Buchanan Castle Golf Club - Disgraceful open payouts

[robinthehood]

Disagree.

The prize pot is measly and down right disgusting if you ask me.

Clubs should make their money from the bar and catering during opens. To skim do much from competitors entry fees is a farce. I appreciate you may incur a few additional costs running an open but that really takes the proverbial.

You disagree with me saying is that so? Odd.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I would say paying £10 each for a round instead of the normal £48 would be a steal for you, so to then walk away with another £50 each after playing sounds pretty damned good to me.
What I find even more amazing is that your team of 3 scored 50 points, at a course you’re not members at. You must be pretty tasty 5,12 and 12 handicappers.

 

[robinthehood]

I would say paying £10 each for a round instead of the normal £48 would be a steal for you, so to then walk away with another £50 each after playing sounds pretty damned good to me.
What I find even more amazing is that your team of 3 scored 50 points, at a course you’re not members at. You must be pretty tasty 5,12 and 12 handicappers.

You can play there for 20 quid

 

[Bunkermagnet]

You can play there for 20 quid

That’s as maybe, I am using their website for the price they charge.

 

[robinthehood]

That’s as maybe, I am using their website for the price they charge.

Do people still do that?

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Do people still do that?

If the offical website of the club lists their weekend round fees as £48, then that is the fee, and I imagine anything the club do is based on that fee.

And yes, I always go by what the green fee is listed at.

 

[sweeneytoddd]

I would say paying £10 each for a round instead of the normal £48 would be a steal for you, so to then walk away with another £50 each after playing sounds pretty damned good to me.
What I find even more amazing is that your team of 3 scored 50 points, at a course you’re not members at. You must be pretty tasty 5,12 and 12 handicappers.

Which is inferring what exactly?
Had 5 birdies that day and the holes I bogeyed one of the others parred .
You’re not allowed to play well at a course without arousing suspicion?

 

[sweeneytoddd]

Prize pot goes way down if say £7 green fee and 3 for the comp. Less say 50% members playing so no Green fees for them.

Entry was the same for all players-

 

[duncan mackie]

You can play there for 20 quid

Nope - you can play there for £10 according to the post here.

The premise presented is that you should actually be able to play here for £0 - and the club should be happy to have you because you may buy drinks and food while you are there.

I find this somewhat strange as a business model but understand that historically many clubs try it.

 

[Jacko_G]

Nope - you can play there for £10 according to the post here.

The premise presented is that you should actually be able to play here for £0 - and the club should be happy to have you because you may buy drinks and food while you are there.

I find this somewhat strange as a business model but understand that historically many clubs try it.

I'm not sure who is championing to be able to play an Open for free?

 

[Marshy77]

Do people still do that?

Only if they want it to suit their argument.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Maybe the OP should have contacted the club before entering to find out what the prize fund was. Then he could have made a decision to decide if it was worth forking out £10 for a day out.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

People never fail to amaze me and the internet opens your eyes to that, from replies and posts. Always interesting to read.

£10 and expect a big pot of prizes.

In my eyes Opens allowed you to play for less than the full green fee. And should be a fund raiser for the club, if I was a member there I would be chomped off if they shut the course and didn't raise a proper amount for doing that. As a result I see opens as a win win for all parties concerned(totally ignoring any question of prizes, which to me are irrelevant).

 

[Slab]

A wee bit off topic but how many Opens would a members club typically hold each year?

If its just 2 or 3 I'd have thunk that getting the prizes sponsored would be a better way to go, leaving the green fees untouched

 

[Bunkermagnet]

A wee bit off topic but how many Opens would a members club typically hold each year?

If its just 2 or 3 I'd have thunk that getting the prizes sponsored would be a better way to go, leaving the green fees untouched

Buchanan Castle lists 6 this year.

 

[bobmac]

Last month myself and two others played in a tri am open at Buchanan Castle. We teed off at 12:10 and we’re told we were match 40 and the day had been a sell out. Cost was £30 a team which was great value for a days competitive golf. Turned out we went and won the thing- when we handed our card over I noticed that there were 56 teams written up on a whiteboard. A prize pool of £1680. We received our vouchers about 8 days later- a measly £50 each. One of the team left a comment on their Facebook page venting about the amount ( it was removed and he has subsequently been blocked) and their pro phoned him and said that the club had induced extra costs due to it being an open and had deducted this from the prize pool ( they had to bring in green staff )
Also the results they posted only had 37 teams when we knew for a fact that this wasn’t the case. I managed to get in touch with one of the guys who won the event last year and he confirmed that they received the same amount. They were told that the club could have sold those times to visitors so had to recoup their losses- they didn’t return to defend their title and we won’t be either.
Assuming the three places they paid out were on a 50/30/20 scale their total prize payout for the day was £300 - around 18%- daylight robbery - avoid this place like the plague

Was that all you won, £50 each?

 

[golfer13]

I think we need to add some facts to this story. The times for the Open were 7-30am to 1-40pm at 10 minute intervals. One team never showed up and never paid even though they pleaded to enter late and promised to pay.
This equalled 37 teams. I think the whiteboard was condensed to make it look neater as it was not all needed. Hence why this teams number might have been 50 on the board. We do bring in extra staff to prepare for an Open and do extra work leading up to the day. After prizes and extra costs the club made approx £160.
Last year we did the same and lost £200. The entry is £10 per head which is probably too cheap but we want people to come and play and hopefully come back for a day out.
We also give every individual on the day a voucher to have a fourball at any other time for £60.
One of the team members had put something on Facebook but when contacted seemed quite happy with the explanation. Also an offer was made to the Open Convenor of their club to get in touch to let us know how their Opens are run as we are always keen to look at different options.
Any feedback on this would be welcomed.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I think we need to add some facts to this story. The times for the Open were 7-30am to 1-40pm at 10 minute intervals. One team never showed up and never paid even though they pleaded to enter late and promised to pay.
This equalled 37 teams. I think the whiteboard was condensed to make it look neater as it was not all needed. Hence why this teams number might have been 50 on the board. We do bring in extra staff to prepare for an Open and do extra work leading up to the day. After prizes and extra costs the club made approx £160.
Last year we did the same and lost £200. The entry is £10 per head which is probably too cheap but we want people to come and play and hopefully come back for a day out.
We also give every individual on the day a voucher to have a fourball at any other time for £60.
One of the team members had put something on Facebook but when contacted seemed quite happy with the explanation. Also an offer was made to the Open Convenor of their club to get in touch to let us know how their Opens are run as we are always keen to look at different options.
Any feedback on this would be welcomed.

Sounds to me like you have put in a lot of effort and given people the opportunity to play your course for a very nominal amount. The winner is coming across quite poorly on this thread and maybe needs to reassess his expectations.
Well done to you and your club

 

[Jacko_G]

I think we need to add some facts to this story. The times for the Open were 7-30am to 1-40pm at 10 minute intervals. One team never showed up and never paid even though they pleaded to enter late and promised to pay.
This equalled 37 teams. I think the whiteboard was condensed to make it look neater as it was not all needed. Hence why this teams number might have been 50 on the board. We do bring in extra staff to prepare for an Open and do extra work leading up to the day. After prizes and extra costs the club made approx £160.
Last year we did the same and lost £200. The entry is £10 per head which is probably too cheap but we want people to come and play and hopefully come back for a day out.
We also give every individual on the day a voucher to have a fourball at any other time for £60.
One of the team members had put something on Facebook but when contacted seemed quite happy with the explanation. Also an offer was made to the Open Convenor of their club to get in touch to let us know how their Opens are run as we are always keen to look at different options.
Any feedback on this would be welcomed.

How much did you take in bar and food income compared to a normal Saturday? Extra staff for what? Maybe a waiting girl/boy, extra bar member?

Also a 4 ball voucher still makes you money!!! Costs the club nothing to give out a voucher asking players to come back and PAY!

37 teams X £30 is still over £1100 and you gave out £150 in prizes.

I somehow doubt Buchanan Castle ran at a loss/break even figure.

 

[Jacko_G]

Sounds to me like you have put in a lot of effort and given people the opportunity to play your course for a very nominal amount. The winner is coming across quite poorly on this thread and maybe needs to reassess his expectations.
Well done to you and your club

In your opinion.