Entering club competitions

[Vikingman]

Could I ask how your entry to your club competitions works?

Several in my area "go live" at a given time and it's a free for all to book a time.

Is this now common around the country?

If so, what is the common consensus, are members happy or not?

Also, does the quality of your broadband give you an advantage/ disadvantage in booking?

I would be very interested in your replies.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Ours goes live 7 days before. We book online using the BRS system. It works very well for us, members are happy with it but I should add, we do not have a large membership and so it is not difficult to get a time.

A nearby club posts up it's time sheet on a Wednesday evening before the Saturday comp in their bar. If you don't go then you get what is left when it is posted in the changing room the following day. You can not book for the comp online, you have to go in or phone up, from Thursday only. I would not join this club with the system they run. I'm an online man ?.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Could I ask how your entry to your club competitions works?

Several in my area "go live" at a given time and it's a free for all to book a time.

Is this now common around the country?

If so, what is the common consensus, are members happy or not?

Also, does the quality of your broadband give you an advantage/ disadvantage in booking?

I would be very interested in your replies.

We are going to be putting up a specific competition start sheet a week in advance of the competition. You can't book a specific time but will be able to book into a time zone and it'll be drawn from there. If you don't want a booked tee time then you can roll up once all the tee times have gone out. At the moment, booking has been fastest finger first and whether broadband plays a part I don't know

 

[Vikingman]

I think the issue is less "there's not enough slots" and more "there's not enough slots at the required times".

Normally at this time of year X% are on holiday and Y% would be in work so numbers who want to play are higher.

Are other people experiencing difficulty getting the times they want?

 

[nickjdavis]

The normal process under non Covid conditions is...

We put a sheet up about a month before the comp is due. Folks sign up and indicate broadly whether they want an early, middle or late tee time (these are relative terms...comp will start around 7.30am and number of entries effectively determines what constitutes a late tee time...usually around 11am).

Ten days before the comp the sheet is taken down and a "draw" done by a committee member that takes into account the players tee off preference as much as possible. Eight days before the comp the tee times are published on the web and within the clubhouse.

If players want to enter after the draw is published they have to ring the pro-shop where they will be put on a reserve list.

If players turn up on the day on the off chance that someone pulls out without notice then they can but there's no guarantee that they will get a game (I've never known someone NOT get a game...its just not guaranteed!!)

 

[Robster59]

Our competition booking is done through HowDidIDo. Historically it goes up three weeks before the comp and then closes one week beforehand. We've been using that process for a while. The only controversy we have is that, at the moment, there are more people than we have spaces for the first two comps.
However, all other bookings are done via BRS so whether the competition booking system will change over time I honestly don't know.

 

[patricks148]

we have two types, Silver which are the big ones and are all by draw, you put your name down for your pref times slots (2 hour block) and the monthly where you just book a time and play with partners of your choice. Pay the entry fee in the pro shop before playing.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Main Club Comps are drawn, entry sheet put up in Clubhouse 3 weeks prior to Comp.

Normal weekend Comps, (pre Covid) entry via computer in Clubhouse only from 18:30hrs on thursday (8 days before) then opened up on internet to all 09:00hrs on the friday morning. Currently BRS opens at 09:00hrs on the friday for all.

No issue with timings or availability with slots, those wanting specific times turn up at Clubhouse, those happy with any time wait till the friday morning.

Works well for us and no issues as far as I’m aware.

 

[Bdill93]

Our competition booking is done through HowDidIDo. Historically it goes up three weeks before the comp and then closes one week beforehand. We've been using that process for a while. The only controversy we have is that, at the moment, there are more people than we have spaces for the first two comps.
However, all other bookings are done via BRS so whether the competition booking system will change over time I honestly don't know.

My club is more or less the same as this! Everything goes through the Howdidido app/ website.

At present, competitions are massively in demand though. Huge influx of new and returning golfers (of which I am one) has lead to huge demand.

 

[PJ87]

Ours is book a tee time anytime for the day. With someone to play with ofc

If you want to enter pay the fee at reception of £5

Hand card in at end

Results announced in few days (covid .. cards are left untouched for 3 days)

 

[Jimbof]

We enter the competition (individually, or in a group) a fortnight prior to the competiiton and specify one of 5 time ranges. Draw is done 1 week before the competition and posted. Generally we will have around 15-30 reserves who cannot get the slot that they want (generally early morning - we start at 7am) and they are automatically inserted as a slot appears. If there are any later timeslots available they can enter their names in those (as can anyone else who didn't enter the competition). Competition timeslots are form 7am until 4pm at 9 min intervals. Usually all will be taken.

 

[jim8flog]

Our tee booking goes live online 8 days in advance at 8pm* and it is free for for all, (as it should be we all pay the same membership fee), a player is allowed to book 3 other players in to the same tee slot, . Booking can be made by phoning the club the next day onwards.

If it is an optional comp you can book to play in it any time right up until the tee time you have booked either online or by phoning the club.

If entry is mandatory - for online booking in advance then you have to enter in the comp first and then book a tee time.

Having superfast broadband is a definite advantage to get the tee time you want, by 8.01 all virtually all morning slots have gone except for a single player slot here and there.

We have had online tee booking slots for most slots for many years now. When we went to all booked slots there was one or two particular groups very much against it but it has all settled down now as they have realised they are still getting their 'normal' tee times. It was very much appreciated by those that had to turn up 5am on the Saturday before to get their desired slot for the following Saturday

*The decision to go to 8pm was to avoid loads of players phoning the club to book.

 

[Orikoru]

In the old world we used to simply sign the sheet in the pro shop before teeing off, put your 3 quid in an envelope and post into the lockbox.

Since lockdown they've now set it up so you can enter the comp on Howdidido, or for those who don't know how to work a smartphone they can just text or email the club secretary to say they are entering the comp. After the round we can enter our score on Howdidido as well, plus we send a photograph of the score card to the club sec for verification. That's a lot of photos he has to go through, and consequently we don't tend to get the results of the comps and handicap changes until the following Thursday or Friday. I'm still waiting for my cut to be confirmed from Saturday for example. But I don't think there's much of a way round it.

The worst part is getting tee times at the moment. Our club plays at a public course, and the council have elected not to uphold our reserved Saturday morning club times that we used to have - you just book online on Golfnow and it's first come first served. So some of the members who aren't that quick off the mark have not been able to get times and thus can't enter the comps, and they're understandable annoyed about that. A few of them have moved onto other clubs because of it, and it's a real shame because there's nothing our actual club can do about it - it's the council.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Our tee booking goes live online 8 days in advance at 8pm* and it is free for for all, (as it should be we all pay the same membership fee), a player is allowed to book 3 other players in to the same tee slot, . Booking can be made by phoning the club the next day onwards.

If it is an optional comp you can book to play in it any time right up until the tee time you have booked either online or by phoning the club.

If entry is mandatory - for online booking in advance then you have to enter in the comp first and then book a tee time.

Having superfast broadband is a definite advantage to get the tee time you want, by 8.01 all virtually all morning slots have gone except for a single player slot here and there.

We have had online tee booking slots for most slots for many years now. When we went to all booked slots there was one or two particular groups very much against it but it has all settled down now as they have realised they are still getting their 'normal' tee times. It was very much appreciated by those that had to turn up 5am on the Saturday before to get their desired slot for the following Saturday

*The decision to go to 8pm was to avoid loads of players phoning the club to book.

Re the bit in bold, does your Club not have any age category memberships? Also, do all your members have internet access at home?

 

[jim8flog]

Re the bit in bold, does your Club not have any age category memberships? Also, do all your members have internet access at home?

Only under 25 categories, for over 25 we mainly have day based categories and things like corporate membership. At one time we had an over 65s discount for those with 20+ years of membership but there are very few left who get the discount, we stopped it being available to additional OAPS about 15 to 20 years ago.

Based upon members willing to supply an email address to us we reckon on about 5% of the members not having a computer, they can always arrange for someone else to book them in, which happens with some of the guys I play with.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Specific time a week in advance and a free for all. However for such as this Saturday's medal - that you cannot get one of the tee times reserved for the medal does not (or should not - it's the first since lockdown relaxed so not sure) exclude you from playing in the medal. You should be able to just let the Pro Shop know that you are playing in the medal. Not sure how you submit your score as IG won't accommodate scores in a comp if you are not actually playing within the comp window as defined in IG.

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

We play our club comps on a Saturday and booking goes live at 9am on the Monday before. As a 9 hole course, currently only playing in 2 balls, we only have 66 places up for grabs and within 20 seconds of the site opening you can guarentee that all the prime times have gone and within 2 minutes there are only about 10 places still available.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

Book in advance into set time groups - then random draw within that group making sure that co-habiting couples are not in the same group. Spare slots at the end although some restrictions on that after it became noticed that the same 2/3 people were always getting themselves into a group at the end.

 

[rapper]

In the old world we used to simply sign the sheet in the pro shop before teeing off, put your 3 quid in an envelope and post into the lockbox.

Since lockdown they've now set it up so you can enter the comp on Howdidido, or for those who don't know how to work a smartphone they can just text or email the club secretary to say they are entering the comp. After the round we can enter our score on Howdidido as well, plus we send a photograph of the score card to the club sec for verification. That's a lot of photos he has to go through, and consequently we don't tend to get the results of the comps and handicap changes until the following Thursday or Friday. I'm still waiting for my cut to be confirmed from Saturday for example. But I don't think there's much of a way round it.

The worst part is getting tee times at the moment. Our club plays at a public course, and the council have elected not to uphold our reserved Saturday morning club times that we used to have - you just book online on Golfnow and it's first come first served. So some of the members who aren't that quick off the mark have not been able to get times and thus can't enter the comps, and they're understandable annoyed about that. A few of them have moved onto other clubs because of it, and it's a real shame because there's nothing our actual club can do about it - it's the council.

Our club sounds like yours and what used to happen pre covid thursday morning up to 6 tee times reserved for the senior section from about 9am on wards then same day ladies section reserved about 4 tee times from 10.30 am
Saturdays and Sundays first 2 hours reserved for club comps.
The senior section play 6 home and away games consisting of teams up 16 each side home and away basis so how does your club accommodate these requirements re reserving time as our Trust are making noises that there should be no preference given to anyone or any section ,even though we are generating meals on each home match and drinks?
How does your club accommodate societies bookings?

 

[Orikoru]

Our club sounds like yours and what used to happen pre covid thursday morning up to 6 tee times reserved for the senior section from about 9am on wards then same day ladies section reserved about 4 tee times from 10.30 am
Saturdays and Sundays first 2 hours reserved for club comps.
The senior section play 6 home and away games consisting of teams up 16 each side home and away basis so how does your club accommodate these requirements re reserving time as our Trust are making noises that there should be no preference given to anyone or any section ,even though we are generating meals on each home match and drinks?
How does your club accommodate societies bookings?

As I said it's council-run public course. At the moment they are giving the impression that they're not bothered if there even is a member's club playing there or not, let alone giving priorities on times etc. It's literally just first come first served booking through GolfNow, and they are filling the times and making their money so they don't care.