How to cut no-shows on your tee sheet

Key takeaways

1. An empty tee time costs more than it used to: NGCOA CEO Jay Karen, citing the Pulse Report research, writes that average reported green fees rose from $69 in 2023 to $93 in 2026.
2. Deposits are still uncommon: according to the NGCOA's 2026 Golf Business Pulse Report, as reported by MyGolfSpy, only 15% of owners require a non-refundable upfront deposit on tee times.
3. A card on file charged only for a no-show is the lowest-friction place to start, while full prepayment protects the most but brings refunds and phone calls.
4. Charge the fee per missing player so it covers short-shows, make the person who booked responsible for the group, and make it easy to drop a player online.
5. Open the policy with its purpose, use the same wording everywhere, and send a reminder with a cancel link while there is still time to resell the slot.

Why are no-shows worth fixing now?

A no-show is a tee time nobody plays. A short-show is a foursome that arrives as two. Either way, the course loses revenue another golfer would have paid, and the slot gets harder to resell the closer it gets to the tee time.

Each empty slot now costs more. Writing in Golf Business, NGCOA CEO Jay Karen notes that average reported green fees moved from $69 in 2023 to $93 in 2026, according to the Pulse Report research. Ronnie Miles, NGCOA's Senior Director of Advocacy, calls the tee sheet "the financial heartbeat of every golf course."

The industry is treating this as a priority. On October 13, 2025, NGCOA gathered nearly 100 industry leaders at a Golf Tee Time Summit in Frisco, Texas, and reducing no-shows and short-shows was one of its four workshop subjects. Afterward, NGCOA said it would draft recommended standards for tee-time commerce and build resources to help operators eliminate no-shows and short-shows. Karen has also written that the industry needs technology to help solve what he calls its no-show and short-show dilemma. Watch for what NGCOA publishes.

One caution. National no-show rates get quoted often, but we could not trace any of them to NGF, NGCOA or USGA research. The number that matters most is your own, so count it before you change anything.

Card on file, deposit or prepayment: which should you use?

There are three common ways to put something at stake when a golfer books. They differ in how much they protect the sheet and how much friction they add.

Most courses have not moved to deposits yet. According to the NGCOA's 2026 Golf Business Pulse Report, as reported by MyGolfSpy, only 15% of owners require a non-refundable upfront deposit on tee times. Thirty percent were considering it, and 51% were not considering it at all. The report surveyed more than 200 facility owners and operators. NGCOA lists the full report as free to its members and $299 to non-members.

Golfers say they are open to deposits. MyGolfSpy reports that in separate Sports and Leisure Research Group tracking of golfers, 74% said they were comfortable putting down an advance deposit on a booked tee time. MyGolfSpy also notes that it is unclear whether golfers will like deposits as much in practice as they say in a survey. Owners see the trend too: in the Pulse Report, as reported by MyGolfSpy, about two-thirds of owners believe prepaying for golf will become more of a necessity.

You do not have to pick one model for the whole sheet. You can use a card on file for ordinary times and prepayment for peak weekend mornings, holidays and large groups, where an empty slot costs the most.

How much should a no-show fee be?

The four published policies below show three approaches: the full green fee, a small flat fee, or a warning first with fees that rise for repeat offenders.

The full green fee sends the clearest signal. MyGolfSpy reports that one owner who charges the full green fee for no-shows and short-shows said the policy broke golfers of booking a threesome as a foursome and short-showing it.

A small flat fee can be easier for regulars to accept and is simpler to explain. At a municipal course, fee changes may need council or parks board approval, and a modest flat fee can be an easier sell. A first-offense warning, as Rutgers uses, tells regulars the policy is aimed at habits, not honest mistakes.

Do not forget short-shows

Write the fee per missing player, not per empty tee time, or a foursome that arrives as two costs the golfer nothing. Cleveland Metroparks makes the person who booked responsible for the whole group. Then give golfers an honest way out: City of Denver Golf publishes step-by-step instructions for removing players from a booking.

How do you word a no-show policy golfers will accept?

Golfers accept a policy that sounds fair and push back on one that sounds like a threat. Cleveland Metroparks opens its policy with the purpose, not the penalty: "The objective of this policy is to ensure as many guests as possible can enjoy Cleveland Metroparks Golf Courses." Rutgers is candid that it made "the difficult decision to charge a no show fee." MyGolfSpy reports that owners who switched frame it as fairness, and one compared a missed tee time to canceling a hairdresser appointment.

Cover these points in plain language, in this order:

1. Why the policy exists: to keep tee times open for other golfers.
2. The cancellation window, in hours.
3. How to cancel or remove a player, with the link.
4. What happens if the golfer does not cancel, including the fee per missing player.
5. Who is responsible: the person who booked.
6. The exceptions, such as course closures, frost delays, severe weather and emergencies.

• Skip the all-caps warnings. They read as anger, and the rule works just as well in sentence case.
• Use identical wording everywhere: the booking page, the confirmation email, the reminder text and the pro shop sign.
• Ask for active agreement. A checkbox at booking tells the golfer the policy is real.

Do reminders reduce no-shows, and when should you send them?

We found no published golf-specific research on reminder results, so treat this as practice, not proof. A reminder's job is to get the cancellation while you can still resell the slot, so make canceling as easy as possible for a golfer who forgot the booking.

• Confirm at booking. Restate the policy, the fee and the cancellation window, with links to cancel, edit or remove a player.
• Remind before the window closes. If your window is 24 hours, send the reminder while the golfer can still cancel for free. A reminder sent after the window closes protects nobody.
• Make canceling easy. One tap to cancel or drop a player, with no phone call to the shop required.
• Name the fee in the reminder. It reinforces the policy without anyone on staff making a call.
• Get consent for texts when the golfer books.

A morning-of message with arrival details is still useful, but it will not save the slot. Treat it as a courtesy, not as no-show protection.

How to roll out a no-show policy

1. Measure first.

   Track no-shows and short-shows by day and time slot for a few weeks. NGCOA urges operators to document what no-shows and fraudulent bookings cost them, and your own numbers will show whether the policy worked.

2. Choose a model for each part of the sheet.

   Card on file for most times, prepayment or a deposit for peak times, holidays and large groups if your data shows those are the problem.

3. Check with your processor, your attorney and any board.

   Ask your payment processor about the rules for storing cards and charging them later. Have your attorney review the policy, and get council or parks board approval if your course needs it.

4. Write the policy and its exceptions.

   Use the order above. List when staff can waive a fee, and make the fee per missing player.

5. Add agreement at booking.

   A checkbox the golfer must tick. Keep a timestamped record of that agreement in case a charge is disputed.

6. Set up the confirmation and the reminder.

   Same wording as the policy, with a cancel link, sent before the window closes.

7. Announce it before the season.

   Email, the website and signage. Run a grace period with warnings only before any fees start.

8. Train staff and log every waiver.

   A waiver log keeps the policy the same no matter who is behind the counter.

9. Review after the season.

   Compare no-shows and short-shows to your starting numbers, and adjust the window or the fee for peak times.

What about third-party and reseller bookings?

Some no-shows do not come from golfers at all. Ronnie Miles of NGCOA warns in Golf Business that third-party resellers use bots to grab tee times, and that these bookings go unused when the reseller cannot find a buyer, causing a spike in no-shows. NGCOA holds up New York's Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, which Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on December 6, 2024, as a model for golf. Laws vary by state, so ask your attorney what applies to your course before acting on this.

Check your tee-time distribution contracts for what they say about no-shows on partner bookings. Rutgers handles them under a separate rule: no-shows booked through a third-party site are charged back to that site for every player booked, on the first offense and with no warning.

Daily booking limits help with hoarding. Denver allows each player one tee time of up to four players per day, and staff cancel extra times linked to the same player. Watch for patterns such as many bookings under throwaway names on your busiest days.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Playing Golf Is Getting More Expensive. The People Raising Prices Are Worried, Too.MyGolfSpy · 2026-10-14
2. 2026 Golf Business Pulse ReportNGCOA
3. The Full Tee Sheet Is Not the Whole StoryGolf Business (NGCOA) · 2026-10-07
4. National Golf Course Owners Association Hosts Industry-Wide Golf Tee Time Summit to Address Growing Marketplace ChallengesNGCOA · 2025-11-20
5. Golf Tee Time SummitNGCOA
6. Something is Now DifferentGolf Business (NGCOA) · 2025-11-19
7. What Golf Can Learn from New York's Crackdown on Reservation PiracyGolf Business (NGCOA) · 2025-06-03
8. FAQsCity of Denver Golf
9. Course Policies & RulesCleveland Metroparks
10. Reservations & CancellationsRutgers Institutional Planning and Operations
11. Book OnlineplayDCgolf