Paying more for a tee time? New California law takes aim at golf reservation brokers
By Denzen Cortez
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CALIFORNIA (KCRA) — A new California law will crack down on third-party brokers that reserve tee times at publicly owned golf courses and then resell them to golfers at higher prices.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1954, known as the Protecting Access to Reservations Act, on Sunday. The legislation was authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, and sponsored by the California Alliance for Golf.
Under the new law, a person or third-party golf reservation platform will need a written agreement with a course operator before listing, advertising, promoting, selling or transferring reservations at publicly owned golf courses.
The law takes effect Jan. 1.
The California Alliance for Golf says there are more than 220 municipally owned golf courses across California. Those courses are owned by cities, counties, charter cities and the state and often provide access to golf for residents, seniors, juniors, school athletes and community organizations.
The group says unauthorized brokers can use technology to quickly reserve sought-after tee times and then offer those reservations to golfers at higher prices.
“Municipal golf courses are integral to ensuring access to golf across the state for seniors, youth, and residents who might otherwise not have access to the game,” Craig Kessler, executive director of the California Alliance for Golf, said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing. “AB 1954 enables cities and counties to combat booking practices that make access to public golf courses extremely difficult and costly for residents.”
A federal case filed last year provides one example of how tee-time brokering has operated.
Federal prosecutors charged identical twin brothers Se Youn “Steve” Kim and Hee Youn “Ted” Kim in September 2025 with tax-related offenses after authorities said they failed to report more than $1.1 million in income.
According to the federal indictment, the brothers operated a tee-time brokering business between 2021 and 2023, reserving thousands of tee times for resale at golf courses nationwide, including at least 17 public courses in Southern California.
Federal authorities said the brothers targeted sought-after early morning tee times, sometimes securing them within seconds of their release to the public. They then resold reservations for an additional fee, according to the indictment.
Authorities said the brothers marketed and communicated with customers through social media platforms, including KakaoTalk, an instant messaging app. Customers were often directed to pay reservation fees through personal Venmo and Zelle accounts, according to federal prosecutors.
The brothers earned nearly $700,000 from the tee-time brokering business between 2021 and 2023, prosecutors allege.
The charges against the brothers involve alleged tax violations and are separate from AB 1954. An indictment contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Ward’s office said the new California law is intended to give publicly owned courses a way to address unauthorized brokering directly.
“Public golf courses belong to the public, and residents shouldn’t have to compete with brokers buying up tee times just to turn around and sell them at inflated prices,” Ward said in a statement.
The law does not prohibit all third-party booking services. Platforms that have written agreements with course operators can continue offering reservations. Kessler told KCRA 3 that established services such as GolfNow operate through agreements with participating courses and are not the type of unauthorized brokering targeted by the legislation.
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