Would you enter an open if there were no prizes?

[MACM85]

I don't consider the prizes when I enter the opens. All about getting a better rate to play a nice course for a fraction of the usual price.

 

[Billysboots]

I don’t play opens to win prizes. I play to enjoy some quality golf courses with good company, at a decent price.

The key for me is the entry fee. Opens are a great way of playing good courses at a price invariably well below the standard green fee. A coffee and a bite to eat are bonuses.

 

[Old Colner]

Pretty much the same as the majority of posters for me, select the venue due to the value and hopefully enjoy a good day out with friends, don't get me wrong we are all trying to win and it's great when that happens although not often these days.

We usually pay £20-£30 once a month with maybe a more expensive one in the middle of summer.

 

[Golfnut1957]

We are playing one at Hartlepool next week and I don't even know if there is a prize, it wasn't a consideration. We're playing because of the much reduced rate at a course we like.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

And so we have the answer to why at least some folks manipulate their handicap…slash the prize money - less incentive and the vast majority of us don’t care about it.

 

[Swango1980]

And so we have the answer to why at least some folks manipulate their handicap…slash the prize money - less incentive and the vast majority of us don’t care about it.

I'm not so sure. I reckon some folk will happily cheat in a social round with a mate, let alone a comp with big prizes. Perhaps token prizes would alleviate it a little, but I reckon the types of people that manipulate their handicap upwards would still happily do it even if it meant they won a fiver in a roll up or a free cup of coffee bought by the loser of a match

 

[hambugerpete]

I'm not so sure. I reckon some folk will happily cheat in a social round with a mate, let alone a comp with big prizes. Perhaps token prizes would alleviate it a little, but I reckon the types of people that manipulate their handicap upwards would still happily do it even if it meant they won a fiver in a roll up or a free cup of coffee bought by the loser of a match

Yeah gotta agree, the prizes in the alleged open cheaters thread hardly sounded amazing.
I've seen people cheat in medal rounds , society days and even social games.
For some it's just what they do and the prize doesn't matter .

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'm not so sure. I reckon some folk will happily cheat in a social round with a mate, let alone a comp with big prizes. Perhaps token prizes would alleviate it a little, but I reckon the types of people that manipulate their handicap upwards would still happily do it even if it meant they won a fiver in a roll up or a free cup of coffee bought by the loser of a match

Wasn’t really thinking about the casual cheating that some indulge in on a round by round basis…thinking more of the systematic cheating involved with handicap manipulation and for which there may be more serious consequences.

 

[nickjdavis]

I've booked 2 opens for 2025.

One of them requires a round trip of 4.4 miles to play 36 holes at, what I consider to be the best course in my area, for less than half the daily rate. I haven't got a clue that the prizes are on offer.

The other requires a 1,200 mile round trip to play effectively at least 5 rounds, or possibly as many as 8 rounds should i progress through the matchplay stages, for the sum of £160. This open is an opportunity for me to revisit a place where I once lived back in the 1970's and where I first swung a golf club 9 (even though i didn't actually properly take up the game until the mid 90's). it is an opportunity for me to renew acquaintances with people who i have met, playing in the same open over the last four years, as well as meeting up with old friends who live in the area.

I know not what the prizes are for the former open, I care not what the prizes are for the latter open....usually though in the past I've walked away with a few vouchers totaling £20-£40...I've still got my prize voucher from last years event, luckily its expiry date will allow me to redeem it when I return this summer.

 

[Bratty]

As with the majority on here, I enter Opens to play quality courses at a discount. The actual prizes don't concern me at all.
That said, I stil detest the cheating that goes on in order to win!!!

 

[patricks148]

what we have as opens are individual comps. i don't tend to enter any purely handicap events now, only those with a scratch prize, though saying that id probably enter more if there were no prizes. now i only play the courses i enjoy playing. Brora, Tain, Nairn, Nairn Dunbar and Moray

though i don't really ever consider the prize list and i don't think i have ever known the prizes before entry to an open, i used to enter at least 20 over the summer. Now though i don't bother to enter comps that i have zero chance of even winning a prize even with a good score.

 

[The Fader]

Removing major prizes wouldn't affect the vast majority of entrants - who would still enter anyway. That includes me.

Removing major prizes would probably thin out the "open professionals". Some would still turn up for the glory of winning but they wouldn't be rewarded with material gains!

Club branded momentos such as ball markers, pitch repairers, towels etc. would be sufficient.

I would much rather any surplus on the day be added to the Captain's 's charity rather than given as prizes.

You have had a good day out with mates, playing a nice course for a discounted greenfee. You are already a winner regardless of how well you play.

 

[Voyager EMH]

If having no prizes meant the entry fees come down a fair whack, I would probably enter more opens.

I hope they would still do a 2s sweep and have nearest the pin prizes.

 

[clubchamp98]

Off topic a bit.
We had an email today to say comp fees have gone up 50p to £3 because the prize fund has been devalued over the years .
So it’s obvious clubs are not of the same mind as us on here about monetary gain for winning a comp.

 

[Chip&Run]

If having no prizes meant the entry fees come down a fair whack, I would probably enter more opens.

I hope they would still do a 2s sweep and have nearest the pin prizes.

Those are possibly the easiest ones to manipulate. I once played with an ex colleague at Royal North Devon in an open and he told me about an incident of a golfer playing in an open he played with the week before, openly asked him after he had parred a par3 to put him down as a 2 and just add the shot onto the next hole because "he'd entered the 2's sweep and his score still adds up".

 

[clubchamp98]

Those are possibly the easiest ones to manipulate. I once played with an ex colleague at Royal North Devon in an open and he told me about an incident of a golfer playing in an open he played with the week before, openly asked him after he had parred a par3 to put him down as a 2 and just add the shot onto the next hole because "he'd entered the 2's sweep and his score still adds up".

Yep that happened to us in a seniors open at ours.
We reported it but heard no more.

 

[Swango1980]

Just realised I voted "No, none of them" (I was the only one), when I actually meant "Yes, all of them". Vote now corrected, Doh

 

[Chip&Run]

Yep that happened to us in a seniors open at ours.
We reported it but heard no more.

I could not believe it. I dont enter 2's for that reason.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

2’s sweep are good when it’s just for a bunch of balls

Recent one was £10 entry

We got a 2 so we were given a box of ad333

 

[mikejohnchapman]

I would only enter an open if I wanted to play the specific course and not for the prizes.