Competitions/opens/sweeps/roll ups/medals?

[shun_naka]

As a golf club newbie, whats the difference between all these? We have competitions on saturdays, sweeps on sundays & thursdays, monthly medals and theres talk of opens and roll ups.

Its all rather confusing!...and a bit of an embarrassing question to ask!

 

[fundy]

Comps are what the say they are, competitions open to members, pay a small entry fee, chance to win a small prize, have to return a card for handicap purposes (can be medal/stableford scoring, or pairs comps or team comps etc)
Sweeps/rolls up are informal competitions where everyone puts a couple of quid in the pot and the top few win some money back (no card for handicap as not official comps, usually stableford scoring)
Opens are open competitions, ie open to non members (but with a handicap from another club), look on golf empire if you want to see whats available, can be individual, pairs team etc (card returned to home club for handicap purposes if individual)

Edit: shouldnt be embarrassing, everyone has to start somewhere and most will be willing to help/explain

 

[shun_naka]

Comps are what the say they are, competitions open to members, pay a small entry fee, chance to win a small prize, have to return a card for handicap purposes (can be medal/stableford scoring, or pairs comps or team comps etc)
Sweeps/rolls up are informal competitions where everyone puts a couple of quid in the pot and the top few win some money back (no card for handicap as not official comps, usually stableford scoring)
Opens are open competitions, ie open to non members (but with a handicap from another club), look on golf empire if you want to see whats available, can be individual, pairs team etc (card returned to home club for handicap purposes if individual)

Is it common to always have entry fees for saturday competitions? I dont think ive heard about that at our club

 

[fundy]

Is it common to always have entry fees for saturday competitions? I dont think ive heard about that at our club

Almost all clubs will have a small entry fee for saturday comps yes, never played at one that hasnt albeit expect there may be some exceptions to the rule somewhere

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I've never heard the phrases roll up or swindle used outside of this forum. They were a mystery to me when I joined so don't apologise for asking questions about terminology.

Competition money is used as prize money for the top 3, 5 etc and also to go towards engraving for the main comps, prizes for those winners to take away rather than having and losing the trophy itself.

 

[Ethan]

At my place it is mostly to do with the organisation of comps. Medals and monthly stablefords (or whatever they are called at your place) are usually booked on a time sheet in advance so you know who you are playing with and when. Roll ups/swindles (and other terms probably), are usually just a time slot, say 0700-1000 on a Sunday where there are no bookings but you just turn up and someone, from the pro shop or a member, will pair people up, usually in the order they turn up. It can count as a proper qualifying comp or just for bets amongst the group concerned.

 

[GB72]

Just to confuse things even more, we have the odd roll up club competition so the course remains open to everyone, no tee times and if you want to enter the comp then you pay your money and off you go.

 

[LincolnShep]

As a golf club newbie, whats the difference between all these? We have competitions on saturdays, sweeps on sundays & thursdays, monthly medals and theres talk of opens and roll ups.

Its all rather confusing!...and a bit of an embarrassing question to ask!

Fundy has explained it really well, I'll just add one extra bit; the 'monthly medal' is a strokeplay competition, never stableford. 'Medal' play is often used as a synonym for strokeplay. Many clubs will also have a monthly stableford. As LT said, phrases like 'swindle' only exist inside golf clubs so don't be embarrassed to ask.

 

[Foxholer]

'Swindles' tend to be a group of golfers who play together, often with their own 'charges,rules and handicapping'. At one previous club, there were 4 separate groups. Most cost a pound or 2, with money generally being returned based on scoring. There was 1 group that had some serious gamblers in it,was a tenner (or maybe 20, of which a tenner went for 'afters') to play (early-mid 2000s) and divided into gamblers and non-gamblers. I played in it (in the non-gamblers 'section') a few times, as well as my regular one and it certainly focused my play!

Rollups are exactly that - or occasionally a 'synonymn' for Swindle. A standard number of Tee Times are booked and groups arranged by some method within the group - thus, players merely roll up rather than booking tee times. If 'Swindle mode', then groupings are done within the group; if 'non-Swindle' mode, then likely done by Pro shop or Club in a first-come basis.

Medals and Stablefords have already been explained.

 

[jim8flog]

Is it common to always have entry fees for saturday competitions? I dont think ive heard about that at our club

I have never known otherwise. The winnings normally go in to ProShop accounts so it is a way of supporting them as well.

 

[larmen]

One difference is that we play comps of the white tees and roll ups of the yellow tee. You can score well in roll ups and don’t get handicap cuts.
I am looking forward to the WHS for that as well.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Our weekend competitions are drawn from 7.30-11.00 and in the summer there is then the option to roll up in three and fours and enter the competition via pro shop as long as at least three (in the four ball) are entering the comp and all three in the three ball are doing so.

We had/have a number of roll ups at set times throughout the week all known by their own nicknames and are open to all. They are publicised on the website and new members are made aware of them as part of their introduction pack. The one I run on a Saturday draws the balls at 7.45 and are on the tee by 8.00 and usually vary between 12 and 24. The Sunday one I play in draws at the same time but can be much bigger so we split and play off the first and tenth so we don't hold any casual players up. With booked times meaning we can't block book and the clubs reticence to clear slots for each group (and I do see their point) then it is on hiatus as the whole point of ours is going out as a group and then paying out the cash for the winners asap after

 

[backwoodsman]

As others have said "Sweeps" are casual competitions between by groups of members and organised by themselves. They are not official club competitions. Be aware, they also go by a wide variety of names depending on the club. Sweep, Swindle, Roll-up, Fiddle, Greedy are all the same thing. There are, no doubt, more names out there. And although there may be several "sweeps" during a week, they may not necessarily involve the same groups of people - although often there's cross-over.

 

[davidy233]

To complicate it in Scotland a sweep is sometimes only the monetary part of a competition - I've played at clubs where you didn't have to pay to enter the formal club competitions (medals etc.) and you could win but if you didn't pay you wouldn't get the winners share of the 'sweepie' (which is how the entrance cash pot is referred to) - a sweep is also an informal raffle nothing to do with golf - amateur football clubs often have sweeps to raise funds.