Golf ID Deactivated
 

Golf ID recently deactivated I suspect for using resident ID to schedule guest golf while I was incapacitated with a broken arm. Is there a process to re-activate your Golf ID?

Give them a call.

Resident ID cards are available at the Customer Service Center at 3201 Wedgewood Lane, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Residents may be required to provide proof of identity (picture ID), ownership, or Villages residency. Please call the Customer Service Center at (352) 753-4508 for more information.

You are a "Ghost Golfer" as defined in the Golfing in The Villages brochure. If you do not have a copy you can get it online. Go to Golf The Villages then you will see a link to the brochure. Pertinent section is on page 9.

Just says you will be de-activated for " a period of time". Best to give them a call and see for how long.

This is exactly right. It happened to a friend's wife a couple of years ago. She had to go to the 'principles office' and get a 'talking to' before she could get it re-activated.

"Principals Office"....I don't think so. Ghost golfers are a PROBLEM that needs to be addressed. In case you haven't noticed, golf teetimes can be tough to come by this time of year. Using your ID number to get one
and then place another person in that tee time has to be done NUMEROUS TIMES before the ID is deactivated -- as it should be!

why would you do that??

People do that so a friend who...
 

who doesn't live here can play here even though they don't pay the monthly fee.

What are you trying to say?

I don't play golf. Does this mean that if I have a friend visiting I can't sign them up under my number even if I explain it is my guest that will be playing and I will be riding along?

In the case I mentioned my friend was not ghosting or using a resident ID to get a tee time for a guest. He setup tee times for a foursome. It was always just one foursome. There were three guys that played all of the time and a few others that would play sometimes. All were residents.

Often he did not plan well enough so he was not sure who the fourth would be. When that happened he would put his wife's ID in the request as she never played, then substitute one of the other people after talking to them the next day.

If you understand the tee time system, what he was doing was not causing any harm, so he really did not consider it 'illegal'.

His innocent wife was read the riot act for his bending of the rules and she does not let him forget it.:laugh:

They would have a guest pass, you would sign them up as your guest.

The issue is that getting tee times on executive courses with a guest in the group is sometimes difficult in high season. You cheat the system by making a request with your ID, then after you get a tee time substitute your guest.

If you are not playing with the person, they are not a guest, but someone that you want to help cheat the purpose of the guest pass and free golf system.

Sorry, but that is the rest of the story.

Not sure I am following, granted it is early and I am just making coffee.

Even if I am not playing with someone visiting me, I sign them up as my guest.

You are correct, AJ. A resident does not need to be present for a guest to play. Where the problem comes from, is the guest is on the bottom of the totem pole with regard to the assignment of t-times, and people think it's OK to cheat that part of the system.

No matter what the system or where the place people just can't resist cheating People cheat the welfare system, social security insurance companies, on school or job required training programs as they are all victimless events/crimes.

It is sad to think that residents are willing to cheat their neighbors by gaming the system. to believe that your are entitled to do so is telling. I believe continuous abuse should result in deactivation of an ID card for longer periods than are applied at present.

There are more request for tee times than tee times and residents following the rules are being unnecessarily punished. if you only can get three people to play then reserve three times to block a fourth in case is plainly unfair. to argue a counterpoint/defend this practice is also telling Its cheating and it is unfair no matter how you slice it. I know someone is going to say "hey don't hold bäck

It's an education thing. Once residents understand the effect of bending the rules for their friends has on their neighbors, the vast majority will stop the practice. At least I think it is more misunderstanding than being insensitive to other residents.

Here is what you are missing. First, if a guest is included in your request, your request is processed AFTER all requests without a guest, regardless of points. So, if you use a resident id who doesnt care to golf, has no points, you get a tee time, then you cancel out that resident and put in your guest.....you have obtained a tee time you would not have gotten. Same issue with using a wifes number to fill a slot instead of a regular golfer who has points. Teetimes are issued based on whos request has the least points. Using a ghost golfer id who has zero points, moves your request up in the que, and you get a tee time you are not entitled too.

Well put n8xeb, it is kind of like the people who pass their "Reasonable Accommodations" identification off to friends and neighbors. Both practices are cheating those who abide by the rules, and others (the good guys & gals) suffer. Those who engage in these practices should be banned from the tee time system.

Just to be clear .....
 

In case my posts were not clear, I agree with everything you have said in your post.

In one of my previous post I described what a friend was doing as "causing no harm". I should not have said that.

Although it is not as harmful as ghosting (not showing so you play as a threesome with just your buddies) or subbing in a guest after you get a tee time, it is certainly wrong for the reason you stated about 'points'.

Knowing him and chatting with him after, I know his motive was not to cheat the system. He was making sure he had four slots and felt as long as four residents played, what was the big deal. I am just describing the situation, not defending him.

He was caught, he now understands why it was wrong, his poor wife was punished and he has never done that again (to my knowledge). I only see him occasionally on 18 hole courses.

From "Golfing in The Villages" brochure.


System “Abuse”
The Villages Tee Time System, as is the game of golf, is built
around the integrity of the individual; it is the only game where players call penalties on themselves. Our tee time system is a fair
and equitable system for assigning tee times to residents of The
Villages. It does, to some extent, rely on each resident using the
system in a fair and equitable manner. However, from time to
time, we encounter activity that appears to be to the contrary.
Some individuals attempt to circumvent the integrity of the
system. Whether or not these actions are intentional, it is
our responsibility to protect the privileges of all residents by
appropriately dealing with the matter. If we encounter such
activity associated with a resident’s Villages ID#, the resident will
be notified of our concern, and appropriate action taken (see the
District’s golf penalty policy at www.DistrictGov.com), up to and
including the suspension of system use and golfing privileges. We,
as well as our fellow residents, appreciate everyone’s fair play.


Multiple tee time cancellations using “ghost golfers”
“Ghost Golfer” refers to a Villages ID# which is used to obtain tee
times, but is subsequently cancelled, either always or a majority
of the time. This type of “system abuse” will cause the Villages ID#
to be de-activated in the system for a period of time. Additionally,
the individual making the request, and the golfer who replaces the
ghost golfer, may also be subject to de-activation.

The talk here has been primarily about "guests". If one has a guest they go to the back of the line. I question that statement. The guest is assigned the same points as the resident host. So we are back to the issue of weighing points among tee time reservations If you are a player with 7 points that means you played perhaps the entire week. some players have more than 7 points because they gobble up open tee times. Neither of these types should complain its just plain greedy.

As to the other scenario of reserving for 4 and needing to find one well in my view a golfer's got to commit or not commit. If you habe only three then reserve three. I am certain a single will fill in for the fourth and you just might meet a nice person for the first time and he/she may be your fourth in the future

This is not quite true. There are two type of points. Placement points and reservation points. You are speaking of reservation points.

Placement points take precedence. If we restrict the scope to executive courses. A resident is assigned 6 placement points, a guest is assigned 7 placement points.

A group with 4 residents has 24 placements points. A group with 3 residents and a guest has 25 placement points.

The group with least placement points goes first into the queue. Reservation points (how much you played) will only be considered when groups have the SAME placement points.

To restate, a group of four residents will get a tee time ahead of a group with 3 residents and a guest EVEN IF that group with four residents has played every day and the group with 3 residents and a guest has never played.

AJ - That does not agree with the discussions I have had at the golf administration office regarding the executive courses. The explanation I received was that groups containing residents only have priority over groups with a guest. Priority for tee time or course is based on the average points for the whole group. So a request for a group with an average of 2.5 points per player will be assigned tee times before a group with an average of 3 points per player. The other consideration is the number of tee times required by the request. If the request is for 16 players, the system must find 4 consecutive times within the time frame the group requests. And the system will go down the course list until it can find 4 slots within that time frame. If you request course priority instead of time priority, the system will keep looking at the preferred course until it finds the right number of consecutive slots.

There are only two types of points. The reservation/play point one receives for making the reservation and playing. The reservation point is awarded even if the course is closed for frost or other problems. The others are the points received for canceling, either before the day of play (1), or on the day of play (2).

I would be interested in where the information on placement points came from.

Starts on page 3 of the " Golfing in The Villages" brochure.

AJ is correct.

It is all described here: http://www.golfthevillages.com/golf-...heVillages.pdf

I remember reading it when I first started making tee times. It is the placement points that make it difficult to bring a guest to an executive course.

The other item that may surprise people is the fact that a guest of a priority member has less placement points than a resident member and will go in the queue before the resident member. This is only for a request to obtain championship course tee times.

To state another way, on a day I cannot play, 3 residents and my guest (priority) would go in front of a group of 4 residents for a tee time request for a championship course.

I was aware of the placement situation with priority and that priority guest went ahead of resident and one of the reasons I dropped priority after being here 7 years.

However I was not aware that placement points counted with executive courses probably because I seldom use it and because all I see are the points made against a player for the previous week.

I need to re-read everything again...Guess the Law of Disuse is coming into play here. thanks AJ

Thanks for the link. I checked to see if that pamphlet was published recently and after my discussions at golf admin. It was not, which is disappointing because my visit to them was specifically to understand how the system works in assigning times between groups with guests and those without. There was no mention of placement points at all. AJ's post was the first time I had heard about it.