A pre-authorisation is like a "hold" placed on your credit card for a set amount. No money is taken from your card before you play - we only reserve the money ("pre-authorise") and will transfer the money out at a later stage, after you've completed your round (this operation is called a "capture").

Doing a two-stage transaction like this allows us to charge a lesser amount of money after the transaction is finalised. As an example, if you are a junior, you will be pre-authorised at the rate for an adult, however, we will only capture the junior amount, unless you get to the club and they have reason to believe that you are not really a junior.

In addition – if you cancel your tee time, we simply do not charge the credit card for the green fee. Note that a 50c fee will be charged for any cancelled bookings - this is simply to cover our expenses while placing the pre-authorisation onto your card.

We believe in fairness to both members and the golf clubs. Tee times expire, and when they do, the golf club has essentially lost the money for those tee times. When people book tee times at golf clubs and don't show to play their round, the golf club has no opportunity to let another player play in that slot - hence the money is lost.

Depending on club policy, the club may either allow or enforce payment for visitors at the time of booking. This gives the players some incentive to not let the booking go without showing up. Players have several options available in the case that they have a valid reason not to play:

1. They can cancel online up to the previous day
2. They may ring the club and cancel over the phone on the day or prior

It is important to understand that the clubs realise this is a new way of booking Tee Times, and are reasonable about valid cancellations.

Note that a 50c fee will be charged for any cancelled bookings - this is simply to cover expenses while placing the pre-authorisation onto your card.

If you've paid for your tee time online and the course is closed due to rain or extreme weather, the golf club will refund your booking to your credit card in full, less the DotGolf fee of $0.50 (to cover our costs while placing the pre-authorisation onto your card).

If the course is still open for play, but you don't want to play due to weather, you may ring the golf club and discuss cancellation or a raincheck with them - in this case the refund is in the club's discretion. If you have any doubts, you should see the golf club for their cancellation policy before making the booking.