How do you prefer to tip?

[Anthony Gray]

  A current thread on suggestions for Pinehurst got me thinking.

  Some resorts now add a gratuity charge so you are not always reaching in your pocket to tip staff. I like this better because it frees you from the stress of always having paper money with you and other distractions.

  How do you feel?

[Sean_A]

Re: How do you prefer to tip?

Like the Brits do - miserly and not often!

Ciao

[Bart Bradley]

Re: How do you prefer to tip?

Like the Brits do - miserly and not often!

Ciao

Scrooge..bah humbug.

Anthony:  I prefer to tip with cash...the caddies I have had have generally earned an immediate reward for good work...it also alleviates any concern that the money gets to the right person.

Bart

[JC Jones]

I agree re cash.  I want to make sure that the person I am tipping is actually receiving the money.

[Anthony Gray]

 I prefer to pay the caddie straight out. I don't like it when the course charges a caddie fee.

 I stayed at a hotel in Memphis were you tip a guy to take your bags to the door, the you tip a guy to put the bags in your car, then you tip the valet guy.

  Anthony

[Bob_Huntley]

A one of our esteemed employes once remarked, "The Members break every rule in in the book, except the NO TIPPING RULE."

bOB

[Jim Tang]

Go with cash for a variety of reasons.  I've caddied at 4 different private courses around Chicago and each club is a bit different in how they pay their guys.  If you tip cash....

1.  You know the money is going to your caddie, not the caddie master, etc.

2.  You know your caddie is getting paid immediately after the loop, not several hours later, or even worse, several days later

3.  You know fees the club may charge your caddie such as a jumper fee, lunch fee etc. will not be taken out of your tip

[John Moore II]

A one of our esteemed employes once remarked, "The Members break every rule in in the book, except the NO TIPPING RULE."

bOB

Thats the damn truth. I would not work for a club that has a no tiping rule. I think it is a piss poor way to treat employees.

As for me, I tip in cash, and always. If someone handles my bag, I give them some cash, someone serves me a drink, I give them some cash. I give cash to caddies, casino employees, and anyone else who works for tips. And as for a no-tip policy, if I am ever a member at such club, I'll still 'tip' just not directly. I'll drop a few bucks on the side walk and if the guy wants to pick it up, thats his deal. I've worked bag rooms and made my money primarily on tips ad my ex-wife worked in the food industry for a while, I understand the tipping process.

[jeffwarne]

??

[Cabell Ackerly]

A one of our esteemed employes once remarked, "The Members break every rule in in the book, except the NO TIPPING RULE."

bOB

Thats the damn truth. I would not work for a club that has a no tiping rule. I think it is a piss poor way to treat employees.

As for me, I tip in cash, and always. If someone handles my bag, I give them some cash, someone serves me a drink, I give them some cash. I give cash to caddies, casino employees, and anyone else who works for tips. And as for a no-tip policy, if I am ever a member at such club, I'll still 'tip' just not directly. I'll drop a few bucks on the side walk and if the guy wants to pick it up, thats his deal. I've worked bag rooms and made my money primarily on tips ad my ex-wife worked in the food industry for a while, I understand the tipping process.

If a club pays its employees appropriately, what’s wrong with a no tipping rule?

Personally I find it pretty annoying to have to dig into my pocket every time someone touches my bag. I'll gladly pay or tip a caddie in cash (whatever the policy is), but the last thing I want to be thinking of is whether I have enough singles to tip the kid who rushes to get the clubs from my car, or cleans my 7 iron on the range with his dirty rag.

Or am I cheap for even thinking they should be tipped with singles? How much should you tip those guys?

[John Moore II]

A one of our esteemed employes once remarked, "The Members break every rule in in the book, except the NO TIPPING RULE."

bOB

Thats the damn truth. I would not work for a club that has a no tiping rule. I think it is a piss poor way to treat employees.

As for me, I tip in cash, and always. If someone handles my bag, I give them some cash, someone serves me a drink, I give them some cash. I give cash to caddies, casino employees, and anyone else who works for tips. And as for a no-tip policy, if I am ever a member at such club, I'll still 'tip' just not directly. I'll drop a few bucks on the side walk and if the guy wants to pick it up, thats his deal. I've worked bag rooms and made my money primarily on tips ad my ex-wife worked in the food industry for a while, I understand the tipping process.

If a club pays its employees appropriately, what’s wrong with a no tipping rule?

Personally I find it pretty annoying to have to dig into my pocket every time someone touches my bag. I'll gladly pay or tip a caddie in cash (whatever the policy is), but the last thing I want to be thinking of is whether I have enough singles to tip the kid who rushes to get the clubs from my car, or cleans my 7 iron on the range with his dirty rag.

Or am I cheap for even thinking they should be tipped with singles? How much should you tip those guys?

I generally tip $2. The thing is, clubs pay their bag room guys generally minimum wage. Whatever that is in the area. You would struggle to find a course that pays much more. When I worked on the cart staff, I was paid $5.75 an hour and would average another $3 per hour in tips. I can bet that none of the 'no tip' facilities pay their guys $9 per hour. Hell, I make barely that as an assistant pro.

[Brian Potash]

I agree with Cabell.

Caddies should be padi/tipped in cash, but I like when you dont have to worry about other private club employees.

you are already paying a good sum to be member so fthe club, and i assume the employees are seeing some of that $ (maybe this is a poor assuption).  you shouldnt feel like you have to tip everyone, or worry that you are the only one who isnt.

thats a bit stressful, and the whole point of going to the club is to relax.

[Kalen Braley]

The problem I have with tipping is its arbitrary nature.

Let me pose the following scenarious and you decide who is more deserving of a tip?

1)  The guy who takes my clubs and puts em on a cart for all of 1 minute of work.
2)  The guy at Best Buy who spends 10 minutes with me, doing a comparison of various network routers and discussing pros and cons of which one would better suit my needs.

In this case why should Person 1 be expected to be tipped yet Person 2 should not?

A few more examples

Grab my bag, rack it up...no tip
Serve my dinner at a resturant and making sure my beverage is topped off.... Tip.
Run a rag over my clubs when I'm done gawlfing...no tip
Carry my bag for 4 hours and have to watch me hit miserable shots all over the yard...Tip
Park my car for me at a downtown establishment...no tip.
Spend 10 minutes with me at a Retail store to help me make a good purchase...Tip.
Make my starbucks coffee for me...no tip.

And it goes on and on....

Bottom line is Mandatory tipping is for the birds...let people do so when they feel like someone hustled for them and provided a nice service to you that you actually need.

[JESII]

Kalen,

What if the valet actually runs to get your car?

[Anthony Gray]

  About every 4 to 5 months I give each of the bag guys 20 dollars.
It saves me from tiping every time and they remember the 20 more than 2 dollars here and there.

   Anthony

[John_Cullum]

We could really use Barney at a time like this

[JMEvensky]

Thats the damn truth. I would not work for a club that has a no tiping rule. I think it is a piss poor way to treat employees.


[/quote]

Assuming "club" to mean private/member-owned,tipping should be banned,IMO.One member should never get treated better/worse than any other.Tipping would just encourage the bigger tipper getting better service.

This is the way it should work in the real world but not at private clubs.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen,

What if the valet actually runs to get your car?

I guess I would think that he's in training for the local 10k?   

But you make a good point, if he runs because your in a hurry, and you make the request...then at that point, there's a nice little value there and perhaps he gets a couple of bucks or even a nice fiver.

So in the end, as I was trying to say in my last post, its all a judgement call....no Mandatory tipping.

P.S. Maybe he also gets a tip if its raining cats and dogs, and saves you the hassle of getting your pant cuffs soggy. 

[TX Golf]

Working for a club with a no tipping rule sucks when you are making 8.50 an hour and the other clubs in the area with no tip rules are paying 14.00

Getting to play any day of the week makes up for it though.

[Kyle Harris]

A one of our esteemed employes once remarked, "The Members break every rule in in the book, except the NO TIPPING RULE."

bOB

Thats the damn truth. I would not work for a club that has a no tiping rule. I think it is a piss poor way to treat employees.

As for me, I tip in cash, and always. If someone handles my bag, I give them some cash, someone serves me a drink, I give them some cash. I give cash to caddies, casino employees, and anyone else who works for tips. And as for a no-tip policy, if I am ever a member at such club, I'll still 'tip' just not directly. I'll drop a few bucks on the side walk and if the guy wants to pick it up, thats his deal. I've worked bag rooms and made my money primarily on tips ad my ex-wife worked in the food industry for a while, I understand the tipping process.

If a club pays its employees appropriately, what’s wrong with a no tipping rule?

Personally I find it pretty annoying to have to dig into my pocket every time someone touches my bag. I'll gladly pay or tip a caddie in cash (whatever the policy is), but the last thing I want to be thinking of is whether I have enough singles to tip the kid who rushes to get the clubs from my car, or cleans my 7 iron on the range with his dirty rag.

Or am I cheap for even thinking they should be tipped with singles? How much should you tip those guys?

I generally tip $2. The thing is, clubs pay their bag room guys generally minimum wage. Whatever that is in the area. You would struggle to find a course that pays much more. When I worked on the cart staff, I was paid $5.75 an hour and would average another $3 per hour in tips. I can bet that none of the 'no tip' facilities pay their guys $9 per hour. Hell, I make barely that as an assistant pro.

Clubs pay minimum wage to these employees because that's just above the value they add to my golf experience.

[Kalen Braley]

I do find it rather odd that "the poor kid is only making minimum wage" card is being played here.

Do any of you tip your local burger flipper?  Or your local taco maker?  How about the guy who rings you up at Wal-Mart?  Or the kid folding clothes at Target after you've tried them on and decided not to make a purchase?  I think a very good arguement can be made that they are more deserving of tips as they have to put up with more BS on a daily basis, not that a bag boy doesn't either.

Just saying....

[Matt OBrien]

When I go away to a club i genrally tip well. I hate when I hustle to get bags and guys rolls through 100,,50,20,10,5 and then gives me a dollar. I know the feeling and I wouldnt want someone else to feel that so i genrally tip well. 10$ if the come to the car 5 at the bag drop.

[Kyle Harris]

Matt,

You're just adding more fat to this already overweight game.

Do they seriously add $10 worth of added value to your golf experience?

[Kalen Braley]

Matt,

You're just adding more fat to this already overweight game.

Do they seriously add $10 worth of added value to your golf experience?

Amen, Brother Kyle, amen.....

P.S.  Matt can you please IM me your personal address.  I'll be reporting for duty on Monday so I can make some serious cash taking out your garbage, washing your car, mowing your lawn, hanging your xmas lights, and even putting your clubs in your trunk as you prepare to hit the links.  I figure if $10 is the going rate for a bag snatcher I can make a 6 figure income doing some of your more time and hustle intensive chores around your house.   

[John Moore II]

You people have no clue how much the cart/bag room staff actually does. How about you go in there (for those who ride) pull you own cart, unload your own bag, load it on the cart, clean the cart, etc.? And for those who walk at clubs with bag rooms, maybe you'd like to go in, pull you own bag out, clean clubs, etc. Yeah, bag room guys don't add anything to the golf experience. How about we just get rid of them all and see what happens.

Working for a club with a no tipping rule sucks when you are making 8.50 an hour and the other clubs in the area with no tip rules are paying 14.00

Not sure where you live, but I can tell you that no clubs in Raleigh or Pinehurst pay their guys $8.50, let alone $14 per hour.

Getting to play any day of the week makes up for it though.

Not if working the bag room is your only job, man's got to eat.

I can tell you, that if I was a course owner, I would in no way have a no-tip policy. I simply couldn't afford to pay my guys enough for them to have a living wage.

I do find it rather odd that "the poor kid is only making minimum wage" card is being played here.

Do any of you tip your local burger flipper?  Or your local taco maker?  How about the guy who rings you up at Wal-Mart?  Or the kid folding clothes at Target after you've tried them on and decided not to make a purchase?  I think a very good arguement can be made that they are more deserving of tips as they have to put up with more BS on a daily basis, not that a bag boy doesn't either.

Just saying....

I do tip the lot guys are stores who come out and help me load stuff in my car. If he tries to say no, he can't take it, I tell him to just shut up and take it anyway (as long as no manager or anyone is around) Home Depot will actually fire you if they catch you taking tips.