New report finds bots pose a 'serious threat' to the Bethpage Black booking system
Steps are already being taken to stop the bots, including the introduction of a non-refundable $5 booking fee, two-factor authentication for user accounts and limits on how frequently golfers can reserve tee times.
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A new report from the State Inspector General found automated software programs, known as bots, pose a serious threat to the integrity of the Bethpage Black booking system.
State officials say it doesn't appear the time slots are being resold online.
"I try to get out a few times a year but it's pretty hard," says Bay Shore resident Ryan Mazzie. "I kind of gave up on trying to get tee times online."
"Bots seem to be taking over everything," says Deer Park resident Lorrie McGill.
They're already taking steps to stop the bots, including the introduction of a non-refundable $5 booking fee, two-factor authentication for user accounts, limits on how frequently golfers can reserve tee times, stricter controls on excessive cancellations and duplicate accounts and a staggered rerelease of canceled tee times to make it harder for bots to exploit the system.
"Those are pretty good ones," says TechRadar's editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff. "Humans aren't that fast at going through the process of buying these tickets."
Technology experts say bots have only gotten worse with AI.
"You've seen it a million times like with Taylor Swift concerts or Springsteen concerts, where all of a sudden the tickets are gone," says Ulanoff.
The course had been closed to reservations since Aug. 18 for the Ryder Cup. It opened for tee time reservations on Friday and it reopened to walk-ups only earlier this month.
