Competitions

[nickjdavis]

At my place all Sunday comps (medals, named Stableford, scrambles, *somes and *balls are mixed.... ladies free to enter.

The ladies also have their own dedicated slots on Tuesdays and Thursdays as do the seniors. We also hold a midweek Stableford on every third Thursdays of the month which again is green for all to enter.

The only gender specific comps we have are the various matchplay knockouts and the Club Championships.

We do have two different demographics of ladies at our clubs.....1) those who largely prefer to play as ladies only and mainly play on the Tuesdays and Thursdays... these do tend to be the older, retired ladies who are either single and/or whos husbands play in the seniors section during the midweek2) those who largely play at weekends and whos husbands also tend to play at weekends, both socially and competitively.

There is a small degree of crossover between the two groups but by and large the distinctions do exist.

 

[Digger]

So what you saying....you can't get out at the weekends because your busy...that's fair enough. If your busy with the various chores then at least let your wife out to play

Ok, you got me

 

[jim8flog]

Very much varies at our club on Saturdays depending upon the actual competition.

Saturday without a men's trophy being played for we usually run a men's and a ladies competition concurrently.

Mixed comps ie ladies playing in a team or as 4bbb pairing are only played when the specific competition is in that format.

Non comp Saturdays, 34 times a month winter and 2/3 a month summer, course is open to all sexes and ages.


Juniors have to play with an adult in comps.

 

[jim8flog]

The biggest complaint we have from the ladies is about other ladies.

The ladies have a comp virtually every Tuesday but they can only get to play in it if they are able to play by tee off 12 noon. The ladies that complain want it to be available to enter all day and not just in the ladies only allocated tee times of 9.30-noon.

 

[AmandaJR]

Whilst we have a fairly big and active Ladies section we have very few that work as playing at weekends is very difficult. Tuesdays is Ladies day and tee reserved from 10am to 12.30pm. During the season the Men's monthly medal has the tee reserved completely on the Sat and from about 8am to 2pm on the Sunday. Plus of course many other boarded comps which take up a similar amount of tee time. The Seniors (Men only) have the tee reserved a couple of Wednesday's each month and that's of both tees. They also roll up on Mon and Fri from 8am and again go off both tees. Oh - the Ladies do have 3 "Big" days - Spring Meeting, Captain's Day and Autumn Meeting. All played on a Tuesday but off both tees - some of the guys who play before or after the Ladies every Tuesday find that extremely upsetting!

In terms of mixed golf - Bank Holidays and alternate Sunday's through winter (11am to 12pm usually) and the roll up monthly midweek Stableford.

Overall I don't think we get a fair deal - but I can make it work for me and I love the course so prepared to put up with it.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I think the problem with this debate is that it always seems to be about men and women's golf and comps and misses the actual crux of the issue which is that different people are able to play at different times.

Historically, that probably did break down such that men worked and women didn't and weekends for men, midweek for women was just what was practical. Now, however, people's working patterns and work/life balance are radically different; most women do work, people work shift patterns / weekends etc. What's needed is a sea change such that there are competition options midweek and at the weekend that are open to everyone and that no times are barred to anyone based on an arbitrary discriminator such as gender.

To me, the answer is that either all comps are mixed or that each comp has a male and a female category. It's not fair to block out the course for a period of hours for an event that some of the members are not eligible to enter; whether that's the working female who can only play weekends or the shift working male who can only play midweek.

I hope that club members can see the bigger picture eventually instead of just defending the status quo that suits their own situation. Certainly it's very hard to see how we can ever get a younger demographic into ladies sections if the course isn't available when it suits them.

 

[Birdie2]

That's very common in lots of clubs, a crude compromise to allow women to play comps at the weekend but better than nothing.

I used to play at a club that ran the same comp Saturday and Sunday. Ridiculous decision as the British weather often dictates the scoring. Should be one comp on one day but apparently to many complaints from the 'shirt and tie brigade' if they stopped it

 

[AmandaJR]

I think the problem with this debate is that it always seems to be about men and women's golf and comps and misses the actual crux of the issue which is that different people are able to play at different times.

Historically, that probably did break down such that men worked and women didn't and weekends for men, midweek for women was just what was practical. Now, however, people's working patterns and work/life balance are radically different; most women do work, people work shift patterns / weekends etc. What's needed is a sea change such that there are competition options midweek and at the weekend that are open to everyone and that no times are barred to anyone based on an arbitrary discriminator such as gender.

To me, the answer is that either all comps are mixed or that each comp has a male and a female category. It's not fair to block out the course for a period of hours for an event that some of the members are not eligible to enter; whether that's the working female who can only play weekends or the shift working male who can only play midweek.

I hope that club members can see the bigger picture eventually instead of just defending the status quo that suits their own situation. Certainly it's very hard to see how we can ever get a younger demographic into ladies sections if the course isn't available when it suits them.

Well said Karen...not in our lifetime I fear :-(

 

[fundy]

I used to play at a club that ran the same comp Saturday and Sunday. Ridiculous decision as the British weather often dictates the scoring. Should be one comp on one day but apparently to many complaints from the 'shirt and tie brigade' if they stopped it

club ive just left ran their midweek comps over 5 days, worked great, sometimes you got better or worse conditions but at least it gave more people a chance to play in it than limiting it to a few hours slot on one midweek day as so many clubs do

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Historically, that probably did break down such that men worked and women didn't and weekends for men, midweek for women was just what was practical. Now, however, people's working patterns and work/life balance are radically different; most women do work, people work shift patterns / weekends etc. What's needed is a sea change such that there are competition options midweek and at the weekend that are open to everyone and that no times are barred to anyone based on an arbitrary discriminator such as gender.

To me, the answer is that either all comps are mixed or that each comp has a male and a female category. It's not fair to block out the course for a period of hours for an event that some of the members are not eligible to enter; whether that's the working female who can only play weekends or the shift working male who can only play midweek..

Completely.

Funnily enough on the way to the away club was talking to the wife about the tee situation we have at the away club and what the problem is and we came to the same conclusion you say above, it isn't the 'single sex' comp that is the problem its the fact that the tee time is blocked out for a set long time(in winter all the daylight hours every Saturday) for one part of the membership, for this example men(other days/times other parts of the membership).

Doesn't bother us whether the tee times lead to separate mixed, gents, ladies, seniors comp etc but the tee times should be available and as someone else mention maybe comps should be run over a few days to allow all to enter.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We tend to run comps on one day of the weekend for men and the other for the women so the tees aren't booked out completely and gives social golfers a chance to get out at a reasonable time

 

[Crazyface]

Major problem at many clubs I suspect. My current club is very good, the women have Saturday morning blocked out from 9-11 for their comps, the men are, I think, 8-10 on a Sunday. Outside of those times anyone can book a time, male or female, whether playing in the comp or not. A woman can book 10.07 on a Sunday, a man can play in the comp at 2pm on a Sunday. Plenty of flexibility.

Most clubs in the area will have Saturday block booked 7-4 for men's comps, effectively making women's membership a 6 day one.

Last time my wife played the lady captain asked if she would play comps. "When are they? Wednesdays. I work. Really? Oh dear." Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Mine had this problem when she was a member. The main ladies comps were on a Sunday at 12 noon, when she was making our Sunday lunch, and that is priority 1.

 

[Crazyface]

The biggest complaint we have from the ladies is about other ladies.

The ladies have a comp virtually every Tuesday but they can only get to play in it if they are able to play by tee off 12 noon. The ladies that complain want it to be available to enter all day and not just in the ladies only allocated tee times of 9.30-noon.

And what's the problem then? Just let the comp be held all day. Tee times don't have to be reserved just rock up, sign in and play in it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

And what's the problem then? Just let the comp be held all day. Tee times don't have to be reserved just rock up, sign in and play in it.

That sounds like joined up thinking and has no place on here on in running a golf club

 

[Crazyface]

That sounds like joined up thinking and has no place on here on in running a golf club

It works for us for mid-week comps and some medals that are held on Saturday (main comp day is Sunday). I'd love to mix the mens and ladies up together on comp day. Men play in their comp, ladies play in their comp, but both are playing together. This would free up about three hours on a Sunday for general play. (mid morning 10.30 to 1.30).

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

And what's the problem then? Just let the comp be held all day. Tee times don't have to be reserved just rock up, sign in and play in it.

We have been doing this for years, seems to work ok.