Charity/Friendly Golf Tournament Format

RealPretendPsychic

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My wife’s non-golf coworkers are putting on a tournament as a networking and wellness event and I may be enlisted to help. So far it appears they want to do a scramble, but there is no contest other than a raffle. Is there any point in doing a scramble versus having a foursome play their own ball? Is it more fun? Will it slow things down? I don’t have experience playing in or organizing anything like this.
 
My favorite is a combo and I believe it's called Captain and Crew. Everyone hits off the tee in scramble format. The best drive is chosen and the players all play their own ball in from there. It's fun, no required drive on #18 from some poor dude who's drive is needed and you get to see what you'd score if you hit every fairway that day.
 
My wife’s non-golf coworkers are putting on a tournament as a networking and wellness event and I may be enlisted to help. So far it appears they want to do a scramble, but there is no contest other than a raffle. Is there any point in doing a scramble versus having a foursome play their own ball? Is it more fun? Will it slow things down? I don’t have experience playing in or organizing anything like this.
Are there any golfers in the group? My old company did an outing every summer, and we had a ton of non-golfers playing. We did a scramble, but teams were set up so that at least one member of our golf league was the captain of the team, helping the non-golfers get around. If you have groups of 4 non-golfers, things could get bogged down quickly. And 4 non-golfers all playing their own ball, and not knowing when to quit and pick up, sounds like a disaster.
 
Are there any golfers in the group? My old company did an outing every summer, and we had a ton of non-golfers playing. We did a scramble, but teams were set up so that at least one member of our golf league was the captain of the team, helping the non-golfers get around. If you have groups of 4 non-golfers, things could get bogged down quickly. And 4 non-golfers all playing their own ball, and not knowing when to quit and pick up, sounds like a disaster.
That is a good point to consider! I think there will be a fair amount of very casual golfers. And since there appears to be no contest I was curious which format would provide the best combination of fun and pace.


My favorite is a combo and I believe it's called Captain and Crew. Everyone hits off the tee in scramble format. The best drive is chosen and the players all play their own ball in from there. It's fun, no required drive on #18 from some poor dude who's drive is needed and you get to see what you'd score if you hit every fairway that day.
I like that combo! That format was my first thought.
 
And how big of an event are you talking here? Shut down the whole course for your group, or just a few 4 somes?
 
And how big of an event are you talking here? Shut down the whole course for your group, or just a few 4 somes?
Initial numbers are 72 people, so we’re looking at a morning shotgun start.
 
Initial numbers are 72 people, so we’re looking at a morning shotgun start.
So you're basically looking at the whole course taken up by the group.

With lots of non-golfers, a scramble is probably going to be easiest, but I would take care to set the teams with a golfer on each team. Since it's a workplace event, everyone should be open to playing with anyone. Can't get a ringer team out there when you've got so many people who don't know what they are doing.
 
72 people is good thats one group on each hole. I wouldn't do more than that unless you want to be miserable. Scramble is easiest format for charity/work outings and probably the most fun especially if there are some non golfers that would be playing.
 
So you're basically looking at the whole course taken up by the group.

With lots of non-golfers, a scramble is probably going to be easiest, but I would take care to set the teams with a golfer on each team. Since it's a workplace event, everyone should be open to playing with anyone. Can't get a ringer team out there when you've got so many people who don't know what they are doing.

100% agree here. I believe a scramble would be the easiest to manage. And I think it would be imperative that every team have a golfer in the group. You don't want to tear up the course with non-golfers and the golfer can help move things along.
 
My wife’s non-golf coworkers are putting on a tournament as a networking and wellness event and I may be enlisted to help. So far it appears they want to do a scramble, but there is no contest other than a raffle. Is there any point in doing a scramble versus having a foursome play their own ball? Is it more fun? Will it slow things down? I don’t have experience playing in or organizing anything like this.
Non golf points to scramble.............consider closest to pin for a prize
 
Scramble will be the best format in my opinion. Especially if it's casual and you won't have a lot of teams really analyzing which shot they should play it should keep things moving along at a pretty good clip.
 
Definitely scramble with a lot of casual golfers. You can go more than 1 group per hole and not have it be miserable but try to keep it only one group on the par 3s for sure.
 
Our company outing usually had some fun holes thrown in there. We would do a par 3 as speed golf - scramble too. So everyone would tee off all at the same time, and then you'd run to the best shot and scramble from there as fast as possible. Then we would do a hole where you spun the wheel/picked a card, and it dictated what you would tee off with. We had a plastic hockey stick, a tee ball bat, throw, and driver. Everyone in the group would use the same implement to tee off. Last one was doing the old "egg on a spoon" race, but you'd carry the ball on the spoon and run as far as you could in 20 seconds. Wherever the furthest member of your team ended up is where you'd tee off from.
 
Thanks fellas, sounds like a scramble is the way to go. There will definitely be casual golfers in every group, I just know there will also likely be a lot of once or twice a year guys too.
 
Very casual: definitely a scramble. You can still do a variety of other things as well, such as closest to the hole mentioned above. I’ve found a Straightest Drive to be fun for casual events as well.

One that I always liked included, was a putting contest on the practice green. Set up something fairly lengthy, and have people take a crack at it.
It gathers everyone at a central location, and sparks a lot of convo and opportunities to network!
 
Here's a couple of ideas for making things interesting for those involved:
- give each group a length of string and a par of scissors. If they want to "make" a putt without having to actually physically putt the ball (if it's a difficult breaker for example) they measure out the distance in string and cut it off. You can decide if they must use the string first or if they can attempt the putt and then cut the string (first option is better IMO)
- when the groups come in have them draw a card from a deck - red cards deduct the value from their score, black cards add
- if you can get an item that is related to your wife's business you can put it in a fairway and hold a "closest to" contest in lieu of long drive. For example, let's say the company sells plumbing fixtures; put a kitchen sink in the middle of a fairway and have a prize for "closest to the sink". If you want to make it really interesting put the sink close enough to the tee that any experienced golfers in the group would be tempted to club down in order to try and win. This also gives the non-golfers a better chance of coming close to it, instead of putting it 300 yards out where only 1 or 2 have the chance
- get a few dozen boxes of a unique golf ball and somehow mark it uniquely. Give one ball to each group - if they finish the round with the ball they each get a small prize
- sell mulligans before the start and donate the money to a local charity ($5 each or 5/$20 or something like that)
 
Apologize for the long winded response but I participated in one of these that really stood out per your primary objectives. Might not be what the avid golfers on THP would prefer but I felt it was much more enjoyable and inclusive for the novice/non golfers who represented the majority of participants. Networking opportunities, fun, and team building activities while raising some good $ for the cause. It worked so well for the novices because a whole lot of golf wasn't the focal point. Similar might work out for the 72 golfers in your wife's event too?

>First it has to be shot gun start scramble with an actual golfer or two on each team. Separate close buds and those in same departments if possible (network/team building).
>One team on each tee BUT half the field just plays the front nine, the other half just the back. No need to beat up the novices with 5-6 hours of difficult and humiliating golf. Keep them energized for the games and fun activities later. To make sure no one whined about one side being easier (there were prizes tied to finish) they had the 'captains' of each 4some flip coins as teams were assigned to starting holes.
>Most of the fun stuff was set up for after 'the golf' but a couple of the in-round games seemed pretty fun for all.
-'oppo/swapo' on the shortest par 4 on each nine. Had event support staff stationed at these holes with a few LH clubs and a camcorder and scramble team would decide whether to tee off normal handedness, or not, but then alternated handedness each stroke until holing out. Staff recorded and 'verbally abused' the oppo swings (in a fun way) and later over dinner a loop played on the big screen. Copies were sold for the cause and some of the more humiliating swings showed up in various staff meetings and PPTs in the months to follow. Obviously much easier to pull all this off now with cell phones etc...
-'where's Balldo' to win a gift certificate to a very nice co-sponsoring restaurant. Did this one at a tee box you couldn't see until you got to it. Supporting staff stopped groups just before they could see the box and explained that 'Balldo' was very near and first to find him won the free meal for two. Balldo was always face down on a tee right between the markers but it was funny to see participants dashing around frantically looking everywhere but there. I think a non golfer won the gift certificate one in all but one group.

>The auction, catered meal, awards, music etc... followed but I really like how the company set up a couple of the post round games.
-There was a 'closest to the chin(s)' contest, our VP's idea. (8X10 glossy of said VP set up @75' down the winding cart path toward 10th tee - he had extra chins). $10 signup and they broke participants into sets of 10. Had to use the old 2 sided 'Bullseye' provided and closest knew they were getting 8 hours comp time. A 2nd putt was available for an added $20 but you had to use the 2nd putt if you took one. What made it good was that after each group putted one person in that group would then pick a card that would stipulate how many other balls in the group qualified for 4 hours of comp time. All 10 if a face card. Picker was usually someone new to the company, someone shy, or someone who worked in an area with less chance to really spend time with others. I remember one new girl, shy and quiet, and then the chants "Keisha, Keisha, Keisha" as her group cheered on her draw. She plucked a face card and then went full on Hale Irwin running a loop and high fiving everyone in her set, massive happy, extrovert afterwards!
--side note on this one. It was such a cool company that later on during awards VP announced that all the participants in his game got a free 8 hr day off. After rubbing that all in to those who chose not to, he then gave it to everyone else for a $50 donation to the charity.
-Low scoring team won nice gift certificates from another sponsor but they weren't alone. Unknown beforehand was that it was 'worsty, firsty, middleman' thing. So the last place team and any team that finished within 2 strokes of the average of first and last also won those certificates.
-In the end everyone came away with something and had fun I think. Very employee friendly company makes all the difference.

It's definitely a tougher environment right now to have a lot of fun in group setting like this but hopefully your wife's event makes a difference for a cause and in her work place.
 
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I am a big fan of two man scrambles versus four. I think only two to a team to choose what ball to play speeds up the game a bit.

I also like when the charity has tickets purchased for mulligans. Say two per person per 9 holes. Each ticket at 5 or 10.
 
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