Organising a golf tournament: formats, scoring and the indoor route

A golf tournament rarely fails because of the course and almost always because of the format. Invite twelve colleagues with handicaps between 8 and 54, set individual stroke play, and you get one winner and eleven people who have stopped competing after nine holes. This piece sorts the formats by group, shows the allowance table, and describes how the day runs, indoors and out.

First question: who is playing?

Three groups, three answers. Club players with handicaps: individual Stableford. A mixed group including beginners: scramble. A company event with people who have never held a club: not a tournament on the course at all, but a format in bays or on a range with targets.

Stableford is the standard because it saves the pace: anyone who can no longer score on a hole picks up and walks on. Scramble is the standard for mixed groups because everyone plays on from the team's best shot and nobody stands alone in the rough.

The allowances the R&A recommends

The Rules of Handicapping list a recommended allowance for every format so that everyone has a similar chance (Appendix C):

Format	Recommended allowance
Individual stroke play, Stableford, Par/Bogey, Maximum Score	95 %
Four-ball stroke play and four-ball Stableford	85 %
Four-ball match play	90 %
Individual match play	100 %
Foursome	50 % of the combined team handicap
Greensome	60 % low / 40 % high
Scramble, two players	35 % low / 15 % high
Scramble, three players	30 / 20 / 10 %
Scramble, four players	25 / 20 / 15 / 10 %

One Swiss particular: for handicap-relevant tournaments and General Play cards, Swiss Golf recommends the full Course Handicap, that is 100 per cent (Swiss Golf). At an internal company event with no handicap scoring you may set the allowances as you like; stick to the table anyway, it is the result of many years of analysis.

What makes a tournament count for handicaps

Not the invitation but the conditions. You need an approved format (individual Stableford, stroke play, Par/Bogey or Maximum Score), at least nine holes, a course with a valid Course and Slope Rating, play under the Rules of Golf, and a confirmed result (Swiss Golf).

A scramble is therefore never handicap-relevant, and neither is a company event played as one. That is not a flaw: it takes the pressure out. Anyone who wants the round for their handicap anyway registers it separately as General Play and then plays their own ball.

How the day runs on a course

Book tee times or a shotgun start through the club office, two to three months ahead for high season. A shotgun start needs as many flights as the course has holes and finishes for everyone at once; tee times at ten-minute intervals are easier to get and stretch across the day.

Allow a good five hours for eighteen holes in a four-ball, and a good two and a half for nine. Nine holes plus an aperitif is almost always the better choice for a company event than eighteen without.

Scoring without software

Small tournaments need no tournament system. One card per flight, one marker per player, the cards to the office or the organiser at the end. In Stableford you count points rather than strokes, and the card does the work if you enter the handicap strokes beforehand.

Handicap-relevant tournaments run through the club and its tournament software, because the result is reported to Swiss Golf. That part you hand over; the office does it every week.

The tournament in a bay

Indoors a tournament works differently and often better, because every shot is measured. Three formats that hold up: closest to the pin on a par 3, longest drive with three attempts, and nine holes of scramble per bay with two teams alternating. None of the three needs allowances, because chance is doing enough work.

The arithmetic is simple: a bay takes four to six people, an hour costs between CHF 39 and 79 depending on the venue, and an evening for twelve needs three bays and two hours. 92 of the 126 venues in the directory state something about group bookings. More on that in A company event in a golf simulator.

What works in winter

From November to March most courses are closed or on winter greens. A tournament then is either indoors or a winter cup over several weeks: one round a week, the best three counting. If you are looking for a venue, the map and the list of venues open now have them.

A winter cup has a side effect that carries it: the group meets regularly, and that is usually the actual point. A single tournament in June is an appointment; a cup is a habit.

The invitation and the entries

Four things belong in the invitation: date and start format, the format of play with its allowance, what it costs, and the entry deadline. Ask for the Handicap Index and the Swiss Golf Card when entries come in if the tournament is to count for handicaps; without them the office cannot compute a start list.

Set the deadline a week before the tournament. Then you have time for flights and a start list, and the office can fix the tee times rather than improvising them the evening before.

Safety, especially with a shotgun start

With a shotgun start every flight is on the course at once, often on short holes next to each other. So one sentence belongs in the briefing: nobody plays while anyone ahead is within reach, and a shout of fore goes to everyone, not only to your own group.

Care for others and for the course is stated as an expectation in the Rules of Golf themselves (R&A, Rule 1.2). At a company event with beginners that one sentence is the most important of the day.

What you hand to the club office

A list of players with handicaps, the flights, the format with its allowance and the prize categories. Everything else the club does: start list, scorecards with the handicap strokes marked, scoring and, for handicap-relevant tournaments, the report to Swiss Golf.

At an indoor tournament that whole part falls away, because nothing is reported. Instead you need the bays and one person watching the clock: allow twelve to fifteen minutes per bay for a closest to the pin with four people.

More on this: Indoor golf with a bar and food, How many people fit in a bay?.

Prizes and what they may cost

Keep the prizes small and the categories broad. Net winner, gross winner, closest to the pin and longest drive are enough; four prizes for twelve people is plenty, and a fifth for last place costs nothing and gets the loudest applause.

What you can save on is the raffle. What you should not save on is food and drink on the way round: a crate of water at the ninth tee decides more about the mood than the trophy does.

Frequently asked questions

Which format suits a company tournament?

A scramble. Everyone plays on from the team's best ball, beginners keep up, and the pace holds. A scramble is not handicap-relevant, which takes the pressure out. The recommended allowances for four players are 25, 20, 15 and 10 per cent of the course handicaps.

Does a company tournament count for handicaps?

Only if it is played in an approved individual format over at least nine holes on a rated course under the Rules of Golf, with the result confirmed. Scrambles, four-balls outside the conditions and all team formats do not count.

How long does a tournament take?

Eighteen holes in a four-ball takes a good five hours, nine holes a good two and a half. A shotgun start finishes for everyone at once and needs as many flights as the course has holes; ten-minute tee times stretch across the day.

Can a golf tournament be played indoors?

Yes. Closest to the pin, longest drive and nine holes of scramble per bay work well because every shot is measured. A bay takes four to six people and an hour costs between CHF 39 and 79 depending on the venue.

What allowance applies in individual Stableford?

The R&A recommends 95 per cent of the course handicap. For handicap-relevant tournaments and General Play cards in Switzerland, Swiss Golf recommends the full course handicap, that is 100 per cent. At an internal event the organiser decides.

Sources

• Rules of Handicapping 2024, Appendix C (PDF) (empfohlene Vorgaben je Format)
• Swiss Golf: WHS in 6 Schritten (PDF) (100 % Allowance für handicapwirksame Runden)
• Swiss Golf: HCP-wirksame Ergebnisse und General Play
• R&A: Rules of Golf, Regel 1.2 (Verhalten der Spieler)