Fore!!!!

At Bethpage Golf Course in NYC, a public golf course, there is a shortage of tee times. As the demand of tee-times increase for avid golfers in a highly populated area, supply stays constant. The Golf Course has tried to ration off the scarce tee-times but the allocation has only resulted in the emergence of a black market. There are about 70,000 golfers trying to play the limited 35,000 rounds a year. The nygolfshuttle.com has been able to play the system and created a business of supplying tee-times to golfers for a very expensive price. This rationing system gives the tee-times to people who can afford it and not always to the persons who most value golfing. Bethpage has tried to deal with the scalping of the tee-times but the shuttle company operates under totally legal procedures. Bethpage has tried to institute rules to prevent scalping and people who go around the rules but has failed. Look I admire the shuttle company. Sure they are a horrible scalping company who is making money where they shouldn’t in a system much like rent control, but they are a good middleman and deserve to profit for being smart enough for instituting the shuttles and scalping system.

1.  Is there a better rationing mechanism for the tee-times? Can we give the tee-times to people who really value them and can’t purely just afford them?

2. Can we fix the system? Is there a way to eliminate the shuttle company and scalping system? Should we even fix it?

3. Is the shuttle system a good or bad thing? Is it ethical?

Supply cannot meet the increase in demand so a shortage emerges. Because of this a black (secondary) market develops as well.