Dear Molly: The golf course was running five minutes early on a recent weekday morning so we teed off, but we had to wait for our companions. Their cart rolled up at exactly our reserved time. Then we exchanged pleasantries, they stretched, took practice swings and finally, finally got our round going. By now, we were a hole behind! So I ask you: What exactly is the expectation for a tee-time – especially now that many courses make us pay in advance?
Oh how exasperating! But you don’t mention whether they apologized profusely. We’ve all had mornings when we had to run back home to get the phone or, gulp, clubs, or when a crash delayed our arrival. We’ve all had times when, for one reason or another, we tied our shoelaces, slammed the trunk and high-tailed it to the tee. Once we say how very sorry we are, we all move on to the fun of the day.
But your scenario raises several good questions. Under normal circumstances, when should we arrive at the course and when should we arrive at the first tee? If we’ve already paid for our round, do we even need to go into the pro shop? What does the golf course expect, and what is polite for our companions?
I know it’s not like a restaurant reservation, with typically a 15-minute grace period. But for more specifics, I checked in with the bosses at two of the Denver area’s busiest golf courses, the CGA’s CommonGround and Littleton’s South Suburban, for answers.
At CommonGround, if you have a tee-time you’ve already paid. But, still… Director of Golf Ben Pennymon recommends you get to the course 30 minutes before your tee-time to check in at the counter, make sure you have everything you need and have time to practice or at least stretch.
“Then a minimum of 5 minutes prior to your tee-time, be at the tee box and check in with the starter so that the starter doesn’t have to come and find you,” he said.
Good to know. I thought starters liked us to stay away until they called us. Oops!
If you’re late at CommonGround, your group is going to tee off and get going without you. When you show up, you’ll skip whatever you missed and join the group in place. People might be mad. “From a continuity standpoint, it’s not good,” says Ben. “The players behind are seeing a threesome and thinking pacing should be good, and then you add a fourth. You like things to be smoother than that.”
CommonGround doesn’t use an intercom to summon players, but South Suburban does. Head Professional Todd Marley asks that players arrive 15 minutes before their tee time to pay their green fees, and then be ready to go to the first tee when they hear their name called.
“We strive to call our groups to the tee a couple minutes early to welcome them, discuss pin placement and inform them of anything going on on the course that day,” says Todd. This is the also the time to greet your companions, grab a scorecard and decide which tees you’ll play from.
You can, of course, run to No. 1 and tee off. But if players are so late that they’re already disrupting the flow, Marley says, “We ask the group behind them to go or they will have to wait until our next opening.”
Bottom line: Tee-time means it’s time to put your ball on the tee and swing away.
Do you have a question about golf etiquette, golf relationships or the culture of golf in Colorado? Email it to Molly McMulligan, the CGA’s on-the-course advisor on how to have more fun on the golf course. Her creator, researcher and writer is golf journalist and CGA member Susan Fornoff.
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