No Tee Time, Then How To Play Golf?

If a golfer shows up on the golf course without a tee time reservation, will that golfer be able to play? Possible. But how long you wait depends on how busy the golf course is, and how many golfers are in your group.

Remember, not all golf courses require tee time. (Some even refuse to let them out.) So, of course, if you want to play a course that doesn’t allow or requires no tee time, your playing chances are good.

But when a course requires golfers to make tee time reservations, and you show up without one, then you’re at the mercy of the course staff to try to fit you in.

Single Golfer With No Tee Time Has Best Chance
If you show up on a public golf course with no tee time but as a single, you will almost certainly be able to play. The personnel at the pro shop, or golf course starter if available, will try to fit you into the other group. Let’s say a group with a tee time of 11:42 orders a tee time for four golfers – but one of them can’t do it. There you go – a place that has just opened for you.

You can even show up as single at places like Pebble Beach Golf Links and The Old Course in St. Andrews, with no tee time, and had a good chance to tee off. But the wait may be long, and there are no guarantees.

Of course, if you show up without tee time on a lightly traded golf course, there should be no problem playing.

Groups With No Tee Time Will Wait Longer If They Could Play At All
What if you’re not single – if you want to play golf with a friend, or two friends, or three? The more golfers in your group, the lower your chances of playing when you show up with no tee time on a busy course. Arrive as a group of four with no tee time on a very busy golf course, and you will most likely be turned away or told to wait very long.

Your group can wait for hours to start, or it can wait and wait and never get to play.

So the moral of the story is: Know the golf course tee time policy, and if it requires tee time then make one.

You can always call the golf course right before you leave the house, too, to ask if there’s an open tee time (perhaps the group canceled or failed to show up), or to ask how long it will take you or your group to fit in.

Source: efferit