It's 06:40, the greens are white and the first group is booked for 08:00. By 07:30 the pro shop phone is ringing with golfers asking whether they're playing, and by the afternoon the office is working out who paid by card and who is owed cash.
When the golf course is closed for frost, golfers want two things: to know early, and to get their money back without chasing it. This guide sets out a frost-day plan any club can run, the refund rule to publish, and how it works in Tuvabook.
Who decides to close the course for frost?
Your head greenkeeper or course manager makes the call, and the office acts on it. BIGGA, the greenkeepers' association, explains that when grass freezes the water in its cells expands, and golfers treading across a frozen green can bruise it.
How strict to be depends on your greens. One greenkeeper quoted by BIGGA said "It depends on what type of greens you have got". A course manager in the same piece keeps play on temporary greens until the frost has fully cleared and, if the ground isn't clear by 13:00 in winter, leaves the temporaries in for the rest of the day.
Agree three things with your greenkeeper before the first hard frost:
- The decision time. The latest time the greenkeeper tells the office, such as 07:00, so golfers hear before they leave home.
- The fallback. Whether a frosty morning means temporary greens, a delayed start or a full closure.
- The cut-off for the day. The time after which the course stays shut, like the 13:00 rule above.
With those agreed, the desk knows the next step without a phone call to the sheds.
Should you close or post a delayed start?
Post a delayed start when the course will open later the same morning, and close the course when it won't open at all. Temporary greens are the third option: golfers still play, so nothing on the tee sheet changes and the normal cancellation rules apply.
On temporaries or a delayed start, bookings stand. On a closure, the club cancels the tee times, so the club refunds them. Say which is which in your policy and you'll have far fewer arguments at the desk.
If early tee times must stop while later ones go ahead, close the course only until the first tee time you can play. Golfers booked after that keep their booking.
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How do you tell every booked golfer?
Tell them all at once, by email and in your club's app, as soon as the greenkeeper decides. A notice on the website helps golfers who check, but the golfer booked at 08:00 needs a message with their own tee time in it.
Say three things in the first message: the course is closed, which hours it covers, and what happens to their booking next. "The club is reviewing your booking and will confirm the next step" is enough on the first pass, because you may want to offer some golfers another day before you refund them.
How it works in Tuvabook
Course closures are a setting your club switches on. Once they're on, choose Close the course, pick the courses and the start and end times, and add the reason golfers will see, such as "Frost on the greens". Review affected bookings lists everyone booked in the window with their payment notes, extras and an estimate of the refunds. Publish closure blocks new bookings for those hours and sends each affected golfer "Your tee time is affected". Publishing doesn't cancel anything yet.
For a frosty morning that should clear, Delayed start (notice only) on the same page tells golfers the first tee time, and Close until first tee time opens a closure from now until that time for you to review and publish. Playing conditions such as temporary greens show on the home screen of your club's app without changing any booking.
Closing the course needs permission to manage tee times, so decide who on your team holds it for early mornings. Staff who manage members also see Tell members on an active closure's worklist, which opens an editable announcement for the whole membership.
How do you refund golfers when the course is closed?
Refund every cancelled booking in full, with no cancellation charge, back to the way the golfer paid. Card payments go back to the card. Anything paid at the club is handed back at the desk, so keep a list of who is owed what.
The hard part is the mix. Some golfers paid online, some at the desk, a society paid by bank transfer, and a member used an included round. Sort the list by how each booking was paid before anyone starts refunding, and nobody gets paid twice or missed.
Tell golfers when the refund has gone and how long it takes to show. A card refund can take a few days to appear on a statement, and saying so up front saves the office a round of calls.
How it works in Tuvabook
Open the closure's worklist, select the bookings still to do and choose Cancel bookings and notify golfers. Each golfer is told their tee time has been cancelled, card payments are refunded to the card they used, and any eligible membership benefit the booking used is available again.
The worklist shows each payment and notice as it goes through. A booking paid at the club shows how much to hand back. Anything marked Needs attention can be retried with Try the refund again, and bookings paid outside Tuvabook or split between golfers stay on the list for someone to check. When a refund is done, the golfer gets a last update saying it has gone back to their original payment method and their bank may take a few days to show it.
If your club switches on course closures, any staff member who can manage tee times can do this from a phone in the staff app under Club › Course status. The Course closed screen groups bookings by Paid by card and Paid at the club, and Cancel and refund all cancels every booking still to do. The confirmation spells out the money first. Closures longer than a day stay on the dashboard.
Can you move golfers to another day instead?
Yes. Ask first, especially a society that booked its day well ahead, and offer the move before you refund, because once a booking is cancelled and refunded the golfer has to book again from scratch.
In Tuvabook, Move to… on a booking picks another course, date and tee time, and the booking keeps its reference. For golfers you'd rather talk to, Tell golfers asks them to contact the club and leaves their booking in place with nothing refunded until you agree the next step.
A closure covers tee times only. Check any on-course lessons with the pro and cancel those from the lesson. How payment at booking and a clear cut-off work on an ordinary day is in our guide to taking payment for tee times online.
What should your frost policy say?
Three things: when you'll decide, that a cancelled tee time is refunded in full, and how to move a booking. Put it on your booking page and in your confirmation email, so golfers know the rule before the frost arrives. Any club can use this, whatever system it books on:
If the course closes for frost, snow or waterlogging, we'll tell everyone booked by [07:00].
If we cancel your tee time, we refund what you paid in full, with no cancellation charge, back to the way you paid. Card refunds can take a few days to show.
If you'd rather play another day, ring [the pro shop on 01234 567890] and we'll move your booking.
Add if your club offers it:
- If the course is open on temporary greens, your booking stands and our normal cancellation rules apply.
- Members' included rounds are returned when we cancel.
- Societies can move their day to a date we agree together.
Your normal cancellation cut-off still applies on days the course is open. In Tuvabook it lives under Settings › Booking rules.
What happens when the frost lifts?
Reopen the tee sheet as soon as the greenkeeper is happy, and tell the membership the course is open with a normal announcement. In Tuvabook, Reopen tee times on the closure puts the hours back on sale. Bookings you already cancelled stay cancelled and refunds aren't reversed, so golfers who want to play rebook in the app or on your website.
Keep a record of the days you lost. In Tuvabook, Analytics › Tee sheet shades the days a closure took out, rather than counting them as empty, and Tee times lost to closures estimates the bookings you would normally have taken. Bring that figure to the committee.
See how a closure looks on the tee sheet page, and more guides on running the sheet are in booking and the tee sheet. If you're comparing systems, our guide to golf club booking software sets out what to look for.
Common questions
Do golfers get a full refund if the course is closed for frost?
They should when the club cancels the tee time, because the golfer didn't choose to miss the round. In Tuvabook, cancelling from a closure carries no cancellation charge, card payments go back to the card used, and amounts paid at the club show as what the desk hands back.
Does closing the course cancel bookings automatically?
No. Publishing a closure in Tuvabook blocks new bookings and tells affected golfers, and you then choose to cancel and refund, move, or contact each booking. That way a golfer who agreed to play another day isn't cancelled by mistake.
Should golfers be refunded if the course is open on temporary greens?
That's your club's call, but if the course is open the booking normally stands. Put the rule in your frost policy so golfers know before they book, and let your normal cancellation cut-off apply.
How long does a card refund take to reach the golfer?
It can take a few days to show on the golfer's statement, depending on their bank. In Tuvabook the golfer gets an update once the refund has gone back to their original payment method.