Officers with town of Los Angeles have authorised a brand new measure to crack down on brokers who resell tee occasions at public golf programs: a non-refundable deposit.
The L.A. Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners — a five-member panel appointed by Mayor Karen Bass — unanimously authorised on Thursday a “pilot program” wherein every golfer might be charged $10 to order a tee time, with a foursome costing a complete of $40.
The $10 might be credited towards a golfer’s greens price.
For instance, if a golfer usually paid a $35 greens price at considered one of L.A.’s public programs, it will price $10 to order their spot prematurely. At check-in for the tee time, the golfer would pay the rest, $25.
Those that cancel their tee time wouldn’t get a refund. And if a golfer fails to indicate up for his or her reservation, a further $10 no-show penalty might be levied.
The brand new pilot program additionally requires utilizing a bank card to safe a reservation — an added layer of verification.
Rick Reinschmidt, the top of L.A.’s municipal golf division, mentioned on the parks fee assembly that the nonrefundable deposit would reduce down on brokering by “considerably reducing right into a dealer’s revenue.” Some brokers scoop up tee occasions, then later cancel and rebook them beneath their paying buyer’s title.
With the deposit, Reinschmidt mentioned, brokers can be forfeiting $40 for each foursome they canceled to be able to execute a resale.
“We perceive that this alone just isn’t the silver bullet, however we strongly really feel that this motion will assist deter brokering,” Reinschmidt mentioned on the assembly.
The brand new pricing system comes after weeks of criticism from native golfers, neighborhood members, golf influencers on social media, and The Occasions’ editorial board over the prevalence of a black market in tee occasions.
A community of brokers, many within the Korean neighborhood, have managed to scoop up coveted occasions, significantly for standard city-run programs in Griffith Park and Rancho Park, and promote these slots for a price.
One dealer instructed The Occasions that he makes a pair thousand {dollars} a month promoting tee occasions for L.A. metropolis golf programs and different public programs throughout Southern California.
Dave Fink, a golf instructing professional with greater than 200,000 followers on Instagram, kicked off a wave of consciousness final month when he posted screenshots of brokers’ tee sheets itemizing out there occasions and costs. Fink’s #FreeTheTee movies went viral amongst golfers, who’ve struggled to e-book slots on metropolis programs and mentioned they’d complained repeatedly to Reinschmidt and others.
“This is a matter that impacts everyone who pays taxes within the metropolis, and anyone who performs golf as effectively, so I simply felt prefer it was my responsibility to say one thing,” Fink instructed The Occasions.
On the assembly, Reinschmidt mentioned “the brokering and reselling of tee occasions just isn’t a brand new challenge and never distinctive to town of L.A.’s golf programs.”
He highlighted some measures taken by his division, together with suspending 151 person accounts and implementing enhanced safety measures to chop down on using bots and different software program to e-book valuable tee occasions.
Not one of the metropolis commissioners pressed employees on the Division of Recreation and Parks as to why the $10 deposit program was not launched earlier.
Reinschmidt identified that different cities have nonrefundable charges, together with New York ($5), San Francisco ($15) and Pasadena ($4.95). Not like L.A.’s pilot program, the opposite cities don’t credit score their reserving price towards a participant’s greens price.
Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Hamilton conveyed Mayor Karen Bass’ help for the brand new reservation price and expressed appreciation that metropolis employees moved “in a short time” with the pilot program.
“We … are trying ahead to the outcomes of this and different measures which can be being deliberate,” Hamilton mentioned, “in order that we will tackle [tee time brokering] and make it possible for the residents of Los Angeles are in a position to make use of this public useful resource.”
The “pilot program” has no sundown date, and it gave the impression to be energetic as of Thursday afternoon, with the reservation system requiring a $10-a-person price, payable by way of bank card.
Matthew Rudnick, government officer of the Division of Recreation and Parks, mentioned Thursday on the fee assembly that the nonrefundable deposit, together with different unspecified measures to crack down on brokering, can be mentioned at future conferences.
“We’ll most likely be giving common updates to the board on this subject,” he mentioned.
