This is very similar to to best options in Vancouver. Basically you need an encyclopedia like knowledge of what time and when tee times come available and get everything logged in and set up to do the finger hover over “book” to press the exact second it opens up. Then it’s hoping you jump on an available tee time before anyone else does and getting it locked down in the 5 or so minutes they give you. If you screw up at all, there’s not going “back” to try again because everything will be taken. There’s some courses easier to book but these are the ones at are over-priced or not as fun to play
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I am lucky the roost out here is pretty active and we have a few people who are really on top of it - but before I joined getting a TT was so incredibly hard, especially if I wanted more than a single. I just wish there was a more standard set system. The part that’s also incredibly frustrating is TTs aren’t always released when they’re supposed to be.
I’ve got a full spreadsheet and calendar reminders nightly to run through to get TTs lol
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That’s me lol. The roost situation definitely helps because I’m happier to grab tee times in advance knowing there’s a good chance I’ll find playing partners from the roost
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St Pete has similar issues to those listed above. There’s 1 muni that’s a full size course, and it’s kept in very good shape considering how many rounds are played on it each year. It’s also very reasonably priced and walkable, both of which are rare for good Florida public golf. If you’re not on at 6am ready to go 7 days in advance, you got no shot of playing before the afternoon heat.
I’ve turned to technology for help. I have previously paid to set up a bot with moderate success, but not enough to keep paying for it. Might go back to it as our busy golf season approaches. I’ve also used TeeTimeSnipe, a web service that contacts you when a tee time in your search window becomes available so you can book it. That works pretty well but it isn’t guaranteed that somebody will cancel in the window in which you want to play.
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Definitely not as dire around here in northern Metro Detroit as we have a relatively dense roster of public courses, but I did have a mind blowing experience recently trying to book a dew sweeper.
A good friend of mine had his first kid in June and finally came up for air on a Thursday in mid-July and texted that he wanted to get 18 in super early on that Saturday. We have three public courses within 5 minutes of our houses and two of them were booked solid all day. The other had a 6:30 am but was $122 PER PLAYER. I skipped that one out of principle.
We ended up playing at a recently renovated Ray Hearn joint ~30 minutes from home and were shocked when there were already 5 groups waiting to tee off when we got there at 6:30 am. No starter to be found, we ended up getting stuck behind the poster child twosome for the #ShrinkTheGame movement for 14 holes. After they finally let us through, we played the last 4 holes in 45 minutes, concluding what should have been a 2.5 hour round in just over 4.
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If this is Mangrove Bay we came from Louisiana last year for a bachelor party and LOVED it. Well run, great marhsalls, fun course!
I even went back before my flight and played one more round.
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Same in Toronto. There is one course in particular, where you select what time you want to play and it just spits out the closest available tee time to what you selected (only on or after the time though, never before) and if you don’t like it and go back, you’ll only be able to play after 4pm.
When we want to play. We usually assemble an army to grab as many times as possible then figure out what we have.
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This is the way. It’s wild that this is the norm. I thought we just had it bad here. Golf has lost the plot.
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Zero issues in Oahu. Very few of our courses are private. There’s only 1-2 munis where you might have to think ahead of time to book a “premium” tee time. But if you miss out there ample public resort courses that offer very favorable local discounts.
The only struggle is for very early AM Saturday tee times at the west side courses because thats usually reserved for club play. Theres a big culture of golf clubs that rotate between 5-6 local courses. Clubs are always welcoming new members. Think what we do with roosts but don’t exclude Hawaii.
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Snuck out on a Thursday AM and 9 holes took 3.5 hours
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Literally just played GW on Labor Day and played 18 in 4.5 hours.
The Boston munis are pretty packed all the time. I read recently that the 2 Boston munis did 30k rounds per year on each course before COVID. Now it’s up to 50k rounds per year on each course. George Wright is particularly troublesome on weekends because they run leagues completely made up of city passholders on Saturdays, so no one else can play on that morning which is insane to me.
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Wow that’s solid pace of play esp for a weekend.
Running leagues on a Saturday is something.
@fishtopher18 and I were just talking yesterday about taking you on a tour of the Vancouver private courses.
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So off a quick scan of this thread. Is there anywhere that doesn’t have a terrible public golf scene? I’d like to go there.
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I ALMOST responded with an area that still has affordable and accessible golf, but then I realized that this was a trick and no, you aren’t getting these secrets because then it will become like the rest.
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Kama’aina. 'E Komo Mai.
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Shreveport, Louisiana
For a smaller city we have two city owned courses that - while not exotic - are well run and very easy on the wallet.
The locals are particularly fond of Querbes Park, a 100 year old course that hosted a small Big Plex Roost event in February coinciding with Mardi Gras.
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I’ll always ride for the New Mexico golf scene and nobody’s moving here anyway with the job market. Hardly any private courses and true year round golf. And ball go far.
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Just sent an email, I hope it helps!
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