LA City Council aims to stop ‘black market’ in golf course tee times

Four Los Angeles City Council members introduced a motion Tuesday seeking to crack down on what they describe as “black-market tee time brokers” from booking and reselling city golf course tee times for profit.

The motion requests a report back on the operation and management of the tee-time reservation system, as well as ongoing efforts to prohibit the use of automated programs to book tee times — similar to concert and sporting event ticket scalpers. Additionally, it would instruct a review and report on any potential fee adjustments needed to monitor or upgrade the current system.

Council members Katy Yaroslavsky and Nithya Raman filed the motion Tuesday, seconded by Imelda Padilla and Bob Blumenfield.

The Department of Recreation and Parks operates multiple golf courses throughout the city. Residents can purchase an LA City Golf Player Card and book tee times up to nine days in advance at all golf courses. Without the player card, the general public can book tee times up to seven days in advance.

The golf courses are overseen by the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners. Brokering or advertising tee times for resale or using third-party programs for booking tee times are strictly prohibited, according to city policy.

“While it is too early to understand the effectiveness of these steps, we must be ready to take further action to ensure the booking process is fair to all golfers who wish to play at city golf courses,” the motion reads.

In March, a group of golfers filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the city failed to perform its duties to oversee golf courses. The lawsuit claims that the city has permitted unscrupulous brokers to profit off city golf courses — and as a result, people who have purchased a player card have not received the benefits of affordable tee times as promised by the city.

The suit claimed that the Department of Recreation and Parks was notified of the illegal activity as early as October 2023.

Last week, the city announced that bookings at city courses will require a non-refundable $10 deposit per person, with the amount applied toward green fees upon check-in.

“Your deposit will be forfeited if you cancel your tee time for any reason,” according to an email sent by the city to regular customers Wednesday. “Note: The separate $10 per person no-show/short-show penalties will also remain in effect. A refund of your deposit may be issued if a course is closed due to adverse weather and/or other course closure events or if electric carts are not available for rent, preventing you or your group from playing.”

The city also updated its policy on its golf reservation website warning about the use of automated programs to book tee times.

“It is prohibited to use any computer program, bot, offline reader, and site search/retrieval application,” according to that policy. “Other manual or automatic devices, tools, or processes to retrieve, data mine, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure, or presentation of the content or the site itself, for obtaining a City of Los Angeles Golf Reservation Tee Time is strictly prohibited. We are closely monitoring reservations that appear to be using the systems/processes stated above.

“Violations of our policy will result in tee time cancellation and a loss of reservation and playing privileges. Our goal is to make the booking process fair to all golfers who wish to play at our facilities.”