Should a group be allowed to decline to be paired with others?

[Slice of Life]

3 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

I think you are correct here however I think that the one who declines playing paired up has to move to a later open tee time regardless of if they have reserved the current time. The later tee times are still sellable up until the tee time.

 Most definitely. 

[Strandly]

I voted no but I've played at courses that tried to make me give up my cart when I got paired with other people with less than full carts and I didn't agree with that request.

[boogielicious]

14 hours ago, billchao said:

I voted option 2. If they purchase four greens fees for the allotted time, nobody should be able to tell them they have to pair up with someone. If they only purchase 2 of the 4 slots, the course has the right to pair them up with others.

Agree with this, but I don't think this happens at any course I play so I voted no. Nobody I know would pay double to play as a pair either. Public courses are businesses and I would not want to deny them the opportunity to make revenue. I also have been lucky to never have been in a group with people I would not play with again.

[DaveP043]

5 hours ago, Strandly said:

I voted no but I've played at courses that tried to make me give up my cart when I got paired with other people with less than full carts and I didn't agree with that request.

This is an interesting side to the question.  I've seen some courses charge for a cart, same price whether one or two people are using it.  If that's the case, and you've paid for the whole thing for yourself, you're right.  Other courses, including my home club, charge per person.  If you have a threesome, you pay 3 cart charges.  Those courses structure their fee around having two people in a cart most times.  If that's the way they do it, they're being perfectly reasonable in requiring you to ride with someone else, instead of sending 3 or 4 carts out for a foursome.  

[jetsknicks1]

7 hours ago, Strandly said:

I voted no but I've played at courses that tried to make me give up my cart when I got paired with other people with less than full carts and I didn't agree with that request.

I hate when courses do that. I have no problem at all being paired up with strangers but I'd like some personal space as well.

[Pretzel]

23 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

You get to the course, and the staff wants to pair you with additional people in order to make as many four-balls as possible.  Should you be forced to accept this, or should you be allowed to decline?

At my golf course the policy (which I agree with) is that we will pair golfers during busy days and timeperiods to get golfers out on the course as efficiently as possible. During busy enough times that we call groups to the tee over the PA system you play when we call you and you play with who we call you to play with. This is to ensure the best possible experience for the largest number of golfers by not unduly delaying anyone, such as if we were to send off a group of two alone when there are 5 other groups of two behind them.

That being said we do our best to accommodate groups that want to go alone provided it isn't too busy. This does, however, mean that the group will need to wait until other groups have gone off ahead of them. During busy times and days we don't actually offer for people to pay for all four slots in order to play alone, so I'm not sure how it would be handled if we were asked. I would imagine that we would decline though, just because we would be inconveniencing everyone behind them for the sake of a couple people's personal preference. 

Golf is a social game. If you don't want to play with others don't go to the golf course on a busy day and you shouldn't have any problems golfing alone if you wish.

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

This is an interesting side to the question.  I've seen some courses charge for a cart, same price whether one or two people are using it.  If that's the case, and you've paid for the whole thing for yourself, you're right.  Other courses, including my home club, charge per person.  If you have a threesome, you pay 3 cart charges.  Those courses structure their fee around having two people in a cart most times.  If that's the way they do it, they're being perfectly reasonable in requiring you to ride with someone else, instead of sending 3 or 4 carts out for a foursome.  

I would disagree with this point. Even if you pay by the riding individual for a cart that doesn't mean you have any expectation of having to ride with someone you don't know. They rent carts out to a single golfer during the slow periods, so they don't always expect to have two people in a cart. This should be one of the situations where it is expected that there will not always be two people in a cart, when they join a threesome with a single or otherwise pair unfamiliar groups.

[DaveP043]

6 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

At my golf course the policy (which I agree with) is that we will pair golfers during busy days and timeperiods to get golfers out on the course as efficiently as possible. During busy enough times that we call groups to the tee over the PA system you play when we call you and you play with who we call you to play with. This is to ensure the best possible experience for the largest number of golfers by not unduly delaying anyone, such as if we were to send off a group of two alone when there are 5 other groups of two behind them.

That being said we do our best to accommodate groups that want to go alone provided it isn't too busy. This does, however, mean that the group will need to wait until other groups have gone off ahead of them. During busy times and days we don't actually offer for people to pay for all four slots in order to play alone, so I'm not sure how it would be handled if we were asked. I would imagine that we would decline though, just because we would be inconveniencing everyone behind them for the sake of a couple people's personal preference. 

Golf is a social game. If you don't want to play with others don't go to the golf course on a busy day and you shouldn't have any problems golfing alone if you wish.

This procedure is exactly what I would expect at most, if not all, courses.  If a two-balls would like more space or privacy, they should be willing to play at a less crowded time.  @Papa Steve 55 showed exactly the right degree of flexibility, asking to play as a two-ball, and accepting the course's offer to let him do that at an off-peak time.

And I'll admit, I've never heard of anyone paying for four greens fees with only two players, or a club even offering the possibility, but I wanted to allow a survey response other than strictly Yes or No.  Its interesting that it's been selected by a reasonable percentage of the respondents.

[Pretzel]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

And I'll admit, I've never heard of anyone paying for four greens fees with only two players, or a club even offering the possibility, but I wanted to allow a survey response other than strictly Yes or No.  Its interesting that it's been selected by a reasonable percentage of the respondents.

It's probably because a lot of people call in and book a reservation for four people, then arrive and say there will only be two (in an effort to get a tee time to themselves). With a full reservation of four people the course wouldn't book a second group with you, but some courses will make you pay for all the people that you book even if there are no-shows (to prevent things like this from happening as often). 

During a slow period it doesn't matter if people do this, but it really cuts into a course's revenue when people do it on a day that is fully booked anyways. The course just lost out on two paying tee slots in that scenario, hence the policy that some have of charging for everyone you reserve a tee time for. That said, if you pay for all four slots at a course like that, I think they will let you go out alone. I've just never tried it myself to test it.

[RFKFREAK]

On 8/3/2016 at 11:33 AM, Golfingdad said:

I vote no for a couple of reasons.  Number 1, just because you reserved a tee time for a twosome does not mean that the other pair that is joining didn't also.  The computer tee time systems at all of the courses around here require you to enter the number of players and when you enter "2," it doesn't give you the whole tee time, but rather just those two.  If I log on afterwards, the tee time is still available for a twosome.  The time doesn't "belong" to either pair any more than the other.  Incidentally, almost unanimously, the courses out here will not allow singles to reserve tee times. So if you reserve as a threesome, then you have acquired the entire slot.  And that brings me to me next and most important point:

I have played as a single quite a few times in my life, and I have played as part of a group that had a single join us, or two twosomes, or a twosome with two singles (even played once as 4 singles getting paired up) etc ... point is that I've played with strangers more times than I can count.  And I have .............

wait for it ................

.................. never, repeat, NEVER, had a negative experience with strangers.  No arguments over music, cigars, alcohol, ball marks, rules, or whatever other nonsense seems to be documented in so many threads on TST.  No fist fights, no nothing.  The worst of the experiences has been "indifferent" and the best have had me making new golf buddies to play with again.

This right here.

I'm a social person and can get along with most people over the course of a round so being paired up doesn't bother me and, like @Golfingdad, I've never had a bad experience. 

[Strandly]

14 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

This is an interesting side to the question.  I've seen some courses charge for a cart, same price whether one or two people are using it.  If that's the case, and you've paid for the whole thing for yourself, you're right.  Other courses, including my home club, charge per person.  If you have a threesome, you pay 3 cart charges.  Those courses structure their fee around having two people in a cart most times.  If that's the way they do it, they're being perfectly reasonable in requiring you to ride with someone else, instead of sending 3 or 4 carts out for a foursome.  

Yeah the times I've had it happen both me and the other guy paid full price for our carts and they wanted us to take 1 cart and not get half our cart fee back.  Seemed like a bit of a scam but I've only run into it at one course and it wasn't often I got paired with another half cart.

[Fourputt]

On 8/3/2016 at 9:55 AM, saevel25 said:

Really, courses do not do a good job in saying that you could be required to be paired up with another group. Most of the time I think people assume that the entire tee time is theirs even if they have only 1,2, or 3 people. 

It might be better to phrase it, "Reserve up to 4 of the slots at this time". Then have a disclaimer saying that the course shall fill any unreserved slots as needed. 

For me if the course is not crowded then I don't see why a course should force groups to pair up if they don't want to.  If the course is going to be packed then yea they should be required to pair up. 

I can't imagine not expecting to be paired with someone if I made a reservation for fewer than 4.  I really don't see it as "forcing" them to group up, but as a normal and logical policy.  Most of my friends who play golf were strangers until the happy day when I met them on the first tee. 

On 8/4/2016 at 0:06 AM, Strandly said:

I voted no but I've played at courses that tried to make me give up my cart when I got paired with other people with less than full carts and I didn't agree with that request.

Most courses have a limited supply of golf carts, usually based on the expected usage rate with 2 players per cart.  If they give out to many carts with single riders, they run out.  Don't be such a grump.  Is it really that hard to ride with another person.  I admit that I'd prefer to be the driver in such a situation, but I've done it both ways, and never with any real issues.

[newtogolf]

If the course is slow they shouldn't be forced to pair up.  On days when it's busy, a twosome should be able to decline being paired up but be required to pay for a foursome.  

A lot of business is still done on the golf course, it's awkward when you have others paired up with you.  

[Aguirre]

On my final day in Myrtle on Friday, I was supposed to be paired with a twosome who no-showed. So I was sent out alone. I played through three foursomes, and finally caught a twosome on #11. They asked me if I wanted to play through, but I instead asked to join them. I hate playing alone on a course where I'm constantly asked to play through. I don't play well in those situations and I like playing with strangers. You meet the best people on the golf course, politics cast to the side.

EDIT--Wild Wing Avocet, in case anyone is curious.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Aguirre

[dave s]

This strategy solves the issue completely:  When a couple of chicago suburbs turned 'forest preserve' areas into golf courses, their tee time strategy was for each group to send a representative who gets in line at 5:30 am and sign up for a morning tee time.  It was first come, first served.  However, each person in line and awarded a tee time for that day had to purchase the entire tee time, or 4 players.

Bottom line is that you paid for 4 golfers and a single tee time.  Whether you decide to bring just yourself, or 1-3 others, the tee time slot is paid in full.  Under this scenario, one person literally OWNS the time slot and should be able to refuse any number of players the course might wish to fill up a paid-in-full tee time.  Under these rules, the course would be double-dipping if they insisted on paring additional players with a group that paid for 4 players regardless of the number in the group.

Personally, I don't mind playing with others; appreciate when I'm a single and get paired with others; always willing to merge two 2-somes to better the overall pace around me.

dave

[jkelley9]

I see no issue with allowing singles to decline playing with others so long as they pay 4 greens fees, or they're wiling to wait and take a spot that has no potential business (later afternoon, etc).

It's their money, that's their choice, it's no different that paying for your friends to play. It is not their right to be able to play by themselves at only 1 greens fee, it's a courtesy of the course if they can accommodate it.

But I don't think many would do this, lol. And like others have said, the course may not like giving up the lack of cart fees (from an extra cart to support a 3-some/4-some) and lack of potential business to the grill. So they may not even like it if someone paid 4 greens fees because they would still be down a little I would think, in the long run.

[BuckeyeNut]

My 2 cents on this is it's 100% up to the discretion of the golf course.    Many golf courses don't give players the option to decline being paired and it makes sense.    If you book a tee time for less than a full group, the course can do whatever they want with regard to filling the slot and recovering lost revenue because your group failed to bring a "full group". 

I've run into this playing "Vacation Golf" at resort courses.   I've been paired with groups and overheard them asking not to be paired.   The starter said they didn't have a choice in the matter.    

[dave s]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeNut said:

I've run into this playing "Vacation Golf" at resort courses.   I've been paired with groups and overheard them asking not to be paired.   The starter said they didn't have a choice in the matter.    

I'll likely run into this issue in a couple of weeks heading out for a golf vacation on my own.  The wife couldn't get time off work.  No big deal, guess I can play by (with) myself if I have to!  LOL.

[BuckeyeNut]

Whenever I travel on family vacations, my clubs always "come with".     My goal is always to be "FIRST OFF".......  My only regret is that on some resort courses.... the first tee time is later than I prefer!!  LOL    some resort courses don't have a first tee time until 7 or 730!!  I see this when traveling abroad.....  6-630am is the sweet spot for me while on vacation, but I rarely get to play that early.  On a typical week long vacation, I'll play twice........ and I'm normally back at the hotel by 10-11am.   I plan my golf around the vacation itinerary and it's never an issue.  

When it comes to high end resort courses, I never seem to have a problem snagging the first tee time and I rarely plan ahead to get tee times.  They seem to have a lot of 2-somes making tee times.   I normally don't even call to make arrangements until I am on vacation and in the area that week.........I'll call a few places and never have an issue leading the way.