How long before my starting time do I need to show up on the first tee?

Paul from Skokie, Ill., writes: A few days ago, my group showed up to the first tee at 9:47 for a 9:49 tee time. As we pulled up, the starter was shaking his head and then scolded us for being “late.” By then, he’d already let the group behind us go ahead since they were already there waiting. I was furious. We’d already paid in the pro shop and we’d been warming up on the range before our tee time. Was I right to be mad?

Dear Paul:

Lack of punctuality is not a winning trait, but by all appearances, this seemed like an encounter with an excessively uptight starter who overstepped his bounds.

That’s a quick summation. But it deserves some context.

In golf, as in life, we owe it to ourselves and others to show up on time. Failure to do so is disrespectful all around. It can strain relationships. It can also throw a wrench in business operations. 

For that reason, most golf courses would prefer that you not cut it close. Some have policies requiring that you check in at the pro shop a certain amount of minutes before your start time (20 to 30 minutes prior is usually the range), though most clubs handle matters on a case-by-case basis. If it’s a quiet day with an empty tee sheet, it is, naturally, easier to grant wiggle room. At a crowded course, though, where management needs to run a tight ship, you should plan on checking in as early as possible. If you leave it to just minutes prior to your time, you shouldn’t be surprised if the pro shop swaps you out for the group behind you. Courses owe it to their clientele to keep things moving. They can’t afford to let one bunch of laggards cause a backlog.

It’s on you to be punctual in the pro shop.

Slightly different rules apply on the first tee. Once you’ve checked in and paid, that tee time is yours. No one has the right to give it away before it expires. Whether you show up 10 minutes or one minute early, it shouldn’t matter. The Etiquetteist would argue that even if you arrive on the opening tee box a minute or two late, no one should be placed in front of you. You should be allowed to keep your position, with the expectation that you’d get going fast and maintain a reasonable pace for the rest of the round. 

Why the starter chose to bump you back is hard to say. Maybe he was having a bad day. Or reliving his past life as a Marine drill sergeant. Or annoyed that you deprived him of his chance to give you to a lengthy spiel about the course. It’s also possible he figured that any group that turns up last-minute on the first tee is also the type of group that tends to dilly-dally in everything they do, fishing around for golf balls in their bags, fumbling for rangefinders or taking forever to read their putts, and he was trying to get ahead of things.

Are you and your group slow pokes? Even if you are, you did not deserve the treatment you received. But The Etiquetteist still hopes he’s never right behind you on the tee.