Tee Sheet Strategy, Part 5 of 5
The previous four posts built the architecture. This is the part where you manage it.
One tee time — Saturday 8am — across a 21-day booking window, three demand states. Same rate shelf across all three — Package, Semi-Flex, Flex, group size offsets. What moves is how you set it, based on what the market is telling you.
Three rate options going into each scenario:
- Package: prepaid, non-refundable, $25 F&B required. Same green fee as Semi-Flex. Two uses — optional when you need the booking, required fence for smaller groups when you don’t.
- Semi-Flex: prepaid, non-refundable, modifiable to 72 hours out. Group size locks at booking.
- Flex: cancel anytime. Full price. The only option when compression hits.
Flex base varies with demand: $79 soft / $89 on pace / $99 compression. These are morning peak rates — midday and afternoon run the same logic from a lower starting point. Semi-Flex discount off Flex: −15% soft / −12% on pace / −9% compression. Group size offsets apply to the Flex base first, before the plan discount. The offset levels move with demand — twosomes carry a smaller offset than threesomes and singles at every demand level. Foursomes are the unit. Twosomes are workable. Threesomes and singles are the same problem — treat them that way.
The full rate matrix — Saturday 8am
| Group | Low demand Flex $79 / SF −15% |
On pace Flex $89 / SF −12% |
Compression Flex $99 / SF −9% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foursome | Package $67 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $67 Flex $79 |
Package $78 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $78 Flex $89 |
Flex $99 only |
| Twosome +5/+10/+15% offset |
Package $71 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $71 Flex $83 |
Package $86 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $86 Flex $98 |
Package $104 + $25 F&B only |
| Threesome +10/+15/+20% offset |
Package $74 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $74 Flex $87 |
Restricted | Restricted |
| Single +15/+20/+25% offset |
Package $77 + $25 F&B Semi-Flex $77 Flex $91 |
Restricted | Restricted |
Scenario one: low demand
You’re at day 14. Saturday 8am has two bookings — a twosome on Flex — when you’d normally expect four or five tee times filled by now. You check ForeSight. Market is soft too.
Open everything. Package, Semi-Flex, and Flex across all group sizes — threesomes and singles included. Flex base $79; Semi-Flex at $67 for foursomes, $71 for twosomes, $74 for threesomes, $77 for singles. Keep Package optional. Price it right and the golfers who were going to eat anyway will take it. A confirmed booking beats an empty slot.
The more important question is whether the market is slow or just you. If your comp set is quiet too, discounting won’t generate demand that isn’t there — you’d just be trimming margin on the same thin pool. But if competitors are filling and your slot isn’t, something specific is off: check your channel listings, your rate position, whether you’re showing up where people are looking. By day 7, if morning peak is still soft, consider taking Semi-Flex down another notch — though in my experience peak morning holds even when overall pace is weak.
Scenario two: on pace
Day 14, three tee times filled, mix of Semi-Flex and Flex, foursomes and a twosome. Market looks normal — no compression signal, nothing unusual.
When pace is tracking and the market confirms it, leave it alone. Both rate types stay open. Singles and threesomes restricted. Twosomes carry a 10% offset on the $89 base — Flex $98, Semi-Flex $86, Package $86 plus $25 F&B. Foursomes at $89 Flex or $78 Semi-Flex. Let the window develop.
Day 10, if the slot is filling well, require Package for foursomes. You’re not losing the booking — you’re adding food and beverage revenue to one that was coming in regardless.
Watch the Semi-Flex to Flex take rate through the window. High Semi-Flex on morning slots means the −12% discount is more generous than it needs to be. Low Semi-Flex means either the gap isn’t compelling or the advance planners aren’t there. Either way it’s useful for next week.
Day 7: close Semi-Flex. Whatever comes in after that fills at Flex or Package. Fine outcome when pace holds.
Scenario three: compression
Day 14, Saturday 8am nearly full. ForeSight shows availability tightening across your market — comp set compressing, rates starting to move. This weekend is going to be busy.
Close Semi-Flex now. No reason to offer a −9% discount on a slot that fills at full rate regardless. Everyone from here pays $99 Flex. The market is doing the work. Get out of the way.
Singles and threesomes stay out. On twosomes: 15% offset on a $99 base puts Flex at $114. At that number, restricting twosomes to Package only — $104 plus required $25 F&B — makes sense. Every twosome leaves two seats short of foursome yield, and in compression you can hold for the foursome. Package is the fallback, not the opening option.
Close Flex for smaller groups and there’s no downside. The economics are similar to a surcharge, but the food and beverage is locked in before the round. Golfers at the turn usually spend past the credit — so the $25 tends to generate more than $25. And it’s a better experience than a surcharge.
Day 7: hold $99 Flex. Don’t give anything back. The mistake here is getting nervous about a few unfilled slots and discounting your way out of a position you didn’t need to leave.
The three scenarios at a glance
| Low demand | On pace | Compression | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-Flex rate | Open — −15% off Flex; incentivize early commitment | Open through day 10 — −12% off Flex | Close immediately — slot fills at full Flex price |
| Flex rate | Open — $79 | Open — $89 | Open — $99, the only path in |
| Foursomes | All plans open — 0% offset | All plans open — 0% offset | Flex $99 only — 0% offset |
| Twosomes | All plans open — 5% offset | Package + Semi-Flex — 10% offset | Package only — 15% offset |
| Threesomes | All plans open — 10% offset | Restricted | Restricted |
| Singles | All plans open — 15% offset | Restricted | Restricted |
| Packaging | Optional — captures revenue from golfers who were going to eat anyway | Required for foursomes from day 10 | Required fence for smaller groups |
| Key signal | Is the whole market soft, or just you? | Semi-Flex vs. Flex take rate | Comp set availability tightening |
| Day 7 action | Consider reducing Semi-Flex rate | Close Semi-Flex, let Flex run | Hold Flex, no discounting |
When the scenario changes
The three situations above assume you called the demand state at day 21 and it held. It doesn’t always. Two that come up often on Saturday morning.
Strong day, falling behind at day 5
You opened at day 21 in compression. Semi-Flex closed from the start. Flex at $99. Smaller groups restricted. By day 5, bookings have stalled — you’re sitting at half of what you’d expect this close in. ForeSight shows the market has eased.
Options are limited. Semi-Flex is gone — it only runs beyond seven days out. A Flex cut at day 5 mostly trims margin on bookings you already have; it won’t generate enough new volume to make up for it. What you can do: open twosomes, pull the restriction on singles and threesomes if space is there. Take what comes in at the rate you have.
The real lesson is that this situation was built at day 14, not day 5. An easing signal on ForeSight at day 14 is when you re-open Semi-Flex, ease the Flex base, and loosen the group restrictions. By day 5 you’re working around a decision that should have been made a week earlier.
Soft day, accelerating at day 10
You opened at day 21 soft — Semi-Flex at −15%, all group sizes available. By day 10, your own bookings are moving fast and ForeSight shows the comp set tightening.
Pull Semi-Flex now. Stop discounting a slot that’s going to fill regardless. Move Flex to $89. Restrict singles and threesomes. The rest of the window fills at full rate from people who were already coming.
At day 5, hold $99 Flex. Nothing changes.
Most of this runs automatically once the rate shelf is built. The active piece is knowing which scenario you’re in early enough to matter. That requires market data, not just your own booking pace.
ForeSight handles the visibility side. TeeMetrics Managed handles both — a dedicated revenue manager watching your market daily, managing rate and availability, joining a weekly call to walk through what happened and what’s coming. The system works better when someone is consistently watching it.
TeeMetrics Managed gives you hotel-grade revenue management built specifically for golf. Talk to us