San Clemente officials are moving to crack down on tee time scalping at the municipal golf course after growing concerns about third-party resellers and automated booking tools limiting public access.
At a meeting last month, council members introduced a proposed ordinance aimed at preventing commercial resale and automated booking of tee times at the San Clemente
Municipal Golf Course.
The council unanimously voted to raise the fines for violations. The item is expected to return at the April 21 meeting for further discussion, according to City Clerk Laura Campagnolo.
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Fines for resellers could start at $100. Council members haven’t determined final fine amounts at this time, but they’re considering raising that initial amount by several hundred dollars.
The changes prohibits selling, transferring, advertising or getting paid for a tee time and using bots or automated tools to book reservations without permission from the city.
During the public comment portion of the March 3 city council meeting, one resident told city council members he hasn’t been able to book a tee time.
“I’ve been a member for five years, and in the last two, I can’t play, so you can’t get a time if you try to book,” said Siomar, who only identified himself by first name. “I’m just as fast as anyone else. Within three seconds, it’s gone.”
Fines were originally proposed to follow the regular city administrative fine structure, starting at $100 for the first offense and rising to a maximum of $500, according to the staff report.
However, Councilmember Steve Knoblock said that he thinks the fine is too low.
“It’s not much of a disincentive,” Knoblock said during the meeting. “I’d like to see that number increase to $250, or $500, and then boost it… until maybe the third event, and then go into the misdemeanor situation.”
Councilmember Zhen Wu supported the idea and said raised fines were necessary, even if obtaining the payments is difficult.
“I support raising the amount, I just don’t know how effective that can be,” Wu said.
Councilmember Victor Cabral and Mayor Rick Loeffler also agreed that the starting fine should be raised.
“I’m in favor of raising the fines, if nothing else, just to send a message,” Loeffler said.
Councilmember Mark Enmeier disagreed, saying he wants to get the policy going now.
“At this point, I’d just go along with the staff recommendation,” Enmeier said. “If it’s still a problem, then I say come back and then let’s address it.”
After discussion, the council voted to amend the ordinance and re-notice a public hearing for the amended version.
“We can’t collect on a bot, whether it’s a million dollars or $1, but it might be an incentive for some participants in golf to play by the rules more,” said Loeffler.
Other municipal golf courses in the county have faced various challenges in recent years.
Irvine city officials have been considering a residential village to replace the Oak Creek Golf Course, a decision that some residents and officials argue contradicts a voter-approved measure from 37 years ago.
[Read: Irvine’s Oak Creek Golf Club Could Become Housing, Does it Go Against a Voter Initiative?]
Newport Beach has also grappled with replacing the Newport Beach Golf Course. The city council voted in October to gut part of the golf course and replace it with a surf park but has since reversed its decision after enough verified resident signatures challenged it.
[Read: Newport Beach Reverses Course on Contentious Surf Park Proposal]
