Assemblymember Ward Introduces Legislation to Protect California’s Publicly Owned Golf Courses

SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1954 to stop the practice of brokering tee times at municipal golf courses that inflate prices and take recreational opportunities from local residents by requiring written agreements between operators of publicly owned golf courses and third-party reservation service platforms.

There are over 220 golf courses in California that are municipally owned by cities, counties, charter cities, and the state. As part of public park systems, these courses are intentionally priced below market rates to ensure broad access to residents, seniors, school athletes, local clubs and civic organizations. As a result, demand for tee times at urban public courses in California ranks among the highest in the nation

“Golf is an incredibly popular sport in California, and it’s courses attract tourists from all around the world,” said Assemblymember Ward. “This legislation prevents exploitation of reservation systems and protects access for local residents who fund these public facilities.”

Tee time brokers have become a significant issue throughout the state. By booking tee times en masse and reselling and brokering them at inflated prices on unauthorized platforms, they substantially reduce the already strained supply of recreational opportunities available to California residents at municipal golf courses. These operations are sophisticated, and it can be difficult for consumers to recognize they are booking through an unauthorized platform.

Last year, the US Attorney's Office announced the indictment of two Los Angeles based tee time brokers for failing to report $1.1 million in income, $700,000 of which was made from the resale of tee times at 17 Southern California golf courses. While the crime was financial, what the brokers and many others did significantly disrupted municipal courses across the state. These actions resulted in lost revenue to local governments when reservations were cancelled last minute.