How is your club night run?

Kennysarmy

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We have a regular "club night" - 9 holes on a Wednesday from 3.30 pm, format is stableford off your "club night" handicap.

There are 3 main divisions; Men 0-14, Men 15-28 & Ladies.

Club night runs from April to September over 26 weeks with your best 13 stableford scores to form your total.

If on the night you have the top score in your division you are cut 3 shots, seconds place is a 2 shot cut and 3rd is a one shot cut, additionally you're cut a shot for any points scored over 20! (I've seen guys cut 7 shots in one night!)

There are prizes for places 1 down to about 15 in each division come the presentation night BUT the overall winner of club night is the person from any division with the top score.

Now here is the thing, there are a lot more people taking part in the Men's 15 to 28 division - and therefore on each evening they are less likely to get cut!

This makes things a little unfair and numbers this year seem to be down even more in the 0-14 division.

In normal club competitions there are also tiered cuts depending on your handicap so lower handicap golfers don't get as severely cut as high handicappers - not so in our club night - same rules for all.

I'm now playing club night off +2! (Normal handicap 9)

I wondered what people's views are on this and if your "club night" had a fairer system or just something that encouraged people to play! (We have a situation where if the weather is n't so great and numbers are down you can end up getting cut with a relatively low score so you start thinking is it worth going if people are giving the night a miss)
 

Capella

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We don't have anything like that, I think. Why is it neccessary to have a separate handicap for it? Are they played off different tees than regular comps? Or are the 9 holes noticable easier/harder than the rest of the course?

We do have two different after work 9-hole comp series at my home club. One is played on Fridays and one on Tuesdays once a month. They are totally regular handicap qualifying comps (except for category 1 players, who cannot play qualifying 9-hole comps ... they can play it as a non-qualifier, though). For the prizes it is ususally divided into two roughly evenly sized handicap divisions (usually one for everyone below a 20 handicap and one for everyone above ... it can vary a bit, depending on who is playing). The divisions are of mixed gender ... women play of the reds and men of the yellows.
 

HomerJSimpson

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We have a regular "club night" - 9 holes on a Wednesday from 3.30 pm, format is stableford off your "club night" handicap.

There are 3 main divisions; Men 0-14, Men 15-28 & Ladies.

Club night runs from April to September over 26 weeks with your best 13 stableford scores to form your total.

If on the night you have the top score in your division you are cut 3 shots, seconds place is a 2 shot cut and 3rd is a one shot cut, additionally you're cut a shot for any points scored over 20! (I've seen guys cut 7 shots in one night!)

There are prizes for places 1 down to about 15 in each division come the presentation night BUT the overall winner of club night is the person from any division with the top score.

Now here is the thing, there are a lot more people taking part in the Men's 15 to 28 division - and therefore on each evening they are less likely to get cut!

This makes things a little unfair and numbers this year seem to be down even more in the 0-14 division.

In normal club competitions there are also tiered cuts depending on your handicap so lower handicap golfers don't get as severely cut as high handicappers - not so in our club night - same rules for all.

I'm now playing club night off +2! (Normal handicap 9)

I wondered what people's views are on this and if your "club night" had a fairer system or just something that encouraged people to play! (We have a situation where if the weather is n't so great and numbers are down you can end up getting cut with a relatively low score so you start thinking is it worth going if people are giving the night a miss)
We have a supper club on a Wednesday over 9 holes but they vary which 9 and the format (tonight is 3 club and a putter, last week it was red, yellow, whites) and you start off on your club handicap. Get 20 points or more and its a 1 shot cut for 3 weeks, win and its 4 shots x 3 weeks and come second and its 2 shots x 3 weeks. Winner takes the pot but is then expected (in fact it is a rule of supper club) that they must buy all the participants a drink from their winnings.

Some very large differences in handicaps emerging but cash getting spread far and wide. Two decent menu choices on offer and even in the pouring rain the other week they had 20+ players. Its run as a club greedy/swindle and is very popular
 

TheJezster

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We have a weekly swindle, which is Thursday evening. ANyone can join, including non members. First 10 holes, with a Thursday swindle handicap and a designed swindle card with SI's etc printed on

Top 3 place with the winner having to buy a drink for the person with the lowest score on the night.

At the end of the run, which is usually April till around September I think, there is a Swindle evening gathering with drinks for everyone who took part.

It's a good night and a great way to introduce non members to the club
 

Grant85

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We have a regular "club night" - 9 holes on a Wednesday from 3.30 pm, format is stableford off your "club night" handicap.

There are 3 main divisions; Men 0-14, Men 15-28 & Ladies.

Club night runs from April to September over 26 weeks with your best 13 stableford scores to form your total.

If on the night you have the top score in your division you are cut 3 shots, seconds place is a 2 shot cut and 3rd is a one shot cut, additionally you're cut a shot for any points scored over 20! (I've seen guys cut 7 shots in one night!)

There are prizes for places 1 down to about 15 in each division come the presentation night BUT the overall winner of club night is the person from any division with the top score.

Now here is the thing, there are a lot more people taking part in the Men's 15 to 28 division - and therefore on each evening they are less likely to get cut!

This makes things a little unfair and numbers this year seem to be down even more in the 0-14 division.

In normal club competitions there are also tiered cuts depending on your handicap so lower handicap golfers don't get as severely cut as high handicappers - not so in our club night - same rules for all.

I'm now playing club night off +2! (Normal handicap 9)

I wondered what people's views are on this and if your "club night" had a fairer system or just something that encouraged people to play! (We have a situation where if the weather is n't so great and numbers are down you can end up getting cut with a relatively low score so you start thinking is it worth going if people are giving the night a miss)

Never played in anything like that BUT is this a proper competition with handicap adjustments anyway... or just informal?

Personally think the chopping of 3 or more shots is completely over the top. Imagine a 7 handicap having one good night and getting cup 4 or 5 shots in April? He's basically got no chance of winning or shooting anything near 18 points any other night without pretty much holing everything. If someone was being tactical on this they would pro actively hold back if they were on a great round early in the year and collect a load of 18 / 19 point evenings as it would be suicide to throw in a 22 pointer in April. Your best chance is to shoot the best rounds towards the end of the season.

The fact you are already having the best 12 scores over 6 months already averages out for people who have particularly good days and lets some people drop some of their worst days, as well as potentially rewarding the people who turn up more often and give themselves additional chances to improve on their best 12 scores and drop some of their poorer scores. Also having the sections with low handicap and hackers evens things out a bit.

I am always amazed the way people think the handicap system needs manipulated as if it is just a starting point and anyone who has a good round is automatically at it and should get a total chopping. If people play regularly and post scores a few times a month, their handicap should be a good reflection of their ability on a good day. I know every club has the odd bandit who shoots buffer in every medal, but as soon as their is a 20 man sweep he is 4 or 5 under. But most people aren't like this.

If I was going to run something like this I would say just keep everyone's handicaps as their main handicap and make an adjustment of 90% of handicap due to Stableford being a more forgiving format.
 

Kennysarmy

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I'll try to answer some of the questions:

Why is it neccessary to have a separate handicap for it?
You start off on your normal handicap but if you come in the top 3 in any subsequent week you get cut - so effectively you are then playing off a "club night" handicap.


Are they played off different tees than regular comps? Or are the 9 holes noticable easier/harder than the rest of the course?
Men are off the yellow tees and the ladies off the reds.

I assume he is referring to the tiered cuts depending on which category golfer you are. Cat 1 cut 0.1, cat 2 cut 0.2 etc
Exactly that - in normal club comps. a Cat 1 golfer would not be cut the same as a Cat 3 golfer for shooting the same amount over expected stableford points.

Never played in anything like that BUT is this a proper competition with handicap adjustments anyway... or just informal?
It's informal so much as anyone can turn up on the night who has an active handicap and play - but it's proper in that the prizes dished out at the end of the year are generally much bigger than is won in any other club competition. It costs £3 per person to enter each week, with around 70-80 people playing each week, over 26 weeks they generate an awful lot of money. For finishing in the top 3 each week you just get golf ball prizes, they also have spot prizes each week for nearest the pins and longest drives etc.

It just irks me that the Div. 2 players (who've won the overall highest score for the year for the last couple of seasons) have such a massive advantage to winning overall.

The current Div 2 leader is already on 190 (11 scores entered) points and the Div 1 second placed guy is only on 169 (11 scores entered)

The Div 2 leader has only been cut 3 shots (19 to 16) and the Div 1 leader has been cut 13 shots (11 to +2)
 

Kennysarmy

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3.30pm is the middle of the day!!!

Kirriemuir Golf Club are holding a Texas Scramble on Friday which has a shotgun start at 7pm.

Haha - lots of retired people play!
The first tee is reserved for club night use from 3.30 until 6.30 and all cards need to be handed in to the organisers for checking before 8.15 pm and then shortly afterwards they award the night's prizes and advise of the associated handicap cuts.

Someone made the point above about manipulating your scores and they are dead right, to stand any chance of winning your division you never want to shoot above 20 and ideally want to finish in 3rd place and no higher each week to maximise your handicap for subsequent weeks.
 

Big_G

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Ours is on a Wednesday night there's a couple of rollups, usual handicaps used, chef lays on a few specials for the evening

Just a fun night for a couple of quid, pie and a pint after with plenty of banter, it's what the club is all about for me, a great social night
 

Wolf

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We have a Tuesday Thrash, which has an order of merit over the course of the season itself. Varies which 9 we play each week, normally told in the pro shop when entering comp. It's also qualifying comp so any cuts are done based on actual handicap rather than just chopping someone 3 shots for the sake of it.

Would seem hugely unfair to me if it was winner gets slapped with a big cut like that. Our place probably has more real scoring opportunities on the back 9 so could be a winner of anything up to about 22 points I guess. But front 9 I've seen won with 16 points. Imagine winning with 16 points because it's a harder 9 with the winds we get then next week you're struggling to get within 5 shots of handicap doesn't seem right to me
 

JohnnyDee

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We used to have a Wednesday evening roll-up Stableford over 11 holes off full handicap. No cuts*

It was my first sort of 'proper comp'. I was a newbie to club golf and had been given a handicap of 26 after my 3 cards, however I came down very quickly - I think because I had played a lot of pitch and putt as a young teenager on a great little municipal par 3 course (not as a club member - I honestly didn't even know what a bandit was let alone seek to be one) and I was also a demon putter back then before lots of real club golf took its toll and taught me a lesson. ;)

I mention banditry because I became notorious for scoring 33 & 34 points on consecutive weeks and as a result I was *docked 2 shots each time against my official handicap under general play. I was delighted about this too as I wanted to get as low as possible.

Sadly we don't have this event now as it died a death about 15 years ago. Still miss it, and as was mentioned, such events are a great way to integrate new club members and allow them to meet people they often subsequently become great friends with.
 
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SwingsitlikeHogan

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We don;t have club night such as yours - but for Saturday am roll-up (32 played in it last weekend) we have a single category - random draw for groups (3 or 4 balls and format according to numbers). You play to your roll-up handicap.

Your RU H/cap starts as your exact club handicap and is adjusted according to any winners winnings you pocket. When clocks go forward and when clocks go back your roll-up handicap is reset to your exact club handicap. If you win - your handicap gets cut 0.1 for every pound you received from the pot as a winner. For 32 players that would probably have been about £16 - so winner would have had their roll-up handicap cut 1.6.

The roll-up handicap does not go back up until it is reset. This is how we aim to prevent any one individual scooping the winners pot too often. Clearly a player may hit a good streak and win a few times over a short period - but if you are off say 16.0 - and over say 5 weeks win it three times and £16 each time - you will have been cut to 14.4 then to 12.8 then to 11.2. Tough then to win the pot further playing off a RU h/cap of 11.2 when your club h/cap might still be 16.0

it's a right bugR if you are a mid-low SF handicapper and win with 32 in the field :)
 

Kennysarmy

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I'm now having to play of +4 (9 handicapper) so was pretty pleased to get 12 points last night - especially as I was stood on the 9th tee needing a birdie to score 12 and knock off my worst score of 11.

The guy winning Div. 1 last night got 17 pts and was cut 3 shots!
In Div. 2 17 pts did n't even get a cut!!!!
 

Britishshooting

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Tuesday evenings 6pm shotgun start.

Every week is a random and 'fun' pairs or full team format.

This weeks was 2 man Texas scramble and the other pair chooses your worse shot of the two and you play that. It's all just random formats to make it the least serious it can be.

It's got a lot of new members involved and got them familiar with existing members so they feel more welcome.

Entry is £5

Includes pie and peas or sandwiches and chips post round.

First place usually bags £15-20 per person.

For £1 you can buy a raffle ticket, one of the numbers is drawn and that person has the opportunity to play a game which comprises of 7 envelopes, 6 containing £5 and 1 containing the bonus amount which is currently at £750. The captain prior to you opening barters with you to try and buy your envelope, but everybody just opens it instead and more often than not wins £5.
 

jim8flog

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We have a whole load of swindles/ roll ups where I play but none of them are run by the club.

We have a lot of mid week and weekend (various days) optional medals.
 
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