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Golf operations report: online bookings rise, sample shows ~10% guest share of bumped lottery slots
Summary
Operations staff reported November call volume near 4,030, sold‑out events and a raffle that raised $945 for Folds of Honor; sample lottery data presented by staff found roughly 10% of bumped players were guests, prompting discussion of whether system changes or IT revisions are needed to track member‑guest usage.
Golf operations manager Pat O’Hara told the Recreation Centers of Sun City West Golf Committee on Dec. 11 that residents are increasingly using the online portal and that November call volumes were roughly flat at about 4,030 calls.
O’Hara said the department has sold out tournaments — including an ugly‑sweater night scheduled for Feb. 19 — and that a Veterans‑Week raffle raised more than $945 for Folds of Honor. He also reported youth and community events (a JGAA tournament with 112 players) and reiterated that the lottery has performed reliably during peak season.
On lottery access, O’Hara presented manual samples intended to show who is being bumped when demand exceeds supply. In a November 2024 sample staff found 24 groups bumped with 89 players listed; 8 of those were guests (about 10%). O’Hara said extracting precise member‑guest breakdowns from all lottery submissions would be manual under the current system and would require IT changes to automate.
A resident commenter raised the economic point that guest players often pay higher rates than members, asking how much additional revenue a group with one member and three guests generates; no detailed revenue breakdown was given at the meeting and finance asked staff to model fiscal impacts if policy changes are considered.
On third‑party booking platforms, O’Hara said the facility uses a revenue‑share approach rather than allocating a fixed number of tee times to services such as GolfNow. “We revenue split with them,” he said, adding the center does not provide discounted tee‑time blocks to GolfNow as a set daily allotment.
The committee did not take formal action on operational items but asked staff to bring additional data and modeled revenue impacts for policy proposals slated for the January meeting.
