[Joe Sponcia]

Gentlemen,

I just completed my 2nd Member Guest Event this afternoon, and upon reflection, wondered what were some of your best and worst experiences?  Who were your best or worst partners?  With these type of events, you always see a plethora of personalities, agendas, and ideas of what the event is really about it seems.

[Dean Stokes]

Joe, I am going to reply as I have had the chance to think about this and talk about it to both my partner at my club and my friends/members who have invited me.
First off I don't think clubs should change/speed up the course for one weekend a year -it screws up the members more than the guests!
Second I really don't think calcuttas are worthwhile. They take away from the actual event and bring in the chance of dubious handicaps being brought to the event.
Third-I like an event that is kept simple. Usually you have a practice round with a dinner, then twenty seven holes followed by eighteen Holes and a shoot out. Formal dinners that last all night, extra ciricular chip offs and long drive events just tire! Keep the shoot out as short as possible but fair. It is a long weekend at best.
Simplicity to me is the key along with the obligatory and very welcome/useful tee gift for entry. It is all about having  2/3 days with friends and hopefully new friends. Back to work!!!!'

[Wayne_Kozun]

I have played in a few including one event where you play three 9-hole matches with different formats while arranged in flights of four teams.  That was fun but the problem is that we had 13 flight winers which then had to be narrowed down to an eventual winner via a shootout.  If you don't make the shootout it can be a bit boring to wait around while all of the other guys play.  But it is fun to play other formats like modified alternate shots and scramble in addition to Better Ball.

At my member guest a few years ago one guy threatened to sue the club because they didn't clearly disclose that a portion of the Calcutta pool went to pay for prizes.  He hasn't been invited back.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Like others the simpler the better. It is for fun not profit. There was a Calcutta at my last club. It rubies the event for many if us. It was my lady one. It took a decade but they finly outlawed it. A practice round and two days of competition and food is all most guys want. I do like the course set up as it plays most days but I like the greens a tad more speedy.

[John Kavanaugh]

The 5th Major is the best member/guest I've ever had and I've had them all over the world.  What I love about it is that you need neither be a member or a guest.  Pure fun with prize money to boot. 

[Joe Sponcia]

John,

Never heard of the 5th major?  CAn you expand on this?

You usually have some fairly keen observations John...any unique partners you have had over the years--good or bad?

Joe

[John Kavanaugh]

John,

Never heard of the 5th major?  CAn you expand on this?

You usually have some fairly keen observations John...any unique partners you have had over the years--good or bad?

Joe

The 5th Major is the annual tournament currently being held at Dismal River.  Eric Smith is the host and reason for its success.

I've got some great member/guest stories most of which are legal, none of which were ethical.  One of the best stories I can tell is about the cabbie who first refused to take me and my partner back to Norwood Hills after a late night at the casino.  The club has been surrounded by some of the most crime ridden neighborhoods in the country.  His first reply to us was that we didn't need to go that deep into the hood to get whatever it was we were really looking for.  We had to promise that there really was a private club at the end of the road.

Truth of the matter is that the world has changed.  I am lucky to have survived the days of massive drinking and larger betting.  Those were dangerous times for which we are all better off without. 

One taste:  At this years 5th Major I did participate in my first ever feats of strength competition.  I doubt that will ever happen again either. 

[Mark Johnson]

every one I have ever played has been flights of 9-hole matches with winners advancing to either a shootout or final 9 holes.

I've had member-guest one day events with various format-- stableford points, 6/6/6 etc.

Actually I think many people have found the 6/6/6 to be the most enjoyable for a single day event but i think matchplay does make the most sense for multi day events

[Carl Nichols]

Our June member-guest is very popular in the area but it's a long event.  There's a practice round Wednesday afternoon, with your typical prizes for low team gross and net, etc.  For the main event, we play matchplay in flights of six two-man teams.  For Thursday and Friday, the field gets split, so that each team plays two nine-hole matches either Thursday morning or Thursday afternoon; then two matches either Friday morning (if the team played Thursday afternoon) or Friday afternoon (if the team played Thursday morning); and then the entire field plays two matches Saturday, the first against the team in the flight it hasn't faced, and the second after seeding the six teams based on the points through the first five matches, so that the point-leading team plays the #2, 3 plays 4, and 5 plays 6.  After that, each flight winner plays in a playoff to determine the overall winner.

Most of the betting is done in two ways.  First, there's a flight pool, part of which goes to the winner of the flight, and part of which is a bet by all teams in the flight on the flight winner's going on to win the entire tournament.  Second, your two-man team can bet against other teams not in your flight; the bet is about which team will collect more points that day or for the event.  A typical bet against another team is for $20:  $5 for the Thursday points, $5 for Friday, $5 for Saturday, and $5 for total.  Each team gets a little booklet to track these bets, and every team can decide how many such bets to make (and the dollar amount of them).  With 72 teams, you can have a lot of action if that's what you want. 

IMHO, we get the golf/betting/camaraderie/competition just about right.  As far as the other stuff, there's a dinner after the practice round that's pretty casual.  Nothing Thursday, except a casual lunch; with the split field, it's a fairly small group.  Friday night is a dinner with spouses.  The dinners are fine, but usually a little less fun than I would've expected.  (I'm also pretty sure that most wives don't care that much about the Mongolian Reversal that happened on hole 7 or whatever.  . . . )

[Mac Plumart]

At this years 5th Major I did participate in my first ever feats of strength competition.

 

[Wayne_Kozun]

One taste:  At this years 5th Major I did participate in my first ever feats of strength competition.  I doubt that will ever happen again either. 

Sounds like a Festivus celebration.  Did you have an "Airing of Grievances" as well?  That would work particularly well after an alternate shot format.

[Jason Topp]

I have enjoyed all member guests in which I have participated.  They have ranged from blowout parties to small staid affairs. 

I always find it interesting how participants react to competing - particularly those that do not compete regularly and do not understand that humiliation is a regular part of the experience. People will remember how you acted far more vividly than how you performed.

I recall a father son duo who won the title in a particular year.  After the finish the father excitedly told me about his strategy in a match play affair - "We decided not to concede any putts."  I remember thinking that his victory likely came at a signifcant cost.

I played with the same partner in two events this year.  The best reason for having him as a partner is that he wears such loud colored clothes that we will never accidentally end up in a team uniform. 

This year we finished both events by having dinners with wives. I highly recommend the tactic.  You owe the spouse a dinner after these types of events.

     

[Mark Chaplin]

I was fortunate enough to be invited to play in the St George's Hill invitation at the weekend, 36 holes of foursomes, nice lunch, best am and best pm prize plus overall winner and runner up pair. That's it, very simple and understated, as it should be.

[Bill Gayne]

A low moment was having a guest that discussed his upcoming vasectomy with a female member of the club staff at dinner. The same guy in a previous year was one of the best guests.

[Doug Siebert]

The 5th Major is the best member/guest I've ever had and I've had them all over the world.  What I love about it is that you need neither be a member or a guest.  Pure fun with prize money to boot. 

Seconded.  I don't have anywhere near the experience in member/guest tournaments as John surely does, but there's reason people keep coming back for it even though it is not a short or simple trip for any of us.  Eric, CJ and Greg do an awesome job making everyone feel welcome.  As I told them, my experience is that they treat non-members like members and treat members like owners.  That's how it should be, and the exact opposite of more than one experience I've had.

Everyone has a blast at the 5th Major, whether or not they end up collecting any prize money.  I'd come even if Dismal River didn't have some great courses, because it is the people who make for a great event, not the golf course.  You could play a member/guest on the greatest course in the world but if you play with a bunch of stiffs you aren't going to want to come back.

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