Club manager
How to set up an online tee sheet
By Caddyio · Updated
Setting up an online tee sheet means making five decisions before you open it: how far apart your tee times are, how many players fit in each one, how far ahead members may book, which days are bookable, and whether bookings confirm instantly or wait for staff approval. Get those right and the sheet runs itself; get the interval wrong and you will either queue players on the first tee or give away revenue.
- Set your tee interval Most UK clubs run 8, 10 or 12 minutes. Shorter intervals sell more tee times but compress the course and hurt pace; longer intervals protect the round but cost you slots. If you are unsure, start at 10 minutes and watch your pace data for a month before changing it.
- Decide players per slot Four is standard. Dropping to three on a busy weekend morning genuinely speeds the course up, but do the arithmetic first: on a 10-minute interval over a five-hour window you are giving up roughly 30 player slots.
- Choose the booking horizon How far ahead members may book. Seven days keeps the sheet fair and reduces no-shows; 14 to 28 days suits clubs whose members plan around work. A long horizon with no cancellation habit produces a sheet that looks full and plays empty.
- Set your open days and hours First and last tee times per day, and which days accept bookings at all. Build competition days, society bookings and maintenance into the diary as closed dates before you open the sheet, not after members have booked over them.
- Decide who approves Instant confirmation is better for members and less work for staff. Approval makes sense if you are protecting a scarce resource or a club is nervous about opening bookings for the first time. Many clubs start with approval and switch it off once they trust the sheet.
- Write down the rules members will ask about Can a member book for guests? How many bookings can one member hold at once? What is the cancellation expectation? These get asked in week one; answering them in advance saves the pro shop the calls.
- Open it, then watch the first fortnight The interval and horizon are the two settings clubs change after going live. Look at which slots fill first, how many bookings are cancelled late, and whether the first tee is backing up.
Frequently asked
- What is the best tee time interval for a golf club?
- Eight to twelve minutes covers almost every UK club, with 10 minutes the most common compromise. Shorter sells more slots but compresses the course; longer protects pace of play at the cost of revenue.
- Should members be able to book instantly or should staff approve?
- Instant confirmation is less work and a better member experience. Approval is worth keeping only where the sheet is contested or the club wants to see what is happening before trusting it — and many clubs turn it off after the first season.
- How far ahead should members be able to book?
- Seven days keeps the sheet fair and cuts no-shows; 14 to 28 days suits members who plan around work. The longer the horizon, the more you need members to actually cancel what they will not use.
- How do we stop members booking over a competition?
- Block the date in the diary before opening the sheet. Competition days, society bookings and maintenance should be closed dates from the start rather than something you unpick after members have booked.
In Caddyio the tee sheet is configured per course — interval, players per slot, horizon, open days and whether bookings auto-confirm — and members book from the same app they score in. Staff get a day diary, closed dates and manual bookings for phone and walk-in players.