For course operators
Tee Sheet Software, Chosen in Five Questions
A demo runs at the pace of the person giving it. Your counter runs at the pace of eight golfers waiting on check-in. Every system looks capable at the first speed. Here is how to tell them apart at the second one.
4Core functions
5Questions to ask
0Products sold here
Tee sheet software is the booking system your course uses to manage tee times: it holds your schedule, applies your rates and booking rules, takes reservations from staff and from golfers online, and keeps a record of who played and what they paid.
What does a tee sheet do?
Four things, whichever vendor you choose. Most arrive inside a wider golf course management suite with a shop POS and a marketing module attached, and everything in that bundle is a variation on these four.
The tee sheet itself
Slot intervals, crossover handling, blocked times, shotgun starts, league blocks, and the rules that keep one group on each tee.
Rates and payments
Seasonal and time-of-day pricing, member and public rates, twilight, deposits, cancellation rules, and the way refunds run.
Golfer records
Who booked, how often they play, what they spent, and how you export that list the day you want to reach them.
Online booking
The booking engine golfers meet: your public page for online tee time booking, how it reads on a phone, and whether it shows live availability or a copy on a delay.
What should I ask before buying?
Five questions. The answers separate the systems far better than a feature grid does.
1.Who owns the golfer data, and can you export it?
Skip this one and you find out the answer the day you try to leave. Ask for the specific: a full golfer list with contact details and booking history, in a format you can open, on demand, at no cost. A precise answer means the list is yours. A vague answer means it is theirs.
2.What does the marketplace distribution cost you?
Many systems bundle distribution through booking marketplaces. Ask which inventory you hand over, at what rate, and how you switch it off. Barter deals that trade tee times for software are real, and they deserve a price tag next to the plain subscription so you can compare like for like.
3.What happens on your busiest morning?
Ask to watch it during a live Saturday rush at a course your size. A demo runs at the pace of the person giving it. Your counter runs at the pace of eight golfers waiting on check-in, and that is the only speed that matters.
4.How do refunds, rain checks and no-shows work?
Your staff run these most often, and always under pressure. Count the clicks on each one in the demo. Whatever that number is, multiply it by every weekend you own the system.
5.What is the exit?
Contract length, notice period, where your booking history goes, and what your public booking links do the morning after you leave. Ask on the way in, while you still have the leverage.
Where your tee sheet stops
At the phone. Every system on your shortlist stops in the same place.
A tee sheet manages the bookings that reach it. The calls that ring out while two golfers stand at your counter land outside it, and they stay outside its reporting. So your Saturday reads clean on the screen while the phone sends the overflow to the course down the road.
That is the boundary of the category, and every vendor shares it. Which makes your first move the same whichever way you lean: find out how many calls your course misses right now.
Do this first. Ask your phone provider for an inbound call detail report covering the last thirty days, broken out by hour, with answered and unanswered separated. Count the unanswered. Note the hours they stack into... Monday mornings, weekend mornings, after close, event days. The report comes at no cost, and it tells you more about your booking problem than any demo on your calendar.
Where Fairway Freddie fits: Freddie is your pro shop phone agent, and he works alongside the tee sheet you already run. He picks up the calls your team has their hands too full to reach, knows your rates and your policies, and captures the golfer's name, number, and what they want. Your staff follows up and books on the tee sheet you already run, and Freddie passes a golfer to a person the moment the question needs one. Your tee sheet keeps its job. Freddie takes the phone.
Frequently asked questions
- What is tee sheet software?
- Tee sheet software is the booking system a golf course uses to manage its tee times. It holds your schedule, applies your rates and booking rules, takes reservations from staff and from golfers online, and records who played and what they paid. At most courses your pro shop works from it all day.
- Do I need a tee sheet system for a small nine-hole course?
- Plenty of nine-hole courses run well on a paper sheet and a phone. Size decides less than you would think. The real question is whether you want online booking and a golfer list you can market to later. Those two need software.
- Is a tee sheet the same as a point of sale system?
- They are two systems, often sold as one. The tee sheet manages reservations. The point of sale handles money in the shop and at the turn. Most vendors bundle them, so test the integration between them hard: a loose one turns into reconciliation work every single day.
- Will a tee sheet answer my phone?
- Your phone stays yours to answer. A tee sheet handles the bookings that reach it, and the calls that ring out during a morning wave stay outside its reporting entirely. Operators find this one after they switch, which is late.
- How do I know how many calls my course is missing?
- Ask your phone provider for an inbound call detail report covering the last thirty days, broken out by hour, with answered and unanswered separated. Most VoIP providers put it in the admin dashboard. Run it once. The unanswered count, and the hours it stacks into, lands harder than any demo.
Written by James Pemberton, founder of BookMoreTeeTimes.ai. Questions on any of the five above, or on the call report... the line is open at 1-866-757-5422.