Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Group Play topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sun City West golf committee to study limits on group play and guest access
Summary
Committee members debated whether group-play privileges and member‑guest access reduce resident tee‑time availability and asked staff to model revenue impacts; the committee agreed to place group‑play and lottery policy options on the January agenda for further analysis.
The Recreation Centers of Sun City West Golf Committee on Dec. 11 heard a sustained discussion about whether the community’s group‑play program and guest players limit resident access to prime tee times and directed staff to bring policy options back in January.
Pat O’Hara, golf operations manager, told the committee group play is longstanding and helps integrate residents into the golf community. He said 58 recurring groups prebook weekly across all seven courses — about 1,836 prebooked tee times — and that the program allows up to 10% guests so residents can host visitors. “Group play encourages our residents to play golf,” O’Hara said, noting the program fills tee sheets efficiently.
A committee member pressed that member‑guest rounds plus public play can amount to roughly 17% of rounds during peak periods, arguing external players are “sucking up” competitive tee times and making it harder for members to get prime slots. O’Hara responded that public players do not enter the lottery and that distinguishing member‑guests from members in the current system requires manual review or a redesign of the IT reservation process.
Finance director Cliff Swan cautioned the trade‑offs: reducing guest allowances, shrinking maximum group sizes, or moving twilight times would likely lower rounds and revenue. “All those things will be a negative impact to revenue,” Swan said, and asked the committee to let staff model the fiscal effects before any policy change is adopted.
Members proposed several options for January’s agenda, including clarifying whether group play runs during overseeding closures, widening the prime‑time window to increase lottery availability for members, reducing maximum group size from 40 to 36 (or 32), and tightening guest rotation rules. Committee members and several residents emphasized they sought adjustments, not elimination: several public commenters credited group play with increasing participation and providing social connections.
The committee did not vote on any of the proposed changes but agreed to have staff and finance model revenue and access impacts and return with numbers at the Jan. 7 meeting.
