Los Angeles city officials have approved a new measure to crack down on brokers who resell tee times at public golf courses: a non-refundable deposit.
The Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners — a five-member committee appointed by Mayor Karen Bass — unanimously approved Thursday a “pilot program” in which each golfer will be charged $10 to reserve an hour starting point, with a foursome costing a total of $10. $40.
The $10 will be credited to the golfer’s playing fees.
For example, if a golfer typically paid a $35 green fee at one of Los Angeles’ public courses, it would cost him $10 to reserve his spot in advance. When checking in for tee time, the golfer would pay the remainder, $25.
Those who cancel their departure time will not receive a refund. And if a golfer does not show up for their reservation, an additional $10 no-show penalty will be imposed.
The new pilot program also requires the use of a credit card to secure a reservation – an additional level of verification.
Rick Reinschmidt, head of the Los Angeles Municipal Golf Division, said at the parks commission meeting that the nonrefundable deposit would reduce brokerage by “significantly reducing the broker’s profits.” Some brokers collect tee times, then later cancel them and rebook them under their paying client’s name.
With the deposit, Reinschmidt said, brokers would lose $40 for each quartet they canceled in order to execute a resale.
“We understand that this alone is not the silver bullet, but we are confident that this action will help deter brokerage,” Reinschmidt said at the meeting.
The new pricing system follows weeks of criticism from local golfers, community members, golf social media influencers and the Times editorial board over the prevalence of an hourly black market departure.
A network of brokers, including many members of the Korean community, have managed to grab coveted slots, particularly for popular city-run courses in Griffith Park and Rancho Park, and sell those slots for a fee.
One broker told the Times that he makes a few thousand dollars a month selling tee times for Los Angeles city golf courses and other public courses in Southern California.
Dave Fink, a golf instruction professional with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, started a wave of awareness last month by posting screenshots of brokers’ tee sheets listing available times and fees. Fink’s #FreeTheTee videos went viral among golfers, who had difficulty booking slots at city courses and said they had complained repeatedly to Reinschmidt and others.
“This is an issue that affects everyone who pays taxes in the city, as well as everyone who plays golf, so I felt it was my duty to say something,” Fink told the Times .
At the meeting, Reinschmidt said “brokering and reselling tee times is not a new problem and is not unique to golf courses in the City of Los Angeles.”
He highlighted some steps his department has taken, including suspending 151 user accounts and implementing enhanced security measures to reduce the use of bots and other software to reserve valuable tee times.
None of the city commissioners asked Department of Recreation and Parks staff why the $10 deposit program wasn’t introduced sooner.
Reinschmidt pointed out that other cities have non-refundable fees, including New York ($5), San Francisco ($15) and Pasadena ($4.95). Unlike Los Angeles’ pilot program, other cities do not credit their reservation fees toward a player’s green fee.
Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Hamilton conveyed Mayor Karen Bass’s support for the new reservation fees and expressed gratitude to city staff who moved “very quickly” with the pilot program.
“We look forward to the results of this measure and other measures that are planned,” Hamilton said, “so that we can address (brokering departure times) and ensure that Los Angeles residents can use this public resource.
The “pilot program” has no expiration date and appears to be active as of Thursday afternoon, with the reservation system requiring a fee of $10 per person, payable by credit card.
Matthew Rudnick, executive director of the Department of Recreation and Parks, said at the commission meeting Thursday that the nonrefundable deposit, as well as other unspecified measures aimed at cracking down on brokerage, would be discussed at future meetings.
“We will likely provide regular updates to the board on this topic,” he said.
California Daily Newspapers
