Metro Creative Connection
By Mark Littau | Sun City
We have a system of obtaining tee times on Sun City golf courses by applying to a lottery 12 days in advance. However, this reservation system is compromised by five or more large groups of over 30 golfers (for some reason called “small groups”) that do not have to use the lottery.
Not all of those golfers are Sun City residents, but each group gets an hour or more blocks of premium morning tee times for months in advance on three of Sun City’s five regulation courses for the bargain price of $2 per person, while the majority of Sun City resident golfers get what’s left over.
According to management’s numbers, 1,300 golfers were bumped in February alone. These golfers had the choice of using the alternate system of requesting a tee time five days in advance, which at this time of year means not playing that day, obtaining a tee time at a less desirable executive course or maybe getting an afternoon tee time at a regulation course.
This scenario occurs on Mondays and Fridays when most of the “small groups” have their reserved tee times.
Does any reasonable person think 1,300 rejections is acceptable? Why can’t management come up with a better system? Why did the board table changes proposed to make the lottery system more fair last year? Why did management also go back on its proposed improvements?
What are the cost considerations? With the number of rounds played down this year, maybe an improved system would result in more players on the regulation courses.
If Sun City golfers want answers to these questions and well-deserved improvements to the golf reservation system, they need to again voice their displeasure at a member-board Exchange meeting.
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