The Los Angeles City Attorney is officially investigating the illegal resale of golf course tee times by Korean brokers.
LA City Golf, which operates and manages 12 golf courses in the Los Angeles area, will also investigate whether there was cooperation between insiders and brokers.
The LA City Attorney’s Office and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, in cooperation with GolfNow, the official website for booking tee times in the LA area, are investigating whether brokers are reselling tee times after booking them.
“We know that many people are frustrated by this situation,” said Rose Watson, Director of Public Information at the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. “Once the investigation is complete, we will report our findings to the Parks Commissioners, who were appointed by Mayor Karen Bass to oversee golf programs in Los Angeles.”
“While we have no evidence that city employees were involved in the resale of tee times, we will investigate any allegations related to corruption,” Watson added.
The Department of Recreation and Parks and the LA City Attorney’s Office are already scrutinizing tee time reservation data. They’re looking into allegations that brokers are using computer programs, or “bots,” to snatch up tee times.
According to The L.A. City Golf Advisory Board, which is chaired by Kevin Fitzgerald, 23 accounts have already been suspended in the past three weeks for unusual booking activity on the tee time website.
More than 30 people, including Korean golfers, attended an advisory board meeting on March 18. They strongly urged the golf course to conduct an internal investigation and come up with a response, and the controversy is also threatening to spill over into legal matters.
“Booking using ‘bots’ is a problem, but it wouldn’t have happened if brokers and golf course insiders weren’t working together,” said Joseph Lee, president of the SoCal Dream Golf Club (SDGC). “We’re considering legal action against the golf courses and brokers because many golfers are being harmed by this,” he said.
The controversy is also spreading online, with a hashtag (#FreetheTee) aimed at ending brokers’ illegal activities. This shows that there is a growing sentiment among golf lovers to condemn the Korean brokers who have been secretly snatching up tee times and reselling them.
The problem is that the brokers’ activities are not limited to golf courses in Los Angeles. A recent list of tee times obtained by Korean brokers includes many of the most popular Southern California golf courses frequented by Koreans, including Black Gold (Yorba Linda), Los Serranos (Chino Hills), Coyote Hills (Fullerton), Goose Creek (Mira Loma), Eagle Glen (Corona), Westridge (La Habra), Whittier Narrows (Rosemead), Knollwood Country Club (Granada Hills), and Marshall Canyon (La Verne).
“This problem is not only limited to LA city-managed golf courses, but it is still prevalent at each golf course in Southern California,” said Jason Shin, a golfer in his 30s. “Especially on weekends, more than 100 tee times are resold on KakaoTalk. Golf course officials should be aware of this problem and take this opportunity to root out the brokers’ activities.”
Meanwhile, the controversy spread after famous golf coach and social media influencer Dave Fink (channel name – Dave Fink Golfs) released a video showing the reality of Korean brokers, which was first reported by The Korea Daily.
BY YEOL JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
