You book for twenty-four. Twenty-one turn up. The course charges you for twenty-four, because you told them twenty-four on Thursday and they turned a pair away on Saturday morning. That is a real number out of the club float, and it happens to every social club more than once.
What makes it hard is that it is nobody's fault in particular. Somebody's kid got sick. Somebody forgot. Somebody thought a thumbs up in the chat was not a commitment, and honestly, he had a point.
Do not start with a fine
The instinct is a no-show fee. It works, sort of, and it also introduces the first genuinely unpleasant conversation your club has ever had. Try the structural fixes first, because they remove most of the problem without anyone having to be the bad guy.
A hard close, a real cap, and a waitlist
Three things, and they only work together.
- Close RSVPs at a stated time. The number at that moment is the number you book.
- Cap the field at what you can genuinely get tee times for. An uncapped field is a promise you cannot keep.
- Run everything after the cut-off as a waitlist, in order, so a drop-out is filled by the next name rather than lost.
The waitlist is the underrated one. It turns a withdrawal into a swap, and it means a full field is not a closed door. It also creates the only social pressure that actually works: people know somebody wants their spot.
Then, if you still need it
A club that has done all three and is still eating green fees has a specific problem rather than a general one, and it is usually one or two people. Handle that directly instead of writing a policy for twenty-two members to correct the behaviour of two.
If you do bring in a fee, make it small, make it automatic, and announce it a month before it starts. A $20 no-show fee everybody knew was coming is administration. The same fee sprung on someone afterwards is a fight.
The exception worth building in
Late withdrawals for good reasons will happen forever. Say up front that if you find your own replacement off the waitlist, you are square. Most people will. It converts an awkward message to the organiser into a two-minute problem the member solves himself, which is where you want as many club problems as possible to end up.