Golf courses need rules. That much we can agree on.
Nobody benefits from a tee sheet that operates solely on the honor system or a player that decides bunker maintenance is somebody else’s problem, right?
Having said that, some policies leave you wondering whether the person who wrote them has ever booked a round, paid for it and tried to enjoy the next four hours.
The worst ones tend to make the golfer absorb a problem the facility could handle more reasonably.
Here are seven golf course policies that are the absolute worst.
Agree? Disagree? Send me an email ([email protected]) and I may respond to your comments in an upcoming newsletter post.
7. No outside food or beverages
I understand why a golf course doesn’t want someone bringing a cooler full of beer. Outside alcohol can create licensing and liability issues, and food-and-beverage sales help support the operation.
But a blanket policy that also prohibits a water bottle, a sandwich or a granola bar goes too far.
Golf takes several hours. People get hungry and thirsty. Some have dietary restrictions that a hot dog at the turn won’t accommodate.
Others would simply prefer to bring lunch rather than add another purchase to an already expensive day.
A golfer carrying a peanut butter sandwich shouldn’t be treated like someone sneaking an entire case of beer onto the property.
A better policy would be to separate the restriction to just a ban on outside alcohol. You might not like it, but it’s a reasonable thing for a facility to ask.
6. Every player must have their own bag
Four golfers sharing one set of clubs would be a logistical nightmare. A course has a reasonable interest in preventing that.
But an absolute requirement that every player have a separate bag can become an unnecessary barrier for beginners.
Consider someone bringing their spouse out for a quiet evening nine. The beginner might hit a few shots, pick up when needed and share clubs with the person beside them. Requiring another bag—or a full rental set—adds an expense without necessarily improving the experience or the pace.
It also creates a strange loophole because two people with separate bags and a handful of clubs each might satisfy the rule, while the same clubs in one bag supposedly create a problem (the math is not mathing here).
The policy should address delays caused by sharing, with room for staff judgment about the circumstances.
Also, offering a lower-tier starter set as a rental (as another option compared to nicer rentals) can be helpful.
5. Requiring a phone call to book or cancel a tee time
A phone call in 2026? No thanks (I haven’t listened to a voicemail since 2005).
Booking a round shouldn’t require calling the pro shop. Let me book online, please.
A phone-only system limits golfers to the hours someone is available, makes comparing openings cumbersome and gives the staff another task while customers are waiting at the counter.
It’s even more frustrating when a course lets you book online but requires a call to cancel. How does that make sense? If you’re within the cancellation window, releasing your reservation should be straightforward. Making it harder also delays getting that opening back onto the tee sheet, so the course shouldn’t be advocating for this one, either.
Keep the phone available for people who prefer it or need help. Give everyone else another option.
4. Dress codes that are unnecessarily strict
We’ve talked about this one a lot, but a golf course can ask customers to arrive looking presentable without policing every detail of what they wear.
Banning hoodies, insisting on tucked-in shirts or rejecting someone over the style of their collar creates opportunities for confrontation over things that have no effect on the round.
PGA Tour players wear hoodies, mock necks and all sorts of apparel that facilities like to take issue with when it comes to common golfers.
If you’re a course that measures the length of a golfer’s socks, I don’t want to play your course.
There’s also the question of consistency. Dress codes in golf suffer from TSA syndrome—you never really know exactly what the rules are. And a dress code also shouldn’t depend on who happens to be working the counter or whether they recognize the customer.
Set a few clear, practical standards, publish them before booking and enforce them courteously. And leave room for golf clothing to evolve!
3. Prohibiting golfers from changing shoes in the parking lot
The 1970s called and they want your archaic policy back.
Somehow sitting on the bumper of your car and putting on golf shoes has been deemed unacceptable by many clubs.
A quick shoe change beside your car is an ordinary part of arriving for a round. Treating it as an etiquette violation feels particularly unnecessary at a facility without an obvious, accessible place to change.
If a club provides a locker room and prefers golfers to use it, staff can at least politely point people in that direction. But getting a reprimand before someone has reached the first tee? That’s insanity.
Nobody’s enjoyment of the course should depend on whether another golfer tied their shoes in the approved location.
2. No advance notice (or discount) when a course punches greens
Few things grind my gears more than getting to the first green and realizing the greens had just been aerated.
If putting is meaningfully affected, that should lead to a heavy discount. And it should definitely be explained prior to playing.
This goes deeper, too. If a course has several temporary greens, asks you to play the same nine holes twice or has a major maintenance issue, that has to be explained to the golfer before they book.
A blanket no-refund policy for unsuspecting golfers becomes difficult to defend when those conditions weren’t disclosed beforehand.
The course knows when a project is scheduled. The customer booking online may not.
A golfer shouldn’t have to call and conduct a maintenance interview before every reservation.
1. Charging a non-golfer a full cart fee to ride along
You’re really going to get me fired up on this one.
You’ve paid for your round and your cart seat. Your wife wants to come along, enjoy the scenery and watch you play.
Then you learn that occupying the empty seat requires another full cart fee.
They aren’t even playing! I’m already paying to use the cart!
They aren’t hitting shots, using the practice facilities or taking a tee time someone else could purchase.
Golf should welcome opportunities for people to experience the course with a friend or family member. That could, you know, help someone get interested in your product.
I do understand that there are high-demand times when carts might be scarce, so a better policy would be to allow a non-playing guest to occupy an otherwise empty seat without an additional charge, subject to cart availability and clearly disclosed restrictions.
Anyway, those are the top seven worst policies. What do you think? Let me know below in the comments.
Pat
4 seconds ago
The green punching disclosure reminded me of a round I played at a course near Redondo Beach a few years back. It was a cheap public course with amazing views of the Pacific and obviously one that sees tons of rounds every week due to location and affordability. They would punch half of each green and position the flags on the other half. A few weeks later they would punch the other half and again keep the flags away from that half. A little extra effort but had to be appreciated by their regulars I’m sure. Will any other courses do this? Probably not because, as mentioned above, most greenskeepers don’t actually play golf.