Resources
Tournament tips
Practical, hard-won guidance for directors running real golf tournaments — pairings, pace of play, scoring formats, and the small things that prevent big problems.
Before the tournament
Lock the format on the registration form, not the day of
Players will ask whether it's stroke or net, whether handicaps follow the day's tee, and whether skins are gross or net. Decide before registration opens and put it on the sign-up. Mid-tournament rule changes are the fastest way to lose a player's trust.
Build the pairings the night before, post them in the morning
Pairings posted before players arrive cut your morning chaos in half. Use last year's groupings as a starting point if you have them — most players prefer to keep playing with the same people year over year.
Have a weather backup plan, written down
Decide your call-it threshold (lightning, sustained rain, course closure) before the morning of, write it down, and tell the head starter. Phone calls under pressure produce inconsistent decisions — a written plan doesn't.
On the day
Mark a starter hole for every group, even shotguns
Cart cards with each group's starting hole save twenty minutes of confusion at the first horn. Print them double-sided with the day's format on the back as a reminder.
Pace of play: announce it, signpost it, enforce it
Tell players the expected round time at the morning briefing. Put signs on the tee boxes. If groups fall a hole behind, marshals should speak to them before they fall two holes behind. The fix has to happen on hole six, not hole sixteen.
Designate one scorer per group
Two scorers per group means two sources of truth, which means Saturday-night arguments. Pick one official scorer per group, tell the group who it is at the morning briefing, and only accept that person's posted scores.
Walk around at the turn
Be visible at the turn. It's the single best time to spot a problem early — a wrong scorecard, a player feeling sick, a pace issue, a weather call coming. Ten minutes there saves hours later.
Scoring formats
Pick a format that matches your players, not the format you wish they were
A field of 25-handicaps will not enjoy gross stroke play. A field of single-digits will be bored by Stableford. Match the format to the crowd — your registration numbers next year will thank you.
Scramble is forgiving; best ball rewards consistency
Scrambles are the right call for mixed-skill outings, charity events, and anyone whose primary goal is "everyone has a good time." Best ball rewards players who can post one good score per hole — better for more competitive groups.
Net is fair; gross is dramatic
Gross competitions produce predictable winners (the lowest handicaps). Net competitions create real drama and reward play that exceeds expectation. Most directors run both side-by-side — gross for the scratch trophy, net for everyone else.
Payouts and prizes
Smaller prizes, deeper pay
Paying eight spots $50 makes more people walk away happy than paying two spots $200. For charity and member events especially, depth of pay matters more than peak prize value.
Pay it out before they leave
Players who have to come back for a check don't come back. Settle payouts the same afternoon — VioGolf does this automatically the moment the round closes, but if you're doing it manually, build the time into your day.
Round to whole dollars on the day, settle the cents next week
Nobody wants $47.83 at the prize table. Round to the nearest dollar for the on-day envelope; reconcile the cents to charity (or back to the next year's purse) afterward.