Do you have weekly Competitions in your country?

[Jonno]

Hi

no this isn't a marketing message - just a real question.

Here in Australia if you belong to a Golf Club you can play in a sanctioned competition just about every day of the week. We call them comps. Your own course will run between 2 to 4 per week, and some other clubs will have local "Comps".

They are Stableford events, Stroke, Par or sometimes scramble. The are played under the rules of golf (strict) so no gimmes, a playing partner keeps your scorecard etc. In fact down under you can only establish your handicap through these events, there is no self registering scores to create your handicap.

I used to live in North America and I don't ever remember competitions like this.

Any feedback from where ever you are would be great

 

thanks

 

 

[Jonno]

what I forget to ask is - does your club hold competitions played under the rules of golf?

[boogielicious]

6 hours ago, Jonno said:

Hi

no this isn't a marketing message - just a real question.

Here in Australia if you belong to a Golf Club you can play in a sanctioned competition just about every day of the week. We call them comps. Your own course will run between 2 to 4 per week, and some other clubs will have local "Comps".

They are Stableford events, Stroke, Par or sometimes scramble. The are played under the rules of golf (strict) so no gimmes, a playing partner keeps your scorecard etc. In fact down under you can only establish your handicap through these events, there is no self registering scores to create your handicap.

I used to live in North America and I don't ever remember competitions like this.

Any feedback from where ever you are would be great

 

thanks

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Jonno said:

what I forget to ask is - does your club hold competitions played under the rules of golf?

Most of the public courses I play have golf leagues every night of the week, some on weekends. They are weekly competitions from a fixed group of players. They have many formats. My current league uses a modified Stableford scoring system. I think this is very similar to what your are describing except for the fixed group. 

Leagues help generate consistent revenues for the courses. Some you have to pay for the season ahead of time and other pay as you go. 

Other courses in my area have open competitions on a routine basis, but not weekly. Lastly, there are a few multi-course competitions where players rotate courses.

[Club Rat]

6 hours ago, Jonno said:

does your club hold competitions played under the rules of golf?

Most Private Clubs have many Individual and Team competitions through the golf season.

Also, there are local golf organizations which have ongoing annual golf competition for Men, Women and Junior's.

In our area there is the St. Louis Golf District and the Metropolitan Golf Association.

Many events are local and state wide for amateurs.

Our club also has both Men's and Women weekly events played year round, weather permitting.

 

[Jonno]

12 hours ago, boogielicious said:

 

Most of the public courses I play have golf leagues every night of the week, some on weekends. They are weekly competitions from a fixed group of players. They have many formats. My current league uses a modified Stableford scoring system. I think this is very similar to what your are describing except for the fixed group. 

Leagues help generate consistent revenues for the courses. Some you have to pay for the season ahead of time and other pay as you go. 

Other courses in my area have open competitions on a routine basis, but not weekly. Lastly, there are a few multi-course competitions where players rotate courses.

how are handicaps created there - in competition or by individuals? meaning here your scorecard has to be marked by a playing opponent, no gimees etc.

11 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Most Private Clubs have many Individual and Team competitions through the golf season.

Also, there are local golf organizations which have ongoing annual golf competition for Men, Women and Junior's.

In our area there is the St. Louis Golf District and the Metropolitan Golf Association.

Many events are local and state wide for amateurs.

Our club also has both Men's and Women weekly events played year round, weather permitting.

 

same question - how are handicaps created there - in competition or by individuals? meaning here your scorecard has to be marked by a playing opponent, no gimees etc.

[Golfingdad]

14 minutes ago, Jonno said:

how are handicaps created there - in competition or by individuals? meaning here your scorecard has to be marked by a playing opponent, no gimees etc.

same question - how are handicaps created there - in competition or by individuals? meaning here your scorecard has to be marked by a playing opponent, no gimees etc.

Handicaps here are, by and large, self reported.  Even in most competitions, for that matter.  You play strictly by the rules of golf, a partner keeps your score, and you both sign and turn in that score for the sake of that competition, but it's still up to you to report it for your handicap.  You go by yourself to the handicap computer in the clubhouse or even enter it online.  I post all of my scores on my phone.

Some clubs might post the tournament scores for you, however, I think that practice is less common.  In the last 4 years (since I've had a real handicap), I've played in only two different tournaments where they posted the scores for us.  One was a big 3 day thing at my brothers club a couple of years ago, and the other was a qualifier through the local golf association.

Otherwise, it's all honor system.

 

[Jonno]

3 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Handicaps here are, by and large, self reported.  Even in most competitions, for that matter.  You play strictly by the rules of golf, a partner keeps your score, and you both sign and turn in that score for the sake of that competition, but it's still up to you to report it for your handicap.  You go by yourself to the handicap computer in the clubhouse or even enter it online.  I post all of my scores on my phone.

Some clubs might post the tournament scores for you, however, I think that practice is less common.  In the last 4 years (since I've had a real handicap), I've played in only two different tournaments where they posted the scores for us.  One was a big 3 day thing at my brothers club a couple of years ago, and the other was a qualifier through the local golf association.

Otherwise, it's all honor system.

 

When I played up there in the Bay area it was the same way, and it was obvious that a lot people self report based on ego not ability. I met quite a few players who were obviously 10 shots worse than their handicaps .. As I said here its all done in competition where your marker is there when you enter your score and then the card itself is checked by the club.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Jonno

[Golfingdad]

Just now, Jonno said:

When I played up there in the Bay area it was the same way, and it was obvious that a lot people self report based on ego not ability. I met quite a few players who were obviously 10 shots worse than there handicaps .. As I said here its all done in competition where your marker is there when you enter your score and then the card itself is checked by the club.

I think there are multiple reasons for the "10 shots worse" guys.  Some are obvious; like gimmes, mulligans, bumping lies, etc, but I think even bigger than that are the guys who have honest handicaps but just have never played in a tournament.  All of their rounds are quiet early mornings alone, or with their three closest buddies on the same course over and over again.  They play by all of the rules, but they don't know any pressure, or anything at all outside of their comfort zone.

This is why I'm intrigued by the idea that there will be a unified handicap system soon - one that hopefully incorporates a lot of the Australian and European ideas around comps and such.

 

[Jonno]

3 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

I think there are multiple reasons for the "10 shots worse" guys.  Some are obvious; like gimmes, mulligans, bumping lies, etc, but I think even bigger than that are the guys who have honest handicaps but just have never played in a tournament.  All of their rounds are quiet early mornings alone, or with their three closest buddies on the same course over and over again.  They play by all of the rules, but they don't know any pressure, or anything at all outside of their comfort zone.

This is why I'm intrigued by the idea that there will be a unified handicap system soon - one that hopefully incorporates a lot of the Australian and European ideas around comps and such.

 

cool - the one thing i love about golf here is the comp rounds, you can play one every day of the week if you want to. Different clubs offer open comps meaning you can play a great course in a competitive round for like $50. I dont play social anymore - i do have groups at my home course that I play with often and we may have our own game inside the competition - but we are always in the competition.

[chilepepper]

I dont belong to a private club and never will. But there are opportunities to play competitions/strict rules , and some not so strict rules depending on the group, here in SoCal. Plenty of leagues at most courses. I just recently joined SCGA which has a variety of competitions .

[Jonno]

1 hour ago, chilepepper said:

I dont belong to a private club and never will. But there are opportunities to play competitions/strict rules , and some not so strict rules depending on the group, here in SoCal. Plenty of leagues at most courses. I just recently joined SCGA which has a variety of competitions .

it's a whole different ball game here - in Sydney there are a lot of courses that have waived entry fee, and then yearly playing fees are between $1500-$3000 per year depending on the course.

I think thats why I stayed here instead of moving back to north america .. golf is abundant and cheap

[Fourputt]

22 hours ago, Jonno said:

Hi

no this isn't a marketing message - just a real question.

Here in Australia if you belong to a Golf Club you can play in a sanctioned competition just about every day of the week. We call them comps. Your own course will run between 2 to 4 per week, and some other clubs will have local "Comps".

They are Stableford events, Stroke, Par or sometimes scramble. The are played under the rules of golf (strict) so no gimmes, a playing partner keeps your scorecard etc. In fact down under you can only establish your handicap through these events, there is no self registering scores to create your handicap.

I used to live in North America and I don't ever remember competitions like this.

Any feedback from where ever you are would be great

 

thanks

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Jonno said:

what I forget to ask is - does your club hold competitions played under the rules of golf?

In the US, a much smaller percentage of players are club members.  The majority of us play public and daily fee courses, so the sort of weekly comps you have aren't available to us.  There are other ways that we get involved in organized competitions.  Many play in leagues, and those leagues vary a lot in how they are managed and what sort of competitions they hold.  Others, like myself, have the option of joining a tournament club.  

I'm in a public course Men's Club.  We are allowed by the recreation district a max of 250 members, although we usually run more around 200.  We play a tournament schedule which is arranged with the course, but we manage ourselves.  The course has no input in anything but the schedule.  We play 15 tournaments per year, varying from single day events up to 3 days for the Club Championship.  Most formats are some form of stroke play, but we also have 5 season long match play brackets.  We have our own board of directors, tournament committee, rules committee, and handicap committee.  

We start my 23rd year in the club on Saturday.

[Jonno]

3 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

 

In the US, a much smaller percentage of players are club members.  The majority of us play public and daily fee courses, so the sort of weekly comps you have aren't available to us.  There are other ways that we get involved in organized competitions.  Many play in leagues, and those leagues vary a lot in how they are managed and what sort of competitions they hold.  Others, like myself, have the option of joining a tournament club.  

I'm in a public course Men's Club.  We are allowed by the recreation district a max of 250 members, although we usually run more around 200.  We play a tournament schedule which is arranged with the course, but we manage ourselves.  The course has no input in anything but the schedule.  We play 15 tournaments per year, varying from single day events up to 3 days for the Club Championship.  Most formats are some form of stroke play, but we also have 5 season long match play brackets.  We have our own board of directors, tournament committee, rules committee, and handicap committee.  

We start my 23rd year in the club on Saturday.

is this mostly because of cost of joining a club? also your league does it have prizes per event and per set term? Our comps have prizes for each event, and then quartley add up events too

[Fourputt]

14 minutes ago, Jonno said:

is this mostly because of cost of joining a club? also your league does it have prizes per event and per set term? Our comps have prizes for each event, and then quartley add up events too

I think that part of it is cost, but also part of it is the desire to play more than one course.  When you pay several thousand dollars per year, you sort of have to play that course to get your money's worth.  I play a dozen or more courses each season, so I'd rather not be tied to just one.  

Each tournament has it's own prize structure.  We have some voluntary pots that run season long for hole in one, eagles on par 4 holes, and a ringer pot.  We pay an entry fee $12 per day, so $24 for a 2 day tournament, and those entry fees make up the prize purse.  We don't get paid in cash, but credit to spend in the pro shop.  Most tournaments are flighted by handicaps - individual stroke play events usually have 6 flights with 20-25 players in each flight.  Payouts in each flight are usually 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.  We also collect a voluntary skins pot the morning of each tournament day, pay out divided evenly among all in your flight who make the lowest score on any of the 18 holes.  We also pay $40 each for closest to the pin on the 4 par 3 holes.  Plenty of incentive to keep one in the game.

[WUTiger]

14 hours ago, Club Rat said:

... In our area there is the St. Louis Golf District and the Metropolitan Golf Association.

Many events are local and state wide for amateurs. ...

@Club Rat 's home course, WingHaven, will host the year's first MAGA Imperial Amateur series event on May 2. Anyone can play in this division which has four flights. Golfers who play in the six series tournaments earn points to qualify for the 36-hole October championships.

Also, the MAGA Championship series division hosts a dozen or so events for low-HDCP amateurs; it's scratch scoring, no HDCP adjustments.

At my home course, the Senior group will play two or three mornings a week. About twice a month we travel to another course.

These events are team-based Best Ball - foursomes drawn by lot 20 minutes before tee-off - with an individual skins game on the side. That way, you can compute a team score while getting your individual score for the round - everyone plays out all holes.

[Club Rat]

3 hours ago, Jonno said:

here your scorecard has to be marked by a playing opponent, no gimees etc.

It's the same here. In competitive events, each player is a "marker" of scores for a fellow competitor.

 

[DrvFrShow]

I find that ones handicap is dependent upon where one plays and if the course is suited to their type of game. I could play weekly competitions at one course by joining a particular club and have a handicap that is significantly different than it would be if I were to play the same number of games at a different club on a different course. We're playing by the same rules. Course rating and slopes are different. It's the layout of the courses and green speeds that are different. The "more difficult" course is more suited to my game than the "easier" course.

[graham57]

I play in Germany and am a member of a private club. In this country, only competition rounds count towards your handicap, although this has recently been altered to allow so-called EDS rounds to be submitted, where you play with another player. These rounds have to be announced to the club secretary beforehand, however.

We have a competition calendar stretching from March to October. In the summer, there will be official competitions pretty much every weekend, most of which are open to non-members with a official handicap. During the week, there are regular men's and women's golf groups, which als play Stableford rounds. Only rounds played strictly under the rules of golf are elegibile for handicap calculation - scrambles, etc. do not count.

We joined the local club because it is 10 minutes form our house and we can go play 4-6 holes on a summer evening after work without worrying about having to pay a green fee. I understand that not being tied to a club allows you to play on a greater variety of courses, but clubs in Germany are increasingly offering partnerships, whereby members of one club can play at other clubs in the neighbourhood either for free or for a reduced green fee. Apart from the golf, we enjoy spending time with a circle of friends we have built up among the club members - next year 9 of us plan a golfing trip to Scotland!