League Golf

[YGSdaley]

I am trying to start a golf league in my area and I was looking for some tips on where to start. Any other help would be much appreciated. Also, I am from the Philly area.

[RickK]

9 hole league?  18 hole league?  Stroke play?  Match play?  Need a bit more info.  I'm not from Philly.

[saevel25]

I personally like a mix of stroke and match, handicap adjusted

Basically a person gets a stroke on every hole for handicap difference. At the end of the round you tally up how many holes won (match play style), and net. If the player wins net he gets 2 points. So lets say Player A with a handicap of 0 versus Player B with a handicap of 4. If player A shoots a 37, his net is 37, if player B shoots a 40, his net is a 36. So player B would get 2 points + how many holes he won. This method balances out well, mixing both styles of play.

[boil3rmak3r]

I've been in a number of different Thursday night leagues and, based on my experiences, HATE one particular format. That format is one where everyone's scores count. They decided to do that this year and 9 holes is taking between 2 hrs 10 min and 2.5 hrs. It drives me bananas. Previous formats had our rounds at 1 hr 50 minutes max... So, I would recommend something that involves teams and best balls (I.e. two man teams using 1 best net score per hole or 4 man teams utilizing 2 best ball). The other thing that I prefer is a league where you call to sign up to play every week. I've been in leagues where you committed to playing every week. For me, those can be a pain in the butt when a 4:00 client meeting runs long and you have to scramble to make the 5:30 tee time. Or when you are out of town and have to find a sub. Just a few things to think about...

[YGSdaley]

I came across Tourgolfrevolution.com. Looks like a great format and I think I will start here. Thanks for the replies.

[boil3rmak3r]

I came across Tourgolfrevolution.com. Looks like a great format and I think I will start here. Thanks for the replies.

The concept is interesting... A few things I thought about after reading about it: 1). I don't think this format will build much camaraderie. In a league where everyone plays on a certain night and groupings are assigned by the league, you end up golfing with a bunch of different members and gain new friendships because of it. Also, if it's on the same night, there's usually some good 19th hole activities going on afterwards (poker games, story telling, dinner specials, etc). 2). I personally am not a fan of letting the members play as often as they want and being able to post their lowest score. If a bunch of retired guys are playing five 18 hole rounds per week, they'll probably beat me every time. I can only play 2 full rounds per week... My two rounds may happen during high winds and tough pin placements. If I played 5 times per week, I'd be much more likely to play a few rounds in ideal scoring conditions and pin placements. I guess this could be minimized if you implemented a league handicap based on previous league scores. 3). The Major weeks seem like a great idea. If you go with this format, I would definitely have Majors once per month. Good luck!