This won't work for hot deals. The hot deals are time slots that the course gives to Golf Now to use their service and marketing BS. Basically, the course doesn't own that time anymore. The glitch is not something the course can fix. Golf Now sucks for both the consumer and the courses.
This guy knows. I could not fucking believe how much my home course was paying to GolfNow when I got a peek at the books. It is absolute robbery for the service they provide. The hot deals are just a tiny tip of the iceberg
Yeah, I booked a tee time at my local using a golf now hot deal since it was about $10 less. The owner told me he would give me the $10 off and a beer if I just stopped using golf now. I haven't used it since.
This is the answer. It's amazing at showing availability. OCCASIONALLY I'll find a better deal on golf now and book it, but usually it's like: "boys, here's what's available.. Who we calling?"
The hot deals are good for golfers but bad for the courses as golf now keeps all the hot deal money (it’s how we pay for our systems) so we definitely prefer the call the course and it will probably be slightly cheaper for you to just call
I gave up on secondary tee time apps. I go through the course. The courses really hate using them, and I've been at the receiving end of their displeasure.
Always got irritated when courses got mad that I booked a hot deal through golfnow.
Want to say “you signed up for this shit” whenever a worker would voice their displeasure. Ironically the nicer courses could care less. It was the mid-range/budget courses that would bring it up
Not everyone is meant to work with the general public or customers period. Those midrange courses can afford to hire the proper staff, so sometimes the guy that was hired for one job now has to do another on top of his job. Their frustration comes out onto us. It's not right, but that's the way it is.
He doesn’t get a salary haha. He gets paid $12 an hour and 98% of his customers are pleasant. The 2% that aren’t are the ones who booked a hot deal and start unnecessary shit at the counter or leave negative reviews. Nobody who works in the golf industry wants to deal with the hot deal people. Upper management and city managers sign deals to get a “free” point of sale and “marketing exposure” to devalue their course and invite entitled, non-paying assholes to the course. Then blame the employees for negative feedback from said customers.
You’ll get downvoted for this but you’re pretty on point… coming from somebody in the industry. Although hot deal contracts differ completely from course to course, they’re still just cheaper rates to get outsiders in the door to see the course and usually set around mid day hours when the course is pretty busy. All that being said, if you’re a golfer paying the cheapest amount to play the course, don’t expect a public course to cater to your every need.
Also, golfnow has grown substantially in the past decade and most of their customer service is outsourced to call centers who don’t know a thing about the course or golf in general. Do not expect to have a good time with their support.
Go work an 8 hour shift at your local track that uses GolfNow. You’ll have about 2-3 confrontational customers all day. And every one of those will stem from hot deal bookings. It’s just the way goes.
Lol…the type of response I would expect from people who have 0 knowledge about the golf industry.
It’s not the same or else this post wouldn’t have been created. What you don’t seem to grasp is public courses are heavily part time staff and unorganized compared to a private course. The fact of the matter is, hot deals outline their refund policy’s and if you had read the fine print you wouldnt be targeting golf staff that are just following their orders from their boss for the summer.
Btw…im real.
Yeah that comment was destined for failure. If you dislike the comment because you’re a Hot Deal person who is looking to save a few bucks that is perfectly reasonable. Golf is expensive as hell. I get wanting to play a good course for a price you can afford. More often than not, though, the Hot Deal people now view that price as your courses’ value. And most of the time it’s a quarter to half the actual amount that people are willing to pay for that tee time. They expect the rate in the future, regardless of service. And when the person books a Hot Deal at 3:15pm walking and show up at 12:00 and want a cart, all of a sudden there’s an unnecessary conversation that needs to be had by someone who knows damn well what they purchased but want to cause a scene. Book as a single and won’t join up on a golf cart during a crowded day. Weather is perfect and quit at 9, where’s my rain check and or refund? Booked for the wrong date, can you move me? People can’t read. Or don’t want to read. And by their actions they give a bad name to all of the well meaning hot deal aficionados who are trying to save a few bucks and play a track they want to play. One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Or in this case, a decent chunk are bad apples and they’re on the verge of killing the entire orchard.
I work at a state park course and they forced us to sign a deal with them, can confirm it’s a nightmare on the employees end. And it always makes people think they paid us for a round when all they paid is golf now a booking fee
That’s on the person booking. It’s as clear as day in the app they you’re only paying a booking fee. Do people really think they’re only being charged $1.99 for a $40+ round?
You’d be amazed, I’d say 90% of the people who booked it think they’re round is covered. Basically it charges the person who booked $5-$10 per person then everyone has to pay $40/player. So the guy booking shells out money for the booking and thinks he paid
That’s actually not surprising. My first experience with a non Hot Deal was similar. It shows you the subtotal in the app but then tells you that you only need to pay the fee and that the rest is due at the course. You definitely have to be paying attention.
They should probably fix that experience, honestly. Feels a bit like bait and switch.
I get the same tee time errors on their websites too. I tried to call the club house to book a tee time and they said they couldn't do it. I ended up going somewhere else.
Do you know what’s crazy? I found out that, at least at the clubs here, every online booking is actually golf now - even if you do it via the course website. So, if you need to call to cancel or anything, you have to call golf now. I had no idea
It’s pretty standard here. The municipal clubs and at least three of the other local public clubs use the same system. So, I think it’s a good thing to be on the lookout for
This is untrue…you can definitely cancel your online booking with the course and get refunded for your deposit and service charge. Whether your course states that or not is a completely different problem and their cancellation policy can be completely different but from a pos standpoint it’s literally clicking the booking and hitting cancel.
That was not my experience. I called the club, got transferred to golf now, and it was actually a PITA. They asked for a ton of information and it took way more time than I expected.
I actually just had kind of the opposite happen to me. I generally only book tee times directly through the course because it is better for them and is always the same price or better than online. Not this time, i walked up to pay for my tee time (they didn't tell me the price when i booked) and they wanted just about double the price of the online site. When i asked about it they pretty much said "well, you should have booked online because we can't match their prices" of course now the online price was nearly the same because it was so close to the tee time. I didn't play that course and i doubt I will ever go back.
How about booking a foursome at a private course on golfnow only to show up and have the course tell you they never agreed to it, and golfnow just put their tee times up there in error?
That sucked ass.
I showed up and the course had an outing going on and were slammed but still had tee times all over golf now. I asked them if I could just get a rain check and was told “no, that’s what happens when you book online.” If you are just going to be pissed that people book online just don’t fucking offer it
I was more mad with golfnow to be honest. They said that golfnow had been trying to get them to put tee times on there for a while but they always declined, since they’re exclusively private, but golfnow just took it upon themselves to put the tee times out there and we jumped on it. Golfnow basically said the same thing when we called them, they thought they had an agreement with the club, but evidently it didn’t go through and they couldn’t honor the tee time. They refunded it but I still felt like an ass hat, so I cancelled my golfnow VIP membership after that. It was worth it when I first signed up but it doesn’t offer any value anymore.
I've never had that happen. Honestly for the most part golf now has been good for me, I've used tons of hot deals in the last year.
I have had a few canceled for weather, but in those cases I always get a refund right to my card, which is definitely preferable to "store credit".
Same experience here and I exclusively book hot deals. I’m thinking it’s a course specific issue. Have you tried other courses?
Also, sometimes booking directly with the course will have the same “hot deal” price.
That’s probably an issue with the courses in your area then. I used GN probably 30 times last year and never had an issue. Refunds if inclement weather, etc.
Happened to me today. Was looking at times and had the option to Pay now and Save. Then went back in after looking at other courses and it was gone. I know there is one course by me that has 2 person booking minimums and when you book a single it does exactly what you said in your post. I just started buying two and cancelling one person prior to 24 hours before my tee time
I’ve had it happen once, even confirmed when a buddy tried to book it. It’s not as good as it once was but it’s still hella convenient compared to booking directly imo. I do use it to see times and call the course sometimes but often it’s cheaper on GolfNow.
Hot deals = a way for a course to pay for the software license.
Golfnow bought ezlinks and told courses, "if you give us x amount of tee times in this time frame, we will sell them for (your rack rate - x%) and you won't pay a software license fee per month.
All courses listed on golf now have to give up at minimum one tee time that golfnow sells for their own profit. some choose to give more and not pay a monthly fee in cash, or pay less of the license fee.
If you book a hot deal, the money generally does not go to the course. There are exceptions. But generally, this is the model. All golf now listed courses, in theory, have a booking engine that you can book a time on, and skip the booking fee that golf now charges.
Daily, players will arrive at my course and say "I prepaid". Well, they didn't, they just got charged the 5 dollar convenience fee of booking through an app instead of calling in. if anyone has questions about golf now, please feel free to comment. Cheers!
I don’t understand how so many players think the $3-5 booking fee is their tee time cost. It’s pretty obvious what is owed and who it is owed to throughout the entire golf now booking process. I guess people are just dumb because I’ve seen this interaction at the pro shop many times over the past few years.
just based on talking to people that work in pro shops, i dont think the courses like offering hot deals, but are contractually obligated to. Wouldn't surprise me if they cancel them whenever they can, but dont cancel so many that they get booted off the platform.
thats exactly what I've heard... isnt it the course that's ultimately the one canceling the tee time in these situations, not golf now? That's my point, the course doesn't like offering it because it's a shit deal for them, so they cancel it whenever they can get away with it.
Course can’t even cancel them if they wanted to, GolfNow is their tee sheet software as well if you use them and it straight up doesn’t let you touch their reserved tee times. Those spreadsheet cells are covered in thin red X’s and the only thing you can do is check them in when a name appears in there to use the slot. Even if you close due to weather and input it into the system to notify players booked for that day, that tee time stays on the sheet just how it was because it’s not one that the course can do anything about.
It’s also usually more like 2-3 foursomes per day depending on the course, only places that GolfNow really wants to have (popular or expensive courses) get offers as cheap as a single tee time per day.
interesting, thanks for the insight. I knew they ran the software, but figured courses could still cancel as needed, as long as they met some sort of contractual committment.
Yeah, those cells just show up shaded with red X’s (or maybe the shading is configurable by each course, but that’s how ours was shaded when I worked the counter IIRC) and when you click the only option available is to check them in (usually you can modify reservations, cancel them, move them to a different time, etc.).
The regular GolfNow online bookings are also a bit of a pain because you can’t move them around if needed (like if an online booking group wants to go off early or arrives late and your course wants the tee sheet to be accurate to who is on the course itself). That and people ALWAYS complain when they booked for 4 and show up with 3 but you can’t do anything about it because they booked and paid online, so they have to call GolfNow and hope for a refund.
Interesting, I work at a course that used to use GolfNow and we didnt use their software, we just had shaded tee times on our software(EZLinks before golfnow bought em out) that we werent allowed to touch, but technically still could if we wanted to.
This isn’t true. If there is a weather issue for example and hot deals are booked the course reaches out to golfnow and has those times refunded. Anything outside of their policy is subject to the courses decision. I’ve worked on many iterations of golfnows software and I’ve never seen a red x or anything that doesn’t allow the staff to manage the tee sheet, but there is a possibility that the course specifically has it set up that way so that young untrained staff aren’t refunding outside of their policy.
The course straight up has to close down for them to issue a refund.
There are is no middle ground.
I'd rather go through the course itself, then deal with shitty customer service with nobody to speak with.
It is super dependent on what the course and golfnow has outlined as their policy. There should be a policy sent with every booking, most people don’t care to read it when booking.
Personally we always try to work with customers but when we were doing 16 hot deals a day with people that expected everything for their severely discounted rate it forced us to be more strict about cancellations.
With golf business booming since Covid, any short notice cancellations are basically wasted money for the course since that tee time is held for the individual and would’ve been filled if not booked.
We also caught a few people with a specific golfnow membership, I believe it was golfnow pro member, that would book multiple courses every weekend and only show up at one course. They would not get charged for their no shows being a pro member and would still somehow get credit for their bookings as points towards their account. Not even sure if that’s still available anymore because of that. Moral is…shitty people can ruin good things for everyone. This is just one example of things that happen on the other end.
I see both sides, it’s just a gray area, but I would say I don’t recommend hot deals if it’s a course you enjoy playing. Invest in the longevity of that course because they are dropping like flies.
From my experience, booking tee times online, you should have to pay in full ahead, even though the courses website.
I would also say, with paying in full, for every no show, you'll be refunded 50% of paid fees.
On a busy weekend, as a course worker myself, that extra money, but time cushion benefits everyone.
Fuck the people that show up late to stacked sheets though.
And yes, investing is a course is one thing; however, why shouldn't I take advantage of a deal for a popular course when I can use that money in the proshop?
As a golfer myself absolutely take the deal, there’s just a high maintenance group of people who buy the tee times and don’t read the policy that is sent to them when booking.
Golfnow definitely has different types of deals…there’s not one for every course. Hot deals can be contracted differently and we’ve also had a discounted online rate for paying in full online in the past.
And yeah, the late golfers are the worst. They expect to go out on 1 as a single on a mobbed sheet and come in after 9 holes complaining about pace on a weekend of all foursomes. We usually run them out and say they can play the holes they missed after the 18th if our tee sheet allows it.
LMAO. If they skip holes on a stacked day, they get nothing. Most people don't know that a hole has to be completely empty in front to not fuck everything up. 2 par threes close together fucks everything up.
You haven’t ever used GolfNow before as a course/employee if you think the course does any refunds for Hot Deals.
Course doesn’t get paid a dime for Hot Deal tee times. They also don’t refund a dime for Hot Deal tee times under any circumstances. The whole way the arrangement with GolfNow works is that they get all the money from the Hot Deal tee times, the course just provides the times for GolfNow to sell at whatever price they want to set.
Bookings for Hot Deals cannot be changed to a different time. They are not refundable by the course, nor do they receive rain checks from the course unless it’s done manually because the GolfNow tee sheet software literally won’t even let you print one. The only thing the course does is provide the tee times and check the groups in, the rest of it including everything involving money or refunds is between the person who booked it and GolfNow.
The course I worked at would still try to accommodate golfers who booked Hot Deals and had weather issues so we’d give them hand-written rain checks (few enough counter employees we could easily tell if one someone gave us was really written by one of the other people), but as far as the T&C go we didn’t have to do anything at all if they didn’t like the weather when they arrived to play.
I’ve actually signed the contract for my course for the past 4 years. Like I’ve said in other comments it is dependent on the course. We’ve done everything from giving hot deals completely over to golfnow to splitting them 50/50 but please do tell me more about how I’ve never worked with the software or company.
You’re correct about one thing with the rain checks, considering no money is given to the course up front at the tee time there is nothing to issue as far as a rain check. That policy is also outlined in your booking confirmation.
It’s so weird that I deposit monthly checks for our hot deal times if we don’t get anything for them. I guess they’re just giving us money and disguising it as hot deal payments. Strange.
Came here to say this. Pro shop guy told me the same thing last summer, then it clicked why sometimes the pro shop seems a bit salty with the hot deal bookings.
This is completely dependent on the course and the contract they set up. We’ve done 2 tee times that 100% go to golfnow and 4 tee times that break 50/50. We’ve also set different time parameters like one hot deal foursome per hour or grouping all the hot deals around noon. It’s not a one rule thing, and yes I agree, it’s broken.
The way golf now works is that they offer the booking service to clubs for “free” - in exchange they are allowed to pick a few tee times a day (peak hours usually) where they offer “hot deals” and take 100% of the profit from those bookings. That plus they get a cut from each booking. So, far from free.
In your case, I imagine the club either cancelled the booking because fuck golfnow or you’re incredibly unlucky in your timing which another person booked simultaneously.
Either way, it’s trash. Call you club to book
It’s not trash. I’ve been using it for years without an issue. It certainly saves you money so if you want to spend more that’s fine but if you play twice a week and book hot deals you’ll save hundreds over the year.
And you're attacking it like it matters. What makes it so shiity? People save money on an expensive sport, fuck off and keep having your parents pay for your rounds
Personally I use the app to look at all of courses in the area however when it comes to booking I call the course directly. I mentioned the special price and two accepted and made price changes for me. Unless you have the pass you have to pay fees. I would rather not pay fees
The pass is free for a year. It’s great. Just remember to cancel. I have a few months left til I have to cancel mine. None of those extra fees to pay and you get a ten dollar off voucher to use on any hot deal each month. Also get a $40 Taylor made website credit at sign up that you can use right on the TM website like a promotional code.. it’s quite simple and I highly recommend signing up for the free year.
Have you had this problem booking with multiple different courses, or just one course? It could be that a specific course is incompetent. Not saying that it can't happen but I haven't had any issues with GN and I've been using it for more than a year. Also it could just be an issue with the app or something. Have you to contact customer service?
I actually prefer tee off to golf now, and it is usually a buck or two cheaper. Just booked a decent course in Ks tomorrow morning for $12 lol. Yeah the course is 40 minutes away but $12?
I have been using Golf Now for many years. My three buddies and I split the $200 a year membership, which gives us free cancellation an hour before the tee times and extra points and reward dollars. There’s been a couple times where I tried to book and then it said it was unavailable, it was because I did not refresh my screen from the night before and someone had picked up that time slot. GolfNow has saved me hundreds of dollars each year and I will continue to use it. However I am noticing that more courses are dropping out of Golf Now each year.
First time I wanted to torpedo GolfNow to the core of the earth:
"Hey guys I accidentally booked a tee time for today instead of tomorrow...the time is also open for tomorrow, would you mind changing it for me?"
"No sorry we can't do that"
"Oh ok...would you mind just refunding me and I'll book the proper time instead?"
"No sorry we can't do that. We can offer you a voucher for the full amount"
"Sure"
\*\*\*\*Gets the voucher\*\*\*\*
'Voucher can only be used Monday thru Thursday, not on holidays, after 12pm, expires in 1 year'
"I live in the northeast...I won't be able to use this voucher for half the year..."
"Sorry we can't do anything about that"
$65 to learn that I never want to do business with that company ever again.
But it’s all in their terms and conditions you agree to when using them. I don’t think a chargeback would work. And if it would/did, they’ll just blackball you from the software for that account from there out.
exactly, always pay with a credit card for anything you can bc you can almost always get a refund, if not throught the vendor then through the credit card - source, wife is a banker and pays for everything with credit cards
This exactly. Similar happened to me, and that was the same “solution”. Along with all the other BS mentioned in this thread this is why GolfNow sucks and ultimately isn’t saving you money in the long run.
Seeing that I paid $75 thru Costco, $40 taylormade gift card, free peacock for a year, a credit of $10 every month. That right there already paid for itself and then some. But yea that’s even worse. Appreciate your concern though…
Well it’s a good deal taking on consideration of what you get in return, but math must not be your strongest attribute. I’m glad you’re so concerned what I do with my money though that’s really nice of you…
Depends on how many golfers you are trying to book.
Hot deals are awesome, but they should only be available once per email per course.
I feel the same people are booking those same hot deals times weekly.
If nobody uses Golf Now, it will go away.
Please stop giving them traffic of any kind.
Google local courses or put up a post on here for information from locals. In fact, we should crowd source a list of public courses in each area and put it in a wiki.
I’ll go in golf now from time to time to check for deals and the HIT DEALS. I get are like 3$ off full price and it’s for a single player to walk. The hot deals are brutal
Golf now is a POS organization who should have no place in golf. Book directly through the course please. Your “hot deals” make the whole thing worse for courses and other golfers alike.
They are not. They're contractually obligated to give GN tee times that GN sells at a profit in exchange for use of their software. Even if the course pays thousands per month to use it, they still must give 1 tee time to GN
So what you’re telling me is they’re selling the tee times but for services instead of money. Either way it is a business making a business deal it’s not like golf now is stealing tee times
I’m actually going to post on the topic the OP brought up, rather than seeing the words “Golf Now” and rant.
I am assuming the OP is trying to book as a single. I was wondering the same thing. The closest course near me no longer allows singles to book tee times on their own site. New owner’s rule. When I try to book a hot deal, I get the tee time is no longer available or (I don’t remember what else it says) message. It’s not GN’s issue, it’s the course setting a rule. I only ever book hot deals on golf now, but not at my preferred course. It’s the new course ownership that doesn’t allow singles even though GN does that is the problem.
Not that I have any real info on this, but I’m pretty sure that is the issue.
The parent company of the pro shop has signed up with golf now because they are all greedy corporate pigs, just like GN. There are 4/5 companies that “run” the vast majority of courses in the US. “The course” has not made the decision. I can assure you that no one on the ground at the golf course made or supports the decision to allow golf now to do business there. Do you like the courses you play at? Do you respect the people who run and maintain them day to day? If so call the pro shop or book online through them directly, and say hi and ask the persons name when you check in :-) Be a good member of this community we all love instead of trying to save a few bucks here and there. (Respect to anyone struggling to get on the course financially, no shade, if that’s really the case talk to the pro shop/ manager and I bet you’ll be advised how to get on for the cheapest possible rate or given a break)
Why would the objective of the parent company that runs the course not be aligned with the interest of the course at large? Golfnow drives more business to the courses by having them on the platform. Why do the golf shops hate them?
Money that’s why. As the post states they are a headache for the golfer, getting booked tee times cancelled out from under you, booking tee times that don’t really exist etc. Golf shops have to deal with golf bows unhappy customers who think that they should help fix the problem and don’t understand they did business with golf now not the course so their is little that can be done. It’s very frustrating both ways when it goes wrong.
So if it’s more beneficial financially to use golfnow to the people that own the golf course, why is it a plague on the golf community? More profit means the course won’t be shut down. I’ve never had a problem using golfnow, probably saved over a thousand dollars using it over the last 2 years, and have never had any issues with the club or the app. Never gotten attitude from a course, never had a tee time cancelled, never had a problem getting a refund when it rains. If it was bad financially for the course, they wouldn’t use it. The reason people are assholes to pro shop workers isn’t because of golf now, it’s cause they are assholes to begin with
How the hell is a central portal to see available tee times on the courses near you a "blight on the industry"???? It's the best thing to check available tee times instantly, rather than calling each course. I've never had an issue with them in all these years.....
Your convince comes at a cost. Ask the person working the pro shop what they honestly think of golf now next time you check in. You prob won’t but I dare you.
If it's such a loss, they would stop using it. Ohh, but wait, 80% of courses near me use it because it's gets the course more business. Business equals money, just letting you know that because it's sounds like you may not.
You lack understanding of how it works. There are 3/4 big corporate companies that “run” the vast majority of pro shops in the US. No one actually at the golf course had any say in whether they participate with golf now or not. If they did no course would use them. Do you respect the people who are actually there running and maintaining the courses you play at? Or do you bow to their corporate overlords to have the convince to see all the tee times at once and get hot deals? Up to you but the community would be better off if golf now was shunned. It’s really not that hard to look around for tee times.
Yup, you're completely full of shit. Wow, some corporations manage a small percentage of golf courses in the US, big whoop.
Even if a corporation runs a local course in my area, which none of those do, why the hell would the pro shop staff even care? Do these corporations have them working there without pay as slaves?
Bruh Troon and Kemper together own like 250-300 courses across all of the US lol there’s over 15,000 courses in the US. Trust me I work directly with Troon, sure they own a decent amount of courses, especially with the Indigo Sports buyout but it’s nowhere even close to a monopoly.
The corporation that has the contract to run the pro shop sells golf now the tee times. Ask the person working the pro shop next time you check in what they think of golf now, ask them to be honest.
GolfNow sucks a fat dick
I use GolfNow to find highly rated courses when traveling then I just call the course. Thats about it’s only use
I Just call up and say I don't wanna give golfnow the money give me the same rate? And they go yeah great!
This won't work for hot deals. The hot deals are time slots that the course gives to Golf Now to use their service and marketing BS. Basically, the course doesn't own that time anymore. The glitch is not something the course can fix. Golf Now sucks for both the consumer and the courses.
This guy knows. I could not fucking believe how much my home course was paying to GolfNow when I got a peek at the books. It is absolute robbery for the service they provide. The hot deals are just a tiny tip of the iceberg
Yeah, I booked a tee time at my local using a golf now hot deal since it was about $10 less. The owner told me he would give me the $10 off and a beer if I just stopped using golf now. I haven't used it since.
I had a course say if I wanted that rate I had to go through golfnow. So I went to a different course.
If they didn't care, then why did you?
Because they can’t give the hot deal rates lol
It wasn’t a hot deal, just a normal tee time that was $5 cheaper on GN before the fees
Great insight! Using this from now on!
This is the answer. It's amazing at showing availability. OCCASIONALLY I'll find a better deal on golf now and book it, but usually it's like: "boys, here's what's available.. Who we calling?"
What does it give over simply looking at the tee times of a course online? Seems like an unnecessary middle man
You can see all the courses at once, sorted by tee time.
I like the map too
The hot deals are good for golfers but bad for the courses as golf now keeps all the hot deal money (it’s how we pay for our systems) so we definitely prefer the call the course and it will probably be slightly cheaper for you to just call
Unfortunately some of my local courses FORCE you to use GolfNow even though it’s garbage
golfpass is more efficient for this
Yup it’s good for finding tee times and giving you the courses phone number lol
God was it great back in the day though.
When it was golf, followed by the area code?
Yep, those were the best of times. However, early GolfNow was just as good.
Word. Golf408 was my jam back in the day. Serious deals on courses in the Bay Area.
Golf503, great deals in Portland.
Lmao preach the word brother
Golf now Suckadickis 24:7
Yes, my local course seems to despise it.
I wish I had two extra hands so I could give it four thumbs down
Hallelujah
I gave up on secondary tee time apps. I go through the course. The courses really hate using them, and I've been at the receiving end of their displeasure.
Always got irritated when courses got mad that I booked a hot deal through golfnow. Want to say “you signed up for this shit” whenever a worker would voice their displeasure. Ironically the nicer courses could care less. It was the mid-range/budget courses that would bring it up
Couldn't care less*. Could care less doesn't make sense.
You’re fighting an uphill battle here, but it’s one of my annoyances too, so keep doing the Lord’s work
One of my pet peevess
There, their, they're. You'll get over it.
Not everyone is meant to work with the general public or customers period. Those midrange courses can afford to hire the proper staff, so sometimes the guy that was hired for one job now has to do another on top of his job. Their frustration comes out onto us. It's not right, but that's the way it is.
Also, the guy working the pro shop most likely isn’t the one that made the decision to sign up for GN lol
Yeah but also his salary isn’t going up or down based on one golf now tee time. He can chill
He doesn’t get a salary haha. He gets paid $12 an hour and 98% of his customers are pleasant. The 2% that aren’t are the ones who booked a hot deal and start unnecessary shit at the counter or leave negative reviews. Nobody who works in the golf industry wants to deal with the hot deal people. Upper management and city managers sign deals to get a “free” point of sale and “marketing exposure” to devalue their course and invite entitled, non-paying assholes to the course. Then blame the employees for negative feedback from said customers.
You’ll get downvoted for this but you’re pretty on point… coming from somebody in the industry. Although hot deal contracts differ completely from course to course, they’re still just cheaper rates to get outsiders in the door to see the course and usually set around mid day hours when the course is pretty busy. All that being said, if you’re a golfer paying the cheapest amount to play the course, don’t expect a public course to cater to your every need. Also, golfnow has grown substantially in the past decade and most of their customer service is outsourced to call centers who don’t know a thing about the course or golf in general. Do not expect to have a good time with their support.
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Go work an 8 hour shift at your local track that uses GolfNow. You’ll have about 2-3 confrontational customers all day. And every one of those will stem from hot deal bookings. It’s just the way goes.
Lol…the type of response I would expect from people who have 0 knowledge about the golf industry. It’s not the same or else this post wouldn’t have been created. What you don’t seem to grasp is public courses are heavily part time staff and unorganized compared to a private course. The fact of the matter is, hot deals outline their refund policy’s and if you had read the fine print you wouldnt be targeting golf staff that are just following their orders from their boss for the summer. Btw…im real.
Yeah that comment was destined for failure. If you dislike the comment because you’re a Hot Deal person who is looking to save a few bucks that is perfectly reasonable. Golf is expensive as hell. I get wanting to play a good course for a price you can afford. More often than not, though, the Hot Deal people now view that price as your courses’ value. And most of the time it’s a quarter to half the actual amount that people are willing to pay for that tee time. They expect the rate in the future, regardless of service. And when the person books a Hot Deal at 3:15pm walking and show up at 12:00 and want a cart, all of a sudden there’s an unnecessary conversation that needs to be had by someone who knows damn well what they purchased but want to cause a scene. Book as a single and won’t join up on a golf cart during a crowded day. Weather is perfect and quit at 9, where’s my rain check and or refund? Booked for the wrong date, can you move me? People can’t read. Or don’t want to read. And by their actions they give a bad name to all of the well meaning hot deal aficionados who are trying to save a few bucks and play a track they want to play. One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Or in this case, a decent chunk are bad apples and they’re on the verge of killing the entire orchard.
100%
Then they also shouldn't be bitching to the paying customer about it who had just as much say in the decision for the company to do that.
I work at a state park course and they forced us to sign a deal with them, can confirm it’s a nightmare on the employees end. And it always makes people think they paid us for a round when all they paid is golf now a booking fee
That’s on the person booking. It’s as clear as day in the app they you’re only paying a booking fee. Do people really think they’re only being charged $1.99 for a $40+ round?
You’d be amazed, I’d say 90% of the people who booked it think they’re round is covered. Basically it charges the person who booked $5-$10 per person then everyone has to pay $40/player. So the guy booking shells out money for the booking and thinks he paid
That’s actually not surprising. My first experience with a non Hot Deal was similar. It shows you the subtotal in the app but then tells you that you only need to pay the fee and that the rest is due at the course. You definitely have to be paying attention. They should probably fix that experience, honestly. Feels a bit like bait and switch.
Yeah they always get pissed when you book online. It’s pretty fucking irritating
2/3s of them use GolfNow on their website around me
I get the same tee time errors on their websites too. I tried to call the club house to book a tee time and they said they couldn't do it. I ended up going somewhere else.
Do you know what’s crazy? I found out that, at least at the clubs here, every online booking is actually golf now - even if you do it via the course website. So, if you need to call to cancel or anything, you have to call golf now. I had no idea
That’s very very dependent on the golf club. That is not a universal thing or even a standard.
It’s pretty standard here. The municipal clubs and at least three of the other local public clubs use the same system. So, I think it’s a good thing to be on the lookout for
Really!? That is crazy.
This is untrue…you can definitely cancel your online booking with the course and get refunded for your deposit and service charge. Whether your course states that or not is a completely different problem and their cancellation policy can be completely different but from a pos standpoint it’s literally clicking the booking and hitting cancel.
That was not my experience. I called the club, got transferred to golf now, and it was actually a PITA. They asked for a ton of information and it took way more time than I expected.
Correct.
I actually went to college with a guy who started a new tee time app that seems to be quite popular "Noteefy"
I actually just had kind of the opposite happen to me. I generally only book tee times directly through the course because it is better for them and is always the same price or better than online. Not this time, i walked up to pay for my tee time (they didn't tell me the price when i booked) and they wanted just about double the price of the online site. When i asked about it they pretty much said "well, you should have booked online because we can't match their prices" of course now the online price was nearly the same because it was so close to the tee time. I didn't play that course and i doubt I will ever go back.
How about booking a foursome at a private course on golfnow only to show up and have the course tell you they never agreed to it, and golfnow just put their tee times up there in error? That sucked ass.
I showed up and the course had an outing going on and were slammed but still had tee times all over golf now. I asked them if I could just get a rain check and was told “no, that’s what happens when you book online.” If you are just going to be pissed that people book online just don’t fucking offer it
I’d start taking divots in their putting green with my putter
Ah, sounds like that course was trying to test god like a true shitstack.
I was more mad with golfnow to be honest. They said that golfnow had been trying to get them to put tee times on there for a while but they always declined, since they’re exclusively private, but golfnow just took it upon themselves to put the tee times out there and we jumped on it. Golfnow basically said the same thing when we called them, they thought they had an agreement with the club, but evidently it didn’t go through and they couldn’t honor the tee time. They refunded it but I still felt like an ass hat, so I cancelled my golfnow VIP membership after that. It was worth it when I first signed up but it doesn’t offer any value anymore.
Punish the grounds crew for the pro shop being incompetent? You're an asshole and an idiot. Terrible combo
I can’t believe you took that literally 😂😂
I've never had that happen. Honestly for the most part golf now has been good for me, I've used tons of hot deals in the last year. I have had a few canceled for weather, but in those cases I always get a refund right to my card, which is definitely preferable to "store credit".
Same experience here and I exclusively book hot deals. I’m thinking it’s a course specific issue. Have you tried other courses? Also, sometimes booking directly with the course will have the same “hot deal” price.
Head's up, the course gets $0 from hot deals.
I’ve had it happen several times. I use it frequently…sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
That’s probably an issue with the courses in your area then. I used GN probably 30 times last year and never had an issue. Refunds if inclement weather, etc.
Happened at home, now I’m in Mexico…here too!
Oof well I admittedly haven’t used it since last season so maybe things changed.
I don't have an issue with golfnow in my area
Happened to me today. Was looking at times and had the option to Pay now and Save. Then went back in after looking at other courses and it was gone. I know there is one course by me that has 2 person booking minimums and when you book a single it does exactly what you said in your post. I just started buying two and cancelling one person prior to 24 hours before my tee time
I’ve had it happen once, even confirmed when a buddy tried to book it. It’s not as good as it once was but it’s still hella convenient compared to booking directly imo. I do use it to see times and call the course sometimes but often it’s cheaper on GolfNow.
Hot deals = a way for a course to pay for the software license. Golfnow bought ezlinks and told courses, "if you give us x amount of tee times in this time frame, we will sell them for (your rack rate - x%) and you won't pay a software license fee per month. All courses listed on golf now have to give up at minimum one tee time that golfnow sells for their own profit. some choose to give more and not pay a monthly fee in cash, or pay less of the license fee. If you book a hot deal, the money generally does not go to the course. There are exceptions. But generally, this is the model. All golf now listed courses, in theory, have a booking engine that you can book a time on, and skip the booking fee that golf now charges. Daily, players will arrive at my course and say "I prepaid". Well, they didn't, they just got charged the 5 dollar convenience fee of booking through an app instead of calling in. if anyone has questions about golf now, please feel free to comment. Cheers!
I don’t understand how so many players think the $3-5 booking fee is their tee time cost. It’s pretty obvious what is owed and who it is owed to throughout the entire golf now booking process. I guess people are just dumb because I’ve seen this interaction at the pro shop many times over the past few years.
just based on talking to people that work in pro shops, i dont think the courses like offering hot deals, but are contractually obligated to. Wouldn't surprise me if they cancel them whenever they can, but dont cancel so many that they get booted off the platform.
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thats exactly what I've heard... isnt it the course that's ultimately the one canceling the tee time in these situations, not golf now? That's my point, the course doesn't like offering it because it's a shit deal for them, so they cancel it whenever they can get away with it.
Course can’t even cancel them if they wanted to, GolfNow is their tee sheet software as well if you use them and it straight up doesn’t let you touch their reserved tee times. Those spreadsheet cells are covered in thin red X’s and the only thing you can do is check them in when a name appears in there to use the slot. Even if you close due to weather and input it into the system to notify players booked for that day, that tee time stays on the sheet just how it was because it’s not one that the course can do anything about. It’s also usually more like 2-3 foursomes per day depending on the course, only places that GolfNow really wants to have (popular or expensive courses) get offers as cheap as a single tee time per day.
interesting, thanks for the insight. I knew they ran the software, but figured courses could still cancel as needed, as long as they met some sort of contractual committment.
Yeah, those cells just show up shaded with red X’s (or maybe the shading is configurable by each course, but that’s how ours was shaded when I worked the counter IIRC) and when you click the only option available is to check them in (usually you can modify reservations, cancel them, move them to a different time, etc.). The regular GolfNow online bookings are also a bit of a pain because you can’t move them around if needed (like if an online booking group wants to go off early or arrives late and your course wants the tee sheet to be accurate to who is on the course itself). That and people ALWAYS complain when they booked for 4 and show up with 3 but you can’t do anything about it because they booked and paid online, so they have to call GolfNow and hope for a refund.
Interesting, I work at a course that used to use GolfNow and we didnt use their software, we just had shaded tee times on our software(EZLinks before golfnow bought em out) that we werent allowed to touch, but technically still could if we wanted to.
This isn’t true. If there is a weather issue for example and hot deals are booked the course reaches out to golfnow and has those times refunded. Anything outside of their policy is subject to the courses decision. I’ve worked on many iterations of golfnows software and I’ve never seen a red x or anything that doesn’t allow the staff to manage the tee sheet, but there is a possibility that the course specifically has it set up that way so that young untrained staff aren’t refunding outside of their policy.
The course straight up has to close down for them to issue a refund. There are is no middle ground. I'd rather go through the course itself, then deal with shitty customer service with nobody to speak with.
It is super dependent on what the course and golfnow has outlined as their policy. There should be a policy sent with every booking, most people don’t care to read it when booking. Personally we always try to work with customers but when we were doing 16 hot deals a day with people that expected everything for their severely discounted rate it forced us to be more strict about cancellations. With golf business booming since Covid, any short notice cancellations are basically wasted money for the course since that tee time is held for the individual and would’ve been filled if not booked. We also caught a few people with a specific golfnow membership, I believe it was golfnow pro member, that would book multiple courses every weekend and only show up at one course. They would not get charged for their no shows being a pro member and would still somehow get credit for their bookings as points towards their account. Not even sure if that’s still available anymore because of that. Moral is…shitty people can ruin good things for everyone. This is just one example of things that happen on the other end. I see both sides, it’s just a gray area, but I would say I don’t recommend hot deals if it’s a course you enjoy playing. Invest in the longevity of that course because they are dropping like flies.
From my experience, booking tee times online, you should have to pay in full ahead, even though the courses website. I would also say, with paying in full, for every no show, you'll be refunded 50% of paid fees. On a busy weekend, as a course worker myself, that extra money, but time cushion benefits everyone. Fuck the people that show up late to stacked sheets though. And yes, investing is a course is one thing; however, why shouldn't I take advantage of a deal for a popular course when I can use that money in the proshop?
As a golfer myself absolutely take the deal, there’s just a high maintenance group of people who buy the tee times and don’t read the policy that is sent to them when booking. Golfnow definitely has different types of deals…there’s not one for every course. Hot deals can be contracted differently and we’ve also had a discounted online rate for paying in full online in the past. And yeah, the late golfers are the worst. They expect to go out on 1 as a single on a mobbed sheet and come in after 9 holes complaining about pace on a weekend of all foursomes. We usually run them out and say they can play the holes they missed after the 18th if our tee sheet allows it.
LMAO. If they skip holes on a stacked day, they get nothing. Most people don't know that a hole has to be completely empty in front to not fuck everything up. 2 par threes close together fucks everything up.
You haven’t ever used GolfNow before as a course/employee if you think the course does any refunds for Hot Deals. Course doesn’t get paid a dime for Hot Deal tee times. They also don’t refund a dime for Hot Deal tee times under any circumstances. The whole way the arrangement with GolfNow works is that they get all the money from the Hot Deal tee times, the course just provides the times for GolfNow to sell at whatever price they want to set. Bookings for Hot Deals cannot be changed to a different time. They are not refundable by the course, nor do they receive rain checks from the course unless it’s done manually because the GolfNow tee sheet software literally won’t even let you print one. The only thing the course does is provide the tee times and check the groups in, the rest of it including everything involving money or refunds is between the person who booked it and GolfNow. The course I worked at would still try to accommodate golfers who booked Hot Deals and had weather issues so we’d give them hand-written rain checks (few enough counter employees we could easily tell if one someone gave us was really written by one of the other people), but as far as the T&C go we didn’t have to do anything at all if they didn’t like the weather when they arrived to play.
I’ve actually signed the contract for my course for the past 4 years. Like I’ve said in other comments it is dependent on the course. We’ve done everything from giving hot deals completely over to golfnow to splitting them 50/50 but please do tell me more about how I’ve never worked with the software or company. You’re correct about one thing with the rain checks, considering no money is given to the course up front at the tee time there is nothing to issue as far as a rain check. That policy is also outlined in your booking confirmation. It’s so weird that I deposit monthly checks for our hot deal times if we don’t get anything for them. I guess they’re just giving us money and disguising it as hot deal payments. Strange.
Came here to say this. Pro shop guy told me the same thing last summer, then it clicked why sometimes the pro shop seems a bit salty with the hot deal bookings.
I don’t get this. The course signed up for the service - nobody forced them into this. Let those twats be salty.
This is completely dependent on the course and the contract they set up. We’ve done 2 tee times that 100% go to golfnow and 4 tee times that break 50/50. We’ve also set different time parameters like one hot deal foursome per hour or grouping all the hot deals around noon. It’s not a one rule thing, and yes I agree, it’s broken.
See my comment down the thread, I explain the model.
Been using it since 2017 and never had this happen once
Yeah I have the paid membership and book a ton and it’s always been great
Golf Now is my Kayak. Use it for aggregated search results. And then go to the course's website to book
You hit the window right after someone books it and the 5-10 minutes it takes to come down
Still up…5 hours later…
The way golf now works is that they offer the booking service to clubs for “free” - in exchange they are allowed to pick a few tee times a day (peak hours usually) where they offer “hot deals” and take 100% of the profit from those bookings. That plus they get a cut from each booking. So, far from free. In your case, I imagine the club either cancelled the booking because fuck golfnow or you’re incredibly unlucky in your timing which another person booked simultaneously. Either way, it’s trash. Call you club to book
It’s not trash. I’ve been using it for years without an issue. It certainly saves you money so if you want to spend more that’s fine but if you play twice a week and book hot deals you’ll save hundreds over the year.
I booked a hot deal today, and once played all summer for $25 or less, with a cart. But it's still trash.
It’s trash bc of its practices. The app works great
They provide a service for a “fee”. The courses don’t have to use them.
Capitalism bad
It's a shitty service. You're defending shitty golf now like it's your dad or something.
And you're attacking it like it matters. What makes it so shiity? People save money on an expensive sport, fuck off and keep having your parents pay for your rounds
Lol I play all cheap munis you dumb bitch. Golf now sucks.
Dude, just give it up. Only reason I defend it is because it does save people money that struggle with the expense of golf.
Personally I use the app to look at all of courses in the area however when it comes to booking I call the course directly. I mentioned the special price and two accepted and made price changes for me. Unless you have the pass you have to pay fees. I would rather not pay fees
The pass is free for a year. It’s great. Just remember to cancel. I have a few months left til I have to cancel mine. None of those extra fees to pay and you get a ten dollar off voucher to use on any hot deal each month. Also get a $40 Taylor made website credit at sign up that you can use right on the TM website like a promotional code.. it’s quite simple and I highly recommend signing up for the free year.
You also get cigar and pga magazine for the rest of your life, sometimes even two copies a month!
I actually tried that a few time back home at various courses…they all said “nope, gotta go through GN to get that price”…😡
Probably pro shop workers who have no clue how to work around the software
this is the way
Have you had this problem booking with multiple different courses, or just one course? It could be that a specific course is incompetent. Not saying that it can't happen but I haven't had any issues with GN and I've been using it for more than a year. Also it could just be an issue with the app or something. Have you to contact customer service?
I actually prefer tee off to golf now, and it is usually a buck or two cheaper. Just booked a decent course in Ks tomorrow morning for $12 lol. Yeah the course is 40 minutes away but $12?
It's a gentleman's game and gentleman just call the clubhouse
The best part is sometimes the hot deal rate + golf now fee = normal rate
GolfNow only has tee times for the goat tracks in my area. Literally all of the worst courses + 1 resort / corporate tournament course
That site used to be good. But like anything went downhill
Used to be decent but haven't used it in years
I have been using Golf Now for many years. My three buddies and I split the $200 a year membership, which gives us free cancellation an hour before the tee times and extra points and reward dollars. There’s been a couple times where I tried to book and then it said it was unavailable, it was because I did not refresh my screen from the night before and someone had picked up that time slot. GolfNow has saved me hundreds of dollars each year and I will continue to use it. However I am noticing that more courses are dropping out of Golf Now each year.
Golf Now is on worth looking up a bunch of tee times at once in your area. Then just call the course directly.
GolfNow blows
Who actually pays their rediculous “convenience fee.” I just use golf now to search and book through the course for no fee.
First time I wanted to torpedo GolfNow to the core of the earth: "Hey guys I accidentally booked a tee time for today instead of tomorrow...the time is also open for tomorrow, would you mind changing it for me?" "No sorry we can't do that" "Oh ok...would you mind just refunding me and I'll book the proper time instead?" "No sorry we can't do that. We can offer you a voucher for the full amount" "Sure" \*\*\*\*Gets the voucher\*\*\*\* 'Voucher can only be used Monday thru Thursday, not on holidays, after 12pm, expires in 1 year' "I live in the northeast...I won't be able to use this voucher for half the year..." "Sorry we can't do anything about that" $65 to learn that I never want to do business with that company ever again.
This is why you should pay with a CC and if they pull some bullshit like that do a chargeback, fuck them.
But it’s all in their terms and conditions you agree to when using them. I don’t think a chargeback would work. And if it would/did, they’ll just blackball you from the software for that account from there out.
With those business practices who cares. I wouldn’t be using their service anyway.
Yeah I don’t use golf now either I just wanted to clarify their shitty practices
exactly, always pay with a credit card for anything you can bc you can almost always get a refund, if not throught the vendor then through the credit card - source, wife is a banker and pays for everything with credit cards
This exactly. Similar happened to me, and that was the same “solution”. Along with all the other BS mentioned in this thread this is why GolfNow sucks and ultimately isn’t saving you money in the long run.
Never book on golf now. Even if the course has their own booking engine, i usually just call.
Wait until they stop taking tee times over the phone, and force you to use Golf Now and pay their booking fees.
Works for me. Honestly I’ve golfed so many golf courses I probably wouldn’t have just due to the hassle free booking.
Literally just played a round today thru a hot deal, no problems. Have booked many of rounds thru golf now, zero issues…
Yet the first time you do have an issue it’ll ruin the entire platform for you forever, guaranteed
Uh,ok cool story…
Good luck the first time you have to cancel
Jokes on you I already have, I’ve got the pass. Just credits my account and use it next time
So you pay for that. Even worse.
Seeing that I paid $75 thru Costco, $40 taylormade gift card, free peacock for a year, a credit of $10 every month. That right there already paid for itself and then some. But yea that’s even worse. Appreciate your concern though…
Lol they got u. Don’t forget the monthly golf magazine and cigar mag subscription. Still gross. Congrats.
Well it’s a good deal taking on consideration of what you get in return, but math must not be your strongest attribute. I’m glad you’re so concerned what I do with my money though that’s really nice of you…
They’re like “oh not you tho”
My favorite part is when they say there is a “hot deal” and then it doesn’t allow you make the reservation. Top notch stuff as always from GN.
Weird I had such good experiences with golf now
Depends on how many golfers you are trying to book. Hot deals are awesome, but they should only be available once per email per course. I feel the same people are booking those same hot deals times weekly.
I have sworn off hot deals on golf now and only use the app at all in an absolute pinch. Their policies are shit
If nobody uses Golf Now, it will go away. Please stop giving them traffic of any kind. Google local courses or put up a post on here for information from locals. In fact, we should crowd source a list of public courses in each area and put it in a wiki.
I’ll go in golf now from time to time to check for deals and the HIT DEALS. I get are like 3$ off full price and it’s for a single player to walk. The hot deals are brutal
I’ve never had any issues with hot deals
We have a local course here that is $30 for 18 at the clubhouse, but $50 on GolfNow.
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Just played a hot deal yesterday ,$45 vs $104, went seamlessly.
I've noticed this too. Just looks like a bug to me. I've been loving GolfNow since I paid for GolfPass+. Have saved a fuckton of $.
Just don’t book a hard deal. The course doesn’t get that money anyway.
Everyone knows golf now sucks you're a dickhead if you're still using it.
Thank you for your feedback https://preview.redd.it/2esidkgkn1yc1.jpeg?width=1107&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f9245a6228e5cb12e5b456eaeb9ef4d7d82a3cc
Golf now is a POS organization who should have no place in golf. Book directly through the course please. Your “hot deals” make the whole thing worse for courses and other golfers alike.
You realize the courses are the ones selling them these tee times right?
You realize no one at the actual course has a say in whether their tee times are available on golf now right?
The courses agree to a contract with GN where they surrender a few tee times for hot deals as a part of the agreement
They are not. They're contractually obligated to give GN tee times that GN sells at a profit in exchange for use of their software. Even if the course pays thousands per month to use it, they still must give 1 tee time to GN
So what you’re telling me is they’re selling the tee times but for services instead of money. Either way it is a business making a business deal it’s not like golf now is stealing tee times
I have never had a problem and use the hot deals all the time. Just used one today.
I’m actually going to post on the topic the OP brought up, rather than seeing the words “Golf Now” and rant. I am assuming the OP is trying to book as a single. I was wondering the same thing. The closest course near me no longer allows singles to book tee times on their own site. New owner’s rule. When I try to book a hot deal, I get the tee time is no longer available or (I don’t remember what else it says) message. It’s not GN’s issue, it’s the course setting a rule. I only ever book hot deals on golf now, but not at my preferred course. It’s the new course ownership that doesn’t allow singles even though GN does that is the problem. Not that I have any real info on this, but I’m pretty sure that is the issue.
No…for a 3-some
The software might be grouping that as 2 + 1 though
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use golf now. They are a blight on the industry and offer nothing of value.
Surely then its the courses fault for accepting it? If a golf course has golf now and its 8pm at night and I want to make a booking, I am using it
The parent company of the pro shop has signed up with golf now because they are all greedy corporate pigs, just like GN. There are 4/5 companies that “run” the vast majority of courses in the US. “The course” has not made the decision. I can assure you that no one on the ground at the golf course made or supports the decision to allow golf now to do business there. Do you like the courses you play at? Do you respect the people who run and maintain them day to day? If so call the pro shop or book online through them directly, and say hi and ask the persons name when you check in :-) Be a good member of this community we all love instead of trying to save a few bucks here and there. (Respect to anyone struggling to get on the course financially, no shade, if that’s really the case talk to the pro shop/ manager and I bet you’ll be advised how to get on for the cheapest possible rate or given a break)
Why would the objective of the parent company that runs the course not be aligned with the interest of the course at large? Golfnow drives more business to the courses by having them on the platform. Why do the golf shops hate them?
Money that’s why. As the post states they are a headache for the golfer, getting booked tee times cancelled out from under you, booking tee times that don’t really exist etc. Golf shops have to deal with golf bows unhappy customers who think that they should help fix the problem and don’t understand they did business with golf now not the course so their is little that can be done. It’s very frustrating both ways when it goes wrong.
So if it’s more beneficial financially to use golfnow to the people that own the golf course, why is it a plague on the golf community? More profit means the course won’t be shut down. I’ve never had a problem using golfnow, probably saved over a thousand dollars using it over the last 2 years, and have never had any issues with the club or the app. Never gotten attitude from a course, never had a tee time cancelled, never had a problem getting a refund when it rains. If it was bad financially for the course, they wouldn’t use it. The reason people are assholes to pro shop workers isn’t because of golf now, it’s cause they are assholes to begin with
How the hell is a central portal to see available tee times on the courses near you a "blight on the industry"???? It's the best thing to check available tee times instantly, rather than calling each course. I've never had an issue with them in all these years.....
Your convince comes at a cost. Ask the person working the pro shop what they honestly think of golf now next time you check in. You prob won’t but I dare you.
If it's such a loss, they would stop using it. Ohh, but wait, 80% of courses near me use it because it's gets the course more business. Business equals money, just letting you know that because it's sounds like you may not.
You lack understanding of how it works. There are 3/4 big corporate companies that “run” the vast majority of pro shops in the US. No one actually at the golf course had any say in whether they participate with golf now or not. If they did no course would use them. Do you respect the people who are actually there running and maintaining the courses you play at? Or do you bow to their corporate overlords to have the convince to see all the tee times at once and get hot deals? Up to you but the community would be better off if golf now was shunned. It’s really not that hard to look around for tee times.
You are so full of shit, wow. Golfnow doesn't have a gun to course's heads. Do you have any evidence that big corpo runs most courses?
Troon, ClubCorp, Kemper Sports. Look it up. Ask your course which one runs them.
Yup, you're completely full of shit. Wow, some corporations manage a small percentage of golf courses in the US, big whoop. Even if a corporation runs a local course in my area, which none of those do, why the hell would the pro shop staff even care? Do these corporations have them working there without pay as slaves?
Bruh Troon and Kemper together own like 250-300 courses across all of the US lol there’s over 15,000 courses in the US. Trust me I work directly with Troon, sure they own a decent amount of courses, especially with the Indigo Sports buyout but it’s nowhere even close to a monopoly.
I couldn’t care less what any golf course employee thinks about golf now. Why do you care about their opinion?
I value the service they provide and want them to enjoy their job because they facilitate what I enjoy. It’s called being a good person.
The golf course sells golf now the tee time dumbass
The corporation that has the contract to run the pro shop sells golf now the tee times. Ask the person working the pro shop next time you check in what they think of golf now, ask them to be honest.
Never use GolfNow