What is the tournament for beginners

[luisfernandezgolfer]

Hello,

Is Golf Channel Amateur Champ a good start for beginners?

What other (Big, Good, prestigious) tournaments should be a good start?

 

 

[boogielicious]

Tournaments can be pretty stressful. I would recommend joining a league first. It is competition, but more genial.

[Moxley]

Would second what @boogielicious said. Best of luck either way.

[mcanadiens]

Along with leagues, most clubs will have various competitions over the year that are generally sorted by handicap into flights.

For instance, the men's association at my home courses has players that run the gamut from scratch players to hackers like me. So in our club championship, the guys that are plus-18s end up in C Flight. Which I actually tied for first in when the other guy wanted no part of the playoff hole.

Talk with the pro at your favorite course and he ought to be able to point you in a good direction.

[RayG]

If you are a "beginner" beginner, start with little games between your friends. Put a little pressure on without too much stress. No more than a 50cent bet at a time on various things. Fairways hit, longest putt, etc.. Make it fun. Then you can move onto leagues and such when you improve a bit. And since these leagues will involve a little side action (usually) you will have had some experience under pressure. Granted, not a million dollar check pressure, but it will help.

As with any type of competition, even if it is sponsored by the Golf channel or whatever, there will be those characters who might be a bit on the 'shady' side- be it sandbaggers, roll-over guys or flat out cheaters. Beware the blade guy with a "15" handicap. 

But the best advice- have fun. You have fun, you win. Beat yourself up for missing an 8 footer for bogey? don't bother.

[Buckeyebowman]

I second all of the above, including the disclaimers! I'm sure if you just look around, especially where you're located, you can find lots of local stuff to get involved in.

Little skins games within your group are a great place to start. And then games like "greenies", "sandies", or "wolf" can be played as well. There are more golf games than you can shake a club at! 

As for what RayG said above, the problems usually pop up in scramble tournaments. Even if the guys are all honest, some will put together "super teams" with the sole objective of winning as much money as they can!

There's a local tourney called Greatest Golfer in the Valley which is mostly individual competition, but does include a scramble component. A team has to win 1 of 22 local scrambles to make the cut. Two years ago the team that won the whole deal shot 21 under par! Of the 4 guys, 3 were heading back to college to play big school college golf, and the 4th was going to take a stab at Q School!  

 

[luisfernandezgolfer]

Thank you all for your answers 😊⛳