Golf Course: Tee Times Per Day From The Interval

Excel Formulas › Golf Course & Driving Range

All versions

A tee sheet runs from the first tee time to the last, one group every 8, 9 or 10 minutes. How many slots is that? Excel stores a time as a fraction of a day, so the difference between two times, times 1,440, is minutes. Divide by the interval, round down, and add one for the first slot itself — the fence-post problem that trips up every new starter.


Quick formula: Minutes between first and last tee, over the interval, plus one:
=ROUNDDOWN((C2-B2)*1440/D2,0)+1

7:00 AM to 5:00 PM is 600 minutes. At 9-minute intervals that is 66.7 gaps, so 66 gaps and 67 tee times — 268 players if every group is a foursome.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

The example

Three seasons on the same course. Summer daylight stretches the sheet; a winter day squeezes it and a tighter interval claws some of it back.

ABCDEF
1SeasonFirst teeLast teeIntervalTee timesPlayers
2Spring7:00 AM5:00 PM967268
3Summer6:30 AM6:30 PM1073292
4Winter8:00 AM3:00 PM853212

The formula

Tee times first, then multiply by four:

=ROUNDDOWN((C2-B2)*1440/D2,0)+1 then =E2*4 // slots on the sheet, then max players

How it works

The whole thing hinges on knowing what Excel thinks a time is:

  1. C2-B2 is the difference between two time cells. Excel stores 5:00 PM as 0.7083 and 7:00 AM as 0.2917, so the difference is 0.4167 of a day.
  2. *1440 converts a fraction of a day to minutes (24 hours × 60). 0.4167 × 1,440 is 600.
  3. /D2 divides by the interval. 600 over 9 is 66.67 — the number of gaps between tee times, not tee times.
  4. ROUNDDOWN(...,0)+1 keeps whole gaps and adds the first slot. 66 gaps means 67 tee times, from 7:00 to 4:54.

Multiply by four for the theoretical player capacity; then multiply by the green fee and you have the revenue the sheet could produce on a full day, which is the number to measure real days against.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Enter the first and last tee time (24-hour, as hour and minute) and the interval.

Variations

Revenue potential

Tee times times four times the green fee. Compare it with actual daily revenue to get a utilization figure the GM will recognize.

=(ROUNDDOWN((C2-B2)*1440/D2,0)+1)*4*GreenFee

Two tees (split-tee start)

A shotgun or split-tee morning doubles the sheet for the hours it runs. Compute each tee's window separately and add them.

=(ROUNDDOWN((C2-B2)*1440/D2,0)+1)+(ROUNDDOWN((TenLast-TenFirst)*1440/D2,0)+1)

Pitfalls & errors

Type the times as times, not text. 7:00 AM in a cell formatted as a time is a number; "7:00 AM" in a cell formatted as text is not, and subtracting it gives #VALUE!.

If the last tee time is after midnight for a lit range or night golf, add 1 to the difference: (C2-B2+1)*1440 when C2 is earlier than B2.

Do not forget the +1. 600 minutes at 9-minute intervals is 66 gaps but 67 tee times; leaving off the first slot under-counts every day by a foursome, which is a green fee times four.

Practice workbook

📊
Download the free Golf Course: Tee Times Per Day From The Interval practice workbook
Edit the yellow first-tee, last-tee and interval cells; tee times and players recalculate.

Frequently asked questions

Why 1440?
There are 1,440 minutes in a day, and Excel stores a time as a fraction of a day. Multiplying the fraction by 1,440 gives minutes. Use 24 instead if you want hours, or 86,400 for seconds.
Should I count the last slot if the group cannot finish before dark?
The formula counts it; your policy decides whether to sell it. Most courses set the last tee time so a four-and-a-half hour round finishes at dusk, so if the last tee is set correctly the answer is yes.

Stop fighting formulas. Learn them in a day.

This recipe is one of hundreds of real-world formulas we teach. Our Excel Formulas & Functions class covers lookups, logic, text, and dynamic arrays hands-on — live in Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Oklahoma City, Denver, or online.

See the Formulas & Functions Class

Related formulas: Revenue Per Appointment Slot · Time Difference · Mini Golf: Group Admission

Function references: ROUNDDOWNPRODUCT