AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2026
california legislature—2025–26 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1954
Introduced by Assembly Member Ward
February 13, 2026
An act to add Chapter 45 (commencing with Section 22949.93) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to business. legislative counsel’s digest
AB 1954, as amended, Ward. Municipal golf courses: reservations.
Existing law authorizes a city to purchase, lease, receive, hold, and enjoy real and personal property, and control and dispose of that property for the common benefit. Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city to acquire property needed for specified purposes, including golf courses.
Existing law, the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), defines unfair competition to mean and include an unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice, unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising, and any false representations to the public. Existing law makes a person who engages in unfair competition liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, and requires that this penalty be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by specified persons and entities, including cities.
This bill would prohibit an operator of a third-party golf reservation service platform from listing, advertising, promoting, or selling reservations for a golf course owned by a local public agency without a written authorization from the golf course operator, as specified. The bill would provide that a violation of these provisions constitutes an unlawful business act or practice under the UCL.
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The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
line 2 (a) The State of California is home to many golf courses that line 3 attract tourists from around the world. They also provide line 4 recreational, social, health, and charitable benefits to the residents line 5 of the communities in which they are located.
line 6 (b) There are over 200 courses in California that are municipally line 7 owned by a mix of state, city, county, city and county, and charter line 8 cities. Because these public courses are parts of publicly owned line 9 park systems, they operate per-pricing structures that make them line 10 maximally available to local residents, seniors, juniors, schools, line 11 school athletic teams, and local clubs and civic organizations. This line 12 pricing creates a demand for tee times that, in California’s urban line 13 areas, are among the highest if not the highest in the nation. line 14 (c) Tee time brokers have become a significant issue throughout line 15 the state. By booking tee times en masse and selling, reselling, and line 16 brokering them at inflated prices on a secondary market, they line 17 substantially reduce the already strained supply of recreational line 18 opportunities available to California residents and harm the ability line 19 of the state’s municipal golf course owners to operate them per a line 20 maximally affordable business model providing maximal equitable line 21 public access.
line 22 (d) The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of this act line 23 adding Chapter 45 (commencing with Section 22949.93) to the line 24 Business and Professions Code addresses a matter of statewide line 25 concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section line 26 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section line 27 2 of this act applies to all cities, including charter cities. line 28 SEC. 2. Chapter 45 (commencing with Section 22949.93) is line 29 added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
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line 31 Chapter 45. Blocking Illegitimate Reservations and line 32 Protecting Equitable Access to California’s Publicly 98 AB 1954 — 2 —
line 1 Owned Golf Courses Act Protecting Access to Reservations line 2 Act
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line 4 22949.93. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as line 5 the “Blocking Illegitimate Reservations and Protecting Equitable line 6 Access to California’s Publicly Owned Golf Courses Act.” line 7 Protecting Access to Reservations Act.
line 8 22949.93.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following line 9 definitions apply:
line 10 (a) “Affiliate” means any entity that, directly or indirectly, line 11 through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or line 12 is under common control with, another entity.
line 13 (b) “Golf course” means a golf course and its accessory facilities line 14 and services that are owned by a local agency. “Golf course” line 15 includes clubhouses, driving ranges, golf cart storage, locker and line 16 shower facilities, and sales facilities.
line 17 (c) “Golf course operator” means either of the following:
line 18 (1) A local agency operating a golf course.
line 19 (2) An entity operating a golf course through a contractual line 20 relationship with the local agency, including a license, lease, or line 21 management agreement.
line 22 (d) “Local agency” means a county, city and county, city, or line 23 charter city. “Local agency” includes a special district and joint line 24 powers authority.
line 25 (e) “Third-party golf reservation service platform” means a line 26 website, mobile application, or other internet platform that is owned line 27 or operated by an entity other than a golf course operator and that line 28 offers or arranges reservations for on-premises service for a line 29 customer at a golf course.
line 30 22949.93.2. (a) An operator of a third-party golf reservation line 31 service platform shall not list, advertise, promote, or sell line 32 reservations for a golf course in the third-party reservation service line 33 platform without a written agreement between the operator of the line 34 third-party golf reservation service platform and the golf course line 35 operator that authorizes that reservation service. line 36 (b) The authority provided in a written agreement described in line 37 subdivision (a) does not extend to an affiliate website or other line 38 internet platform unless the written agreement explicitly provides line 39 that authority to that affiliate website or internet platform. 98 — 3 — AB 1954
line 1 22949.93.3. Any violation of this chapter constitutes an line 2 unlawful business act or practice within the meaning of Chapter line 3 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7.
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