PICKING A GOLF TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The first question that you will have to answer when planning for your golf event is what kind of format you want your tournament to be. There are multiple formats you can choose from for your event. Below are some popular golf tournament formats that might work for your game.
The most popular, and arguably easiest format is a four person scramble. The scramble is a good choice because it gives everyone a chance to play and socialize while keeping up the pace of the game. It’s a great idea for both charity fundraisers and corporate events.
So how does it work? First, you need to select the teams. Some of your players will choose to register as foursomes online, but all of the single registrants will need to be matched up. You can do this with Golf Digest Planners Premium Software or by creating pairings on a spreadsheet. Then, follow the directions to set up your player on the course. Once you have your players set up, you are ready to go. On the course, players take turns driving the ball for the first shot. Whoever’s ball out of the four goes the farthest becomes the play ball. Then, all four players take a turn starting from where the play ball landed. Whoever’s ball went the farthest the second time around becomes the play ball. This continues until the players finish the course. Sound fun? It is! Scrambles are a great group tournament format and are sure to keep the ball rolling so that you can finish the day with enough time for your awards ceremony and dinner.
Then there is the Best Ball format. In this format, each player plays their own ball the entire hole, and then the “best ball” from that hole gets to record their name on the scorecard. This is very similar to the scramble, except that everyone keeps using their own ball for the entire hole. This is a good format to choose if you think your golfers will want to track their individual progress throughout the day.
There is also the alternate shot format. This format works best with groups of 2. Each player takes turns hitting the same ball until they get the ball in the hole. So, player one drives, then player two takes the second shot, player one takes the third shot, and so on. It works best if the team rotates who hits the drive at each hole. This is a great format for groups of two, and keeps the game moving.
In the modified Stableford, your score correlates with a point score that gets higher the better your score, not lower. So, for example, 2 strokes under the fixed score would be worth 4 points, 1 stroke under would be worth 3 points, fixed score would be worth 2 points, ect. The modified Stableford is a format more commonly used in Europe, but still makes an appearance over in the States.
You can also play skins. In skins, each hole is worth a certain amount of points, and whoever wins that hole wins those points. If there is a tie, the points get carried over to the next hole. For example, if hole 3 is worth 5 points, and hole 4 is worth 6 points, and there is a tie on hole 3, then hole 4 will be worth 11 points. This is a great format if you want to add a little drama to your event. When there is a tie on a hole and the points get combined on the next hole, the stakes can get pretty high!
Picking your golf format is a fun part of planning your golf event. Either way, your guests will love a format that allows everyone a chance to drive the ball and get their name on the scorecard.
