Golf - Reservation Ballots (lottery)

Season first ballot date (first date that appears): Indicates the first date in the spring when reservation ballots are allowed (not the first date when members can start entering cards, but the day of the reservation itself). The "Reservation" links will start to be displayed in the calendar starting with that date. It's important to modify this date as well as the season end date before the start of the season. Before this first ballot date, tee time reservations will go directly through the tee sheet depending on the day of the week and the days in advance value in the Days and Courses tabs.

Season end date for reservation ballots: Indicates the last date when reservation ballots are allowed in the fall (not the last date when members can enter cards, but the day of the reservation itself). The "Reservation" links will be displayed up to that date in the calendar and then tee time reservations will go directly through the tee sheet depending on the day of the week and the days in advance value in the Days and Courses tabs.

Options for online reservation ballots:

Modify reservation ballots via Internet Services: Indicates whether members can modify their reservation ballots online before the cut-off time. The default value is yes.

Allow comments on reservation ballots: Check this box so members can enter a comment for the starter. For example, a member can indicate they would like a tee time closer to 8 than 9 as they have a 1 o'clock lunch with a client.

Maximum number of foursomes for groups: To indicate the maximum number of foursomes allowed when creating a reservation ballot, which will apply every day of the week by default. Exceptions can be set up by day of the week in the Days tab. The maximum number possible is 10 foursomes.

Minimum number of players required in a ballot: Indicates the minimum number of players required in an online ballot. This validation isn't applied in GGGolf to allow for exceptions to be handled. The default value is 1. GGGolf recommends allowing single players to enter a ballot as it's easy to click and drag them into available spaces in the tee sheet.

Maximum days in advance for entering ballots: Indicates the maximum number of days in advance to enter a ballot online. A reservation ballot can be created further in advance in GGGolf. The default value is 14, but it's automatically adjusted downward when ballots are drawn less than 7 days in advance. For example, if draws are performed 3 days in advance, the maximum number of days in advance will be adjusted to 10 days. The system doesn't allow for 2 reservations to be offered for the same week day (for example Monday the 2nd and Monday the 9th).

Allow cart reservations: Check this box to allow cart reservations in reservation ballots.

Allow reservations for 9 holes: Check this box to allow 9-hole reservations in reservation ballots.

9 Hole Mode (if 'allow 9 hole reservations' is checked): Indicates the default reservation mode (9 or 18 holes) when an online reservation ballot is created. The possible values are:

Optional (default 18 holes): The reservation is for 18 holes by default but can be changed to 9 holes.
Forced (9 holes only): Reservations are only allowed for 9 holes. Usually for 9-hole courses.
Checked (default 9 holes): The reservation is for 9 holes by default but can be changed to 18 holes.
Special (9/18 hole choice no default): No default. The member must indicate their choice of 9 or 18 holes.

Allow 2 reservations same day Internet/Touchscreen: Indicates whether a member can be entered twice for the same day. When allowed, the system validates a number of minutes between the two reservations according to the tee time option "Minimum time between 2 tee times on same day".

Allow display of all reservation ballots for one day: Indicates whether members can view all the reservation ballots for a day for which reservation ballots are still accepted.

Allow members to add themselves in a reservation ballot: Indicates whether members can add themselves in existing reservation ballots from the list of reservation ballots with less than four players.

Display list of reservations from link in calendar: Indicates whether the calendar link displays the list of reservations for the selected date instead of linking directly to a new reservation ballot.


Multi-Course Options: 
Options for clubs with more than one course, where it's possible to create a reservation ballot.

Allow choice of course: Indicates whether members can choose a course when creating a reservation ballot. In some clubs (usually the 27 hole clubs), the choice of course is not allowed as each course's schedule isn't always known in advance.

Offer "Any course" choice (for 27, 36 holes): Indicates whether members can select "Any course" instead of a specific course when course selection is offered.

Allow choice of only 1 course or 2 courses: For 36 hole clubs, indicates whether the club lets members select a 1rst choice/2nd choice course.


Options for cards created in GGGolf:

Min. authority required to create ballots past limit: Indicates what authority level (starter, admin, etc.) is required to create a reservation ballot in GGGolf past the set limit of days.


Ballot draw:

Calculate number of times penalized as a %: Indicates whether the number of times members were penalized in the draws is calculated. By default, the system uses the percentage of times instead of the number of times, as the latter disadvantages members who don't play frequently.

Automatically merge singles, twosomes: In the automatic draw, indicates whether twosomes and singles are automatically merged by the system. Please note that it's possible to merge them manually before you perform the draw.


Options for available tee times search algorithm for lottery:

When creating reservation ballots, members can indicate whether they would like to play earlier or later in the event of their requested time range being unavailable. In that case, the draw's algorithm will attempt to find a tee time by searching progressively by block of minutes before and after the requested time range. During the search, time ranges are given more importance according to the indicated "earlier" or "later" preference.

Number of iterations: Indicates the number of iterations performed by the system to find a foursome a tee time when there are no more available tee times available in their requested time period. By default, the draw performs 28 60-minute iterations (positive side of soon/later) and 15-minute iterations (negative side of sooner/later) to find a tee time. The number of iterations may need to be adjusted should the minutes positive/negative search options be changed. 

Minutes positive/negative search (according to sooner/later): Indicates how many minutes are in the blocks of minutes within which the system will look for available tee times. Default is 60 minutes on the positive side and 15 on the negative side.

Multi-course options:

Minutes difference before course change: Indicates, in minutes, the minimal difference required between the requested tee time and the tee time reached in the search before a change of course which would result in a smaller difference is accepted.

Minutes difference before course change if only 1 choice: Indicates, in minutes, the minimal difference required between the requested tee time and the tee time reached in the search before a change of course which would result in a smaller difference is accepted if a reservation ballot with only one choice of course had been created. The default is 240 minutes (4 hours). If you would rather the draw never change courses, enter 9999 minutes.

Use Finalize Lottery button to save the lottery results: When checked, the "Finalize lottery?" button will appear after the draw so you can enter the real time assigned to foursomes in each reservation ballot as a reference.

Finalize draw with automatic unlocking of tee sheet: When checked, upon finalizing the draw the system prompts the user to unhide the tee sheet in the calendar. Tee times become available only after the "Tee Times Available" setting in the "Days" tab in the Options.

Finalize draw with email confirmations sent automatically: When checked, upon finalizing the draw, the system prompts the user to send tee time confirmation emails to the members in the draw. Please note that emails are only sent out after the "Tee Times Available" setting in the "Days" tab in the Options.