How Does Chelsea Work?

Chelsea manages ad hoc reservation requests, of course, but the main benefit accrues from its processing of regular, recurring requests, which the Captain of a group of players presents to the Golf Shop. The form includes the player’s names, Chelsea number, time preference and courses of preference. However, the tiered membership at St. James Plantation, by which members may select Home Course, Premier or Signature categories makes tee time allocation more complicated, as the system has to take into account a group’s preferences for tee times and specific course selections. (Home Course members may be reluctant to play at other courses with resulting fees.) Moreover, on busy days, it may try to satisfy every group’s requests by allocating times that may be inconvenient, or too late in the day for the player’s preferences. Groups that have many constraints on course or times may not have a tee time made because they do not have priority due to their overall point accumulation. This may cause additional frustration with the system, and also identifies possible saturation problems. With congestion occurring on key days such as Monday and Friday, the system of priorities plays a key role. Members may be inadvertently worsening their future chances by trying to change their allocated tee times.

Each day, the lottery is run from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. During this time, the system is unavailable for changes by Internet or for members to call the golf shop to book or change a tee time. The lottery considers team requests in order of the average number of points owned by all members of the group. The group with the lowest average per player is considered first, and so on. This average per player value negates the conception that each recurring request must have four players or that the system allocates foursomes first. However, foursomes are more likely to get preferred tee times than linked groups of eight or twelve, as there needs to be consecutive tee times available for these linked groups to get placed. Thus, these linked groups will often experience frustration in peak seasons.

Groups that are unable to be placed, either due to congestion or penalty points, are placed in a Standby queue. They are not notified of their standing and are not automatically placed on the tee sheet when an opening occurs.

Points are allocated to each member according to their success in gaining tee times at their requested time, including non-lottery reservations. This reflects their play for the last thirty days and goes into effect on the day of play for future play, not when the reservation is placed on the tee sheet via lottery or Internet. The points are allocated for each reservation as follows:

Within 61-120 minutes                          .9 points

Within 121-180 minutes                         .8 points

Within 181-240 minutes                         .7 points

And so on…           .1 deduction off of previous amount                   

No-Shows                                                  4 points

Guest of Member No-Show                    4 points

Thus, members who are allocated tee times furthest from their requested time will receive a score in proportion to that distance. That lower score should contribute to their getting a better time over the next cycle, as the point scores for each of the members of this group are accumulated and averaged out for the next running of the lottery. However, when any successful tee time is reserved outside of the lottery system a member’s account is similarly “rewarded” with one point, to reflect that member’s success in getting the time that he or she wanted. Likewise, if a member is disappointed with an inconvenient tee time granted by the lottery, calls the Golf Shop and substitutes a better time for the previous time (for example, when the blocks of times reserved for outside play have expired 48 hours prior to date of play) all group members will be awarded a whole point to reflect their success in getting the time they wanted. This forebodes getting an even more undesirable draw in future lotteries, due to the higher points assigned based on their success.

Another area where Chelsea has contributed significantly is in the area of golfers, or their guests, failing to report for their tee time, or No-Shows. Failure to report gives each player four points, which clearly has a serious impact on future lottery drawings, equating to four consecutive “on time” reservations, but all on one day! This score would affect their average for the next four weeks.  

The system will also allow us to make golfers that never enter the placement accountable for their tee times as well. Consistent abusers will be flagged after reaching a certain point level as “walk on only” until their 30 day average falls below the established threshold. (Blocked from Internet and Touch screen) Golf Shop employees CAN override this, but the member will not be able to book online until they are below the threshold of 10.

No-Shows

Someone not showing up for his or her tee time will define a no-show. Thus, it is highly desirable, if a player knows he or she will not be able to use a tee time, for that player to find a substitute and call that name in to the golf shop or cancels his name from the tee sheet. Tee sheets are printed before 4 pm for the next day, prior to Chelsea being closed to process the lottery draw. By placing the name of your sub into the system, you have relieved yourself of any potential to get assigned points.

Members have the opportunity to add, delete or change their name with another name on future tee sheets, making the addition of a sub easier than before. This will assist staff by not overbooking a tee time and making the sheets as accurate as reasonably possible up to the day before play.

Chelsea will assign no-show points each day during the End of Day and Placement. End of day allows Chelsea to do automatic (and consistent across the Plantation) no-show points. Each registered golfer not checked in by the golf shop will receive the 4 no show points automatically by Chelsea. Same day cancellations from the tee sheet will get zero points for canceling. If you are ill and want your name removed from the tee sheet, no points will be assigned. Each member should replace his or her name with the sub’s name prior to 4pm on the day before play.

Of course, there will be occasions when emergencies will occur, and The Clubs will not penalize such misfortunes. Likewise, The Clubs are flexible in the event of inclement weather, which they define as “precipitation falling from the sky”. They do not consider it unreasonable for players not to want to start a round in such conditions. Also, when a frost delay of more than two hours occurs, they will not grant any no-show points for players opting out of their round. Again, as a matter of courtesy, and in case other players want to use their time, members should call The Club and cancel their time, even if it is raining, sleeting or snowing.

How to Maximize Use of the System

• If you have Internet access, familiarize yourself with the on-line facilities, so that you can make bookings, cancellations, review your tee times and make substitutions. Inform the clubs of any difficulty by telephone, or by e-mailing Dave Flinchbaugh, the staff Chelsea contact, at dflinchbaugh@troongolf.com.
• You must realize that the daily draw is not really a “Lottery”, but rather, a set of highly defined rules the Chelsea System follows. These rules reward long term planning, flexibility, and reliability. Over seventy percent of our times booked are through recurring reservations.
• Flexibility in time requested and course preference will be an advantage. Groups that choose “Time” rather than “Course” on their recurring request will have more overall success.
• When reservations are made via the Lottery, an email message will be sent to all members of that group having an email address on file in the Chelsea system. If no appropriate time can be assigned, the group will be placed on Stand-by, and an email message is sent. Members are encouraged to “review” their times regularly and let The Clubs know that their time is not present, to check for Stand-by status and possibly book at a different course than their preferences. Stand-by can also reflect such a high point average for the group that no time could be awarded within their requested times.
• Chelsea has been modified to notify members by email that their recurring request has not been placed and is in the “standby” queue. This will explain to you why you sometimes do not get a tee time and call to say “Chelsea lost my reservation”. It cannot move a tee time from Standby to a tee sheet should an opening exist. Groups will still have to call the Golf Shop to do this.
• If you are given an inferior tee time, accept it, if at all possible. Changing it any time thereafter may put you further behind in points and continue the cycle.
• If you know in advance you cannot play on a certain day, get a substitute and replace your name with that person’s name prior to 4pm on the day before play. Tee sheets are finalized for the next day at 4:00 pm.
• Captains of a foursome are able to make substitutions and cancellations of their tee time only. A Captain can change other players in their group if they have all confirmation numbers. Captains will not be able to change other foursomes in a linked group placement. They will be able to delete an entire foursome as long as it is not the first foursome in a linked request.
• Remember, the definition of inclement weather does not include windy, chilly, too hot, etc. We have a number of extremes throughout the year and it is incumbent on you to make arrangements for these.
• The Chelsea system will try to pair recurring requests, twosomes with twosomes, etc. to fill needed time slots. If you have only two names, prepare to be paired with others.
• If you take out your name from a group because you cannot find a sub, a single looking for a game may book online or in the golf shop to fill in your place. It is then unfair for your group to show up with an unannounced sub and displace a person who has made the appropriate arrangements to get a time to play. The golf shop will make every effort to please both groups, but your Captain should advise any walk-on sub of this possibility.
• Every Member has been assigned a 5-digit Chelsea number, which they will use to access the Chelsea Reservation System. This number is as close to your GolfNet Handicap as possible. If you are in need of this number, please see The Members Club Golf Shop staff.
• You should plan to arrive at the course at least twenty minutes prior to you tee time and check in immediately. Please do not go to the first tee and ask the Starter to radio back to the Golf Shop to check you in. If you have not arrived in time, the Golf Shop may need to replace you with another player or group waiting on Stand-by.