Brokers are booking tee times at L.A.’s municipal courses for resale

In many cities around the U.S., tee times are increasingly difficult to get.

In Los Angeles, it’s becoming a real problem, at least at the city’s municipal golf courses.

In an article by the Los Angeles Times, brokers have gamed the system by scooping up tee times at several municipal golf courses and reselling them for $30 or $40, hiking the price for locals who seemingly have no choice but to pay.

The Times story reports that a local teaching pro and social media influencer, Dave Fink, started a #FreetheTee movement among his 200,000 Instragram followers.

The city courses such as Griffith Park, Rancho Park and Hansen Dam usually only charge about $35 but some golfers in L.A. say that as soon as tee times show up on the booking sites, most are gone within minutes.

“Six hours worth of tee times are gone in seconds,” Charlie (last name withheld) told the Times, which also reported that:

The L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks announced an investigation, roping in the city attorney’s office and the staff at GolfNow, a subsidiary of NBC Sports.

“I know people are frustrated,” said Rose Watson, spokesperson for the recreation and parks department. “At the end of the day, it’s not right, it’s not fair.” She said that “the city is on top of it” but asked for “a little more patience.”

The Times interviewed a broker named Ted Kim, who said it’s “not like I’m taking advantage of technology. I’m booking myself. I’m not doing anything illegal.” Kim said he makes a couple thousand dollars a month as a broker.