Background:Online bookings, both desktop and mobile, are the standard today in the hotel, airline, rental car and cruise line industries. More than 70% of all leisure hotel reservations today are made online through either the hotel’s own website or through online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia, Priceline or Orbitz. In excess of 50% of the online reservations in the hotel industry are made through these OTAs.It is clear that the ancillary services associated with travel, spa reservations, golf reservations, dining and other such services will be one of the next categories to make the move to online booking. While only a small portion of golf tee times are currently booked online, if history repeats itself, over the next few years the percentage of golf tee times booked online will mirror the hotel industry. In addition to the travel component of tee time reservations, a growing number of local customers check availability and costs of local courses online. Combining these two elements makes a strong case that the golf course community is poised to enter online booking in a substantial way in the years to come.The National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) has identified the need to educate its members, and the industry as a whole, not only about the trends and opportunities of online booking, but to also assist members in avoiding the pitfalls encountered by the hotel and airline industries as they entered the online booking arena in the late 1990s. In June 2015, the NGCOA issued guidelines, which have the full endorsement of the PGA of America, for online agent (aka, third-party tee time reseller) distribution of tee time reservations. The guidelines set forth best practices that online agents should adhere to when negotiating contracts with golf course owners and operators. Click here for Guidelines for Online Agent Distribution of Tee Time Reservations Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Basics of Tee Time Distribution and Third Parties.Golf USA Tee Time CoalitionIn late 2015, the PGA of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) announced a partnership to form Golf USA Tee Time Coalition, which provides education for golf course owners, operators and PGA members and serve as an industry monitor for compliance of third-party online tee time providers. The Golf USA Tee Time Coalition will engage companies that publicly support Tee Time Guidelines which provide a framework for owners and operators that deal with online agents providing tee times. Click here to learn more about the Golf USA Tee Time Coalition.