Why do they have golf competitions so early?

[James_Black]

I won my game yesterday for my team so now I'm playing in another competition with my team on Wednesday. One problem. I have to be there for 7.30 am! .

It's a really nice course, but why do early?

Have you played in competitions around that time?
I'm going to be asleep for the first 9 holes.

[Chillmoon91]

Im the exact same, I hate getting up early nevermind to compete and try and focus for 4 hours. It seems nearly all golfers are early birds besides me, I love a nice 2 o clock tee time

[James_Black]

Im the exact same, I hate getting up early nevermind to compete and try and focus for 4 hours. It seems nearly all golfers are early birds besides me, I love a nice 2 o clock tee time

2 is a little late for me but any earlier than 10 is crazy to me.

I'm playing at adare manor (the old course not the Irish open one). It'll be worth it, hopefully...

[2bGood]

I am not bothered by early tee times, except in day two or three of a multi day tournement.

[uttexas]

Around here, the wind picks up in the afternoon. would prefer early tee time especially in the summer (heat + wind)

[holeinon3]

All my tournaments in the summer start at 8. During the school year its around 8 or 9, but it's so freakin hot in the summer you have to play in the morning.

[kafka01]

The sooner you get the work done, the sooner you can start drinking!

Our tournaments during weekends normally start around 8-9am but during weekdays the always start around 1 or 2pm.

But i guess if you give control of these tournaments to some of the older folks (they seem to wake up very early in the morning - and cant stand heat as well) you might end up with a situation like that. If you prefer to play later, maybe you should adress it with the guys who coordinate that stuff, esp. if more golfer like you think that way.

[zeg]

An early start also means you have more time to recover if there's a weather interruption or the like. If it's not the sort of competition that completely closes the course, it also means you get it in the best shape, before a few hours of wear has been inflicted on it.

[kafka01]

An early start also means you have more time to recover if there's a weather interruption or the like. If it's not the sort of competition that completely closes the course, it also means you get it in the best shape, before a few hours of wear has been inflicted on it.

True, but you also have to deal with the downsides - its often still moist (air and grass) and the temperatures are rising and you have to compensate for that over time when it gets warmer and it dries out. All of a sudden your slow putt can become quite fast and your 8i suddenly plays like a 7i. People who start later (everything after 11 am) have a more constant climate imo.

Obv. there might be local differences, as somebody mentioned, when the wind picks up or if you have regular rainstorms in specific timeframes of the day.

[enis750]

im all about early tee times and often play better then
i played every day this past week, earliest time was 6:24
this up coming week i have times booked every day for 6:49 - love it

[c. lassiter]

I used to be in a group that teed off at the first tee time on Sundays - which in mid summer was 5 AM.

Downside: I had to wake up at 3:30 AM to get there, and it was pitch black on the way to the course.

Upside: It was cool(er), it took about 3 hours to play 18 holes, and we never waited for anyone, anytime.

Bonus upside: By the time I got home, my wife was just getting up, and so the "guff-quotient" (i.e. the complaining about how much I played) was zero. It's like the round never happened.

[Colinb913]

I have been playing early in the mornings alot lately. Anywhere from 8:00-9:00 AM. Its really nice because come the end of my round the temperature starts to rise. Right now its 6:00 PM and the heat index is 106*. So early in the morning it isn't so miserable.

[goblue107501]

The biggest reason why events are early around here is so they can get the tournament clear, or at least on course, then they can allow the paying customers on the course. If they started at 8:30, that is an hour where they don't get paid for tee times.

[zeg]

I also like the morning times. My favorite rounds have been when I get there and have to wait for sunrise to tee off. I love being the first out, even if it means lots of dew and the presence of grounds crews. Only thing I don't like is when the first few holes are playing east and the sun is straight down the fairway. Fortunately the one time this has been an issue, I was hitting everything in the fairway. My partner didn't have such luck, and it was essentially impossible to tell where he should be looking in the rough.

[GaijinGolfer]

Id agree that the early start is incase there is a rain delay. Just go to bed early and you will be fine.

[mapa94]

I won my game yesterday for my team so now I'm playing in another competition with my team on Wednesday. One problem. I have to be there for

Early? I live in the Desert and we try to tee off between 5:30am and 6:30am to avoid the 115F heat. We are usually at the turn at 7:30am.

[Bullitt5339]

Another early-bird here. I try to be the first one off, since I like to play fast and I have the entire course to myself. I'm typically on the course dodging the last few sprinklers running. I play much better when I don't have to wait and think too much about my shots, so it works well for me.

[alf174]

Greens are in their best shape after the crews get done rolling them. Ever see them at the end of the day? You'd thought a herd of elephants came across dragging their feet.