Just wanted to see some opinions on these. Some people seem to be highly in favor of using tee times, but I don't see many benefits to them at all. The only benefits I see is that everyone starts on hole 1 (if that's really a benefit as opposed to fairness), those starting earlier (usually Am's) can watch those starting later (Pro's), and logistically they are simpler to organize (everyone starts and ends at the same spot and cards come in at varying times instead of all at once).

In contrast, the cons are that any ride-sharing, lunch-coordinating, etc. is completely thrown out the window within divisions and the entire event. This is a MAJOR FACTOR for almost every event that attempts to attract out of town players. Also, you can't get as many players through the coure(s) in the same amount of time. Bottlenecks have the potential to make things much worse. Lastly, I don't think you can very easily get two rounds in one day for all players using tee times - the last starting players for round 2 wouldn't start until almost dark during some parts of the year.

Please share your ideas!

Around here, tee times are usually used to allow more folks to play. For example, you might have 72 without tee times, and 100 with tee times.

I have no problem with tee times, but I have heard a lot of grumbling lately, although most of it seems offbase to me.

The most successful use of tee times I've seen are on monster courses that only play one round a day (and are usually more than 2 day events). You are right that multiple rounds a day present a number of problems using this method.

IMO, tee times make sense under the following situations:
- Course has SSA at 62 or more and/or normal round will last over 3.5 hours.
- Mountain course, especially at higher altitude, with minimal access to tees beyond the first few, so shotgun would require lots of extra effort for players.
- The schedule is to only play one round a day on a course with at least 24 holes.
- Field larger than 90 players needs to be handled and event is at least one round a day for three days on a true Championship caliber course.

You are right that multiple rounds a day present a number of problems using this method.


The Pro Women at Worlds had to play one round with shotgun in the morning than another with tee times in the afternoon at Worlds. They had the option to change this but elected to stay with it since the schedule initially got printed that way.

Good about tee times:

1. Players can sleep in
2. Players who started earlier (in a normal event this will probably be lower divisions) can finish in time to see the upper divisions play the course
3. TDs are able to handle no shows (i.e. a 2 some doesnt have to find a group, the TD tells them where to go and what to do)
4. The idea of someone on the third or fourth card shooting hot and passing you is a bit more realistic - "so and so came in at 54, I'm at +2 and had them by 2, so we are tied"

Bad things about tee times
1. Typically less golf
2. Playing conditions could change (i.e rain earlier then sunshine)
3. Tee times have a greater chance of the player screwing up his tee time - instead of hey whens tee tomorrow, the player has to find out individually
4. If you are traveling with someone from a different division, they typically will tee off much earlier than you. This can cause travel problems.

Very good feedback everyone. I should have added this to my original post, but I think it's acceptable (still maybe not ideal for the ride-sharing, etc.), to have tee times for a one round per day type of event.

Chuck the shotgun-then tee-time event seems a little crazy! I don't see this happening during the winter!

We offered the women the opportunity to change it but it was their call. I wouldn't recommend it as a normal practice. However, if you somehow need to do two rounds in a day for some divisions and one course has to have tee times, then doing the shotgun round first makes more sense than the other way around, or two rounds with tee times.

Something I'm considering is Tee times for FRONT 9 And BACK 9 simultaneously. On our Championship course it would work great because the Tees for #1 and #10 are right beside tourny HQ. I see this type of start often on TV golf (at least for the first 2 days). I believe you get almost as many players on the course this way in less time than with the regular method of everyone starting on #1.

But then how do you determine who starts on #10 and who starts on #1?

And what is the optimal time between tee-offs?

Starting people on more than one hole has been done at Flagstaff Am Worlds for one. It's TD call on which groups start on 1 & 10 but best if players from the same division all start on the same hole if it's less than 40 or so in the division.

Tee-off timing depends on how long you think it takes to play the course. 10 minute timing would be 170 minutes (~3 hrs) from the first to last group starting with groups on all 18 holes. If the course has a lot of par 4s & 5s with good flow, then you can try 8 minute timing because the course can absorb more than 18 groups playing at one time.

It's hard to imagine using tee times for 2 rounds in one day, unless everyone plays in the same groups both rounds. Otherwise, you'd have some players with a 1-hour break between rounds (last group in the early round, first group in the last round), while others might have
2 or 3 hours (reverse situation, depending on number of groups in division and how long a round takes). Not to mention the inconvenience of hanging around for a couple of hours after you finish your first round, to find out when your next round is (and perhaps have another few hours to wait).

I can see having tee times for 2 rounds, but mainly, this would only work on courses where there were no major in-round back up holes. I would also limit the number of players to 100-110, so we can get all groups off in time. Still, that's pushing it, given that 180 is usually the maximum for a full day of tee times on big courses. Maybe without long wait holes, you can cut the tee off time to 6 minutes, but that's still pushing it with a 1 hour minimum lunch break.

Still, this doesn't seem to offer a huge amount of extra players than just having 5somes. Imagine 5 somes AND 2 ghost holes, then you have 100 players on the course. A couplle good back up holes somewhat eliminates the perceived wait that one ends up having when ghost holes are present.

I think it would be tough to squeeze it all in, especially if there was any sort of weather delay.

There is no need for a lunch break if you have several divisions. Each division gets a lunch break because of the format. The tee times never stop.

You know from the start that there are:
3 MM1 cards teeing from 8:00 - 8:20 and again from 12:00 - 12:20
5 MA2 cards teeing from 8:30 - 9:10 and again from 12:30 - 1:10
5 MA1 cards teeing from 9:20 - 10:00 and again from 1:20 - 2:00
3 MPM cards teeing from 10:10 - 10:30 and again from 2:10 - 2:30
2 FPO cards teeing from 10:40 - 10:50 and again from 2:40 - 2:50
6 MPO cards teeing from 11:00 - 11:50 and again from 3:00 - 3:50

Every division knows when they are starting back in general. Most players have a pretty good idea which card they will be on in the next round based on there performance in the last round. They know when they have to check the board before they might be late. As long as there is a good mix of divisions, there are no multi-hour blocks in a single division. 10 minutes are huge blocks of time for most courses, but easy to write about.

I played tee times for the first time this year. I wasn't really a big fan for the following reasons:

1. With around 155 people at the event, I felt like I was only able to meet the guys either teeing with me, or teeing before or after me. Even at the awards, a lot of people had already left and I was never really able to see the 155 people in one place. I've always liked meeting new people, including getting to meet some of the pros I try to mimic.

2. I was playing intermediate, while all my friends were playing advanced. This put us from 2 to 3 hours apart on tee times, which was not convenient considering we all were sharing a hotel and ride.

3. I always had an early tee time. Once at 8:30am, a couple at 10:00 am. Times were starting at 7am. So when I got to the course I wanted to warm up on a few holes. Impossible. The TD said the course was not playable because other divisions had already started, despite begin several holes away from the holes I wanted to throw. I can understand this though. Keeping the course clear. So basically you forfeit begin able to show up early and warm up on the course, especially if your tee time is 10am or later. Even if I did show up at 6am and play a few holes, it'd be 4 hours until I actually got to use my muscles again.

First time using tee times was at the Hall of Fame Classic at the IDGC. I thought it worked great. I traveled with people in my division and a few others. The others hoped rides to lunch with people they played with. But we did all have to go early the first day. PDGA staff idea, I know why but was not fond of it....
Anyway, I think tee times should be used for A-tier and above. Make all A-tiers and above 3 day events.
I realize 3 day events cost more for the player and need additional time off from work. But its a worth it to me, and there are not that many A-tiers, not like there is one every weekend near your house. Ok, maybe a few of you in North Carolina or Texas.....

Just my $0.02

The Flying Eye Open here in GA has used tee times in the past. We play three rounds in 2 days. The first day is all shotgun start. The second day we have tee times. I liked it because it gave people the chance to sleep in and it also allowed for a gallery to form behind the Pro Open lead group. The course is super long, the rounds usually take 3.5-4 hours or more. There's no way that we could do tee times for both rounds in one day.