'It's destroying the game we love:' LA golfers voice anger over tee time reservation process

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Meetings for the Golf Advisory Committee aren't heavily attended, but on Monday, golfers packed their boardroom urging the city to take action to address brokers buying up tee times and charging extra to golfers.

"This morning, I called for next Wednesday, and it was 30 seconds after 6 a.m., nine days in advance, a woman picked up the phone very nice. She lives in Chicago, she told me. By the time she looked at the tee time and got my number, every reservation was gone," said golfer Richard Haft.

"It's a bunch of brokers, we all know that," said golfer Ryan Gregory Phillips. "We get the same emails and at the end of the day, if it can't be solved, let's get people in who can solve it. It's more than meets the eye here, and it's destroying the game we love."

Karen Thornton, who serves as chair of the Griffith Park Advisory Board, believes it's "an unconscionable breach of the public trust."

"We are here to serve the public, and very small segment of the public is being served, and I am angry about it," she said.

Golfers tell ABC7 they've always suspected the reservation system was rigged, and now, thanks to golf instructor Dave Fink, they've realized why it's become impossible to get a tee time on your own and why golfers resort to paying someone to do it for you.

"It's impacting a lot of golfers, and it's also impacting new golfers who would like to get into the game and they don't get a chance to experience this beautiful set of courses, or other courses within the city, because they can't get a tee time," said a golfer named Buck, who didn't want to share his last name.

The sport of golf exploded to during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the reservation system for tee times has not evolved in years, according to golfers.

Those on the committee say another issue is that they've seen record participation, but there's only seven public courses in the city of Los Angeles.

"The National Golf Foundation has considered the L.A. region to be the worst place in the United States to be a golfer," said Kevin Fitzgerald, who serves on the L.A. Golf Advisory Committee. "There's more golfers chasing the fewest holes here by a long shot, so it's really a challenge, but by the same time, it's incumbent on us to make sure the system has integrity and that everyone has an opportunity to secure a tee time."