.  I find a club that's not busy and I go and walk on.  If my schedule is tighter, I can make a tee time just to be safe.  Best of both worlds.

It's an easy fix for Charlie too.  Just call and say you're a single and want to just play - they can tell you if they can fit you in or not.

The other thing is:  if you have tee times, then members damn well need to show up on time or lose their slot....

 

I suspect the real gripe is clubs that will book 2 or 3, but then close that time out instead of topping it off with walk ons....3-somes buy 3 slots, 2-somes buy 2 slots - not the full 4......any starter that ASKS a 3-some if they 'mind' adding a 4th is just NOT understanding his job or how it should work.  Don't ask, tell.  It not their business.

Edited January 27, 2020 by rehmwa

[Groucho Valentine]

When i was a member at private clubs,  i never made a tee time.  I don't think many people did unless they had guests or something.  I got there and however it was cued up at the time was just the way it was.  This was really only an issue on early weekend mornings though. I pretty much walked on at will any other time.

[David in FL]

1 hour ago, vonbonds said:

It just works for us and I love the freedom of getting there knowing I can just whack balls at the range until 1 opens up.

You realize that you can get there and whack balls at the range before your tee time too, right?   

Again I’m glad it works for you. But my time is far more valuable to me then to be forced to show up and not know when I’ll ever get out.  

[TRUCKER]

43 minutes ago, iacas said:

In other words, you have unwritten tee times.

That's what I was thinking. I read an article in NCGA magazine a while back about this guy. He says he knows where everybody is on his golf course. So if you, or a group, show up unannounced, he will essentially say, "🤔, should be an open spot on hole #15, head on out." When I read that, I just shook my head, and thought that would never work at my club. The few that show up without a tee time at my club can be a real pain for the staff, as they feel obligated to make a spot for them. On the other hand the members that just show up, generally don't have the courtesy to even check in, and just go crowbar their way in anywhere.

[vonbonds]

5 minutes ago, David in FL said:

You realize that you can get there and whack balls at the range before your tee time too, right?   

Again I’m glad it works for you. But my time is far more valuable to me then to be forced to show up and not know when I’ll ever get out.  

Of course I hear you and I'm not going to bash balls for 90 minutes waiting for a spot to slip in either. I'm also at a private CC too so I can just make it a practice day with my Swing Caddie SC300 (poor mans Trackman..I mean poor poor poor...LOL). I'm also a pretty chill personality type when not at work so again I just love the vibe of my club and how it operates.

[ncates00]

2 minutes ago, vonbonds said:

I'm also a pretty chill personality type when not at work so again I just love the vibe of my club and how it operates.

I hear you, but I don't want to be at the golf course all day either.  When you've got a lot of commitments, i.e., wife, kids, work, school, house chores, etc., the best way to manage all of these commitments is to use tee times.  At the end of the day, golf is a hobby, and tee times help a person slip that little hobby into our schedules, however loose or formal they may be.

[rehmwa]

10 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

I hear you, but I don't want to be at the golf course all day either.  When you've got a lot of commitments, i.e., wife, kids, work, school, house chores, etc., the best way to manage all of these commitments is to use tee times.  At the end of the day, golf is a hobby, and tee times help a person slip that little hobby into our schedules, however loose or formal they may be.

see..  there's you problem right there........

When you got a lot of commitments..........then it's great to escape to your hobby and let it suck up your personal time so you don't have to be drained of all life and hope and joy by those other things.....

😄

(Smiley face added for the grim overly serious types that'll take this as a serious post - they know who they are.......or maybe they don't)