Open competitions - give them a try

[scratch]

It is that time of year when a lot of clubs start to advertise their various open competitions. Most clubs have lots of different types, usually individual, pairs, 4man team, seniors, ladies, junior and mixed events.

For those of you that have never tried playing in one I would urge you to do so. They are a great way to play some really good courses at a greatly reduced rate to the normal green fee.

Lots of them get advertised on websites like singlefiguregolfer.co.uk or golfempire.co.uk. You will also find them on club websites usually under the 'Open competitions' or 'Visitors' tabs.

Over the years I've met lots of great people through opens and made many friends, leading to invites to play their home course and vice versa.

Go on.....you know it makes sense :thup:

 

[fundy]

have a entered a few this year scratch, always enjoyable days, sadly seem to be thin on the ground round here so require a fair bit of travelling

 

[Grumps]

I've always said I'm gonna play new courses this way but never get round to sorting it so mite give those sites a wee look later thanks

 

[FairwayDodger]

I'd second that. I played loads last year, won two, reduced my handicap and generally had a great time playing new courses for relative peanuts.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Not played in many. Been put off by what I would call the handicap massager (aka bandit). However tempted to get back in these not to win anything, but to a) give me more chances to get towards my goal of single figures but b) play some really top courses for a fraction of normal fees.

I've let myself get blinkered by the pot hunters and I've perhaps cut my nose to spite my face. I need to go and play these for me and enjoy it for me. I know I won't be troubling too many trophy tables but like GM forum days that isn't really the point. HID is sick with a migraine so I am on Florence Nightingale duty and no golf, despite wanting to play my 1st round of our Easter comp with Hawkeye this morning so I'm off to look through the options. Anyone got a good site for those in the Berks/Surrey area

 

[fundy]

Not played in many. Been put off by what I would call the handicap massager (aka bandit). However tempted to get back in these not to win anything, but to a) give me more chances to get towards my goal of single figures but b) play some really top courses for a fraction of normal fees.

I've let myself get blinkered by the pot hunters and I've perhaps cut my nose to spite my face. I need to go and play these for me and enjoy it for me. I know I won't be troubling too many trophy tables but like GM forum days that isn't really the point. HID is sick with a migraine so I am on Florence Nightingale duty and no golf, despite wanting to play my 1st round of our Easter comp with Hawkeye this morning so I'm off to look through the options. Anyone got a good site for those in the Berks/Surrey area

Go to golf empire and can search by county

 

[duncan mackie]

Go to golf empire and can search by county

that and make sure you play individual Q events to avoid the gentlemen in sombreros; for some reason they don't turn up to those!

 

[Five&One]

If you play an open anywhere and put a card in, does that score contribute towards increasing or reducing your handicap ? How does that information get passed back to your home course handicap committee ?

Apologies if that is a daft question but haven't had a handicap for years and don't know how it works away from your home course ?

Playing opens sounds like a great idea BTW !!

 

[fundy]

Pretty much all of the individual opens I have played in have been qualifying for handicap purposes. The onus always used to be on the player to return the card to his home club to be processed for handicap and this is what I always do (although I believe there may be a process of the scores being sent to your club as you have an egu number to register for the comp)

 

[Five&One]

Pretty much all of the individual opens I have played in have been qualifying for handicap purposes. The onus always used to be on the player to return the card to his home club to be processed for handicap and this is what I always do (although I believe there may be a process of the scores being sent to your club as you have an egu number to register for the comp)

so do you need two cards signed. One for the competition itself and one to take back to to your own club ?

 

[fundy]

so do you need two cards signed. One for the competition itself and one to take back to to your own club ?

Ive always just asked the oprganisers for the actual card, if they werent happy to do that then have just replicated yes

 

[richart]

I have entered the West Hill foursomes in May. 36 holes which is a bit of a killer. Nice bit of practice on the course before the H4H day there.

 

[scratch]

so do you need two cards signed. One for the competition itself and one to take back to to your own club ?

No all individual scores are now sent back to your home club through the CDH database. Pairs and team scores don't count for handicap purposes.Homer, have a look on the county websites for events.

 

[srixon 1]

And, you get to play the course from the back tees instead of the forward girly tees.

 

[Five&One]

No all individual scores are now sent back to your home club through the CDH database. Pairs and team scores don't count for handicap purposes.Homer, have a look on the county websites for events.

THanks. Loads of Opens in my area later in the year but need to get my handicap down a smidgen for some of them. Still a great idea to play a variety of courses relatively cheaply.

 

[DCB]

More and more entry forms are asking for your CDH number, so hopefully clubs will follow the whole process through and return the relevant scores.

 

[williamalex1]

We always use " the wee yellow book" thats sold in the clubhouse, on internet too i think. It has over 2200 open comps of all cats , it gives all contact details and entry forms for all participating clubs.
I'm think they also have an English version, no joke, just has events down south, the wee blue book ???. BUT YOU MUST HAVE A UP TO DATE CONGU HANDICAP

 

[duncan mackie]

so do you need two cards signed. One for the competition itself and one to take back to to your own club ?

as has been said by DCB the system should handle it now

when you enter, or on the day, you will be asked for a handicap cert, or CDH number. The handicap cert will have your CDH number on it.

you don't need to return a card to your club, but you do need to ensure that the score does get returned (evidence is irrelevant as it is a matter of record what you scored if there are any subsequent issues. what constitutes a returned score is gross stableford adjusted score and the CSS (v) for the round - the date helps.

you are also responsible for adjusting your own handicap straight away if you score better than SSS, or CSS once known. Increases only apply when the system processes them and it's posted to your handicap record.

 

[Bucket92]

Just looked at golf empire, really fancy playing the Pennard links open for just £16! Bargain!

 

[tyke]

Played in a pairs open at Lindrick earlier in the month, excellent way to play top courses for not top money. We played quite well also finishing 5th on countback with 42 points. We played with the actual winners, 2 guys who play on the Trilby tour complete with a caddy each