Club Championship Formats

[Jason Thurman]

It's club championship season. Mine is this weekend. I'm hoping to be a contender... in flight 2.


How does your club contest its club championship? How do some of the great clubs contest theirs? What formats do you prefer?

[Ian Mackenzie]

Ours is flighted match play.


The entire field registers then is flighted based on HDCPs.
Example: the "Championship Flight" is the lowest 16 golfers by index then played at scratch and bracketed so that:

1 seed (past champion) plays 16 seed.
2 seed plays 15 seed, etc.

Play an 18 hole match Friday pm.
Winners play in the quarters on Saturday am.
Winners play in Semis on Saturday pm.
Winners play a 36 hole match on Sunday to determine champion.


The Championship Flight has the real champion and, at our club, has all scratch or + golfers.
To win, you are playing 18-36-36 over 3 days. It's tiring. I have one 3 times but last was in 2013.


The other flights are just "Meat Puppet" flights that get trophies, but zero recognition...;-)


However, the "Senior Club Championship" is two days of medal play and there are two champions: Net and Gross....and, of course, "Super Senior".

[John Blain]

Here is how Oak Hill CC in Rochester (former member!) does it:


The weekend before Labor Day there is a 36-hole stroke play qualifier on both the east & west courses. The low 15 and the defending champion make up the 16 player draw.


On Labor Day weekend the first and second round matches are played on Saturday, semi-finals on Sunday. All matches are played on the east course from the back tees. The championship match is 36-holes using both courses (west in the morning, east in the afternoon) on Monday of Labor Day.


If the match is reasonably close and it's a nice day there is typically 50-60 members out watching the match.


When I was a member there were 22 fellow members who had played in various USGA championships.  Needless to say it was a wildly competitive event.

[Peter Flory]

I was at a club that alternated every year between medal play and match play.  While I prefer match play, I thought that was a pretty cool system.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Stroke play divided into flights.  Open Flight, 1st Flight for 7-12 hcps, 2nd Flight for 13-18 hcps, etc. Other than Open we use Stableford with max triple bogey or so, depending on the flight to prevent someone from suffering through a really big number.


We also have a match play competition that runs through the season but that isn't considered the club championship.

[Jason Thurman]

My club does a 3 day medal play format. Previous clubs did medal qualifying for seeding followed by match play. I know it's blasphemous around here, but I prefer medal for a club championship for a couple reasons:


1. Practically speaking, it ends up being less grueling. Completing even a 16 person match play bracket takes the winner a minimum of four rounds, and more if the final is 36 holes. Couple that with stroke play qualifying and you might be playing 6 rounds in like 3 days. That's exhausting.


2. The championship Sunday vibe is better, in my experience at least. As early groups finish at my club, most guys stick around for lunch or a drink and come out to follow the championship contenders down the stretch. It's a really cathartic and lively atmosphere. I like what JP describes at Oak Hill too, but the clubs I've played at never brought out 50+ spectators for a match play final whereas in a medal final round there's a built in pool of people who can stick around and create a crowd.


I should add that for us, after 54 holes of medal play to decide the club champion, the top 10 finishers from the Championship flight and top two from Flight 2 go to a shootout. Results have no bearing on the championship, but do provide a handsome payout to winners and a parimutuel wagering pool is available for spectators. That ends up being a really fun way to conclude a pretty enjoyable weekend.

[Jon Sweet]

Where I caddie has anyone that wants to sign up go off, mind you roughly 250-300 members total. 18 day 1, 18 day 2, those within I believe 8 shots or 10 shots off the lead are eligible for the last 18 which is played from the tips. I cannot speak to if it's flighted and you have a winner of the also rans or how that's broken down.

[V. Kmetz]

Always held in August, which is often for Met clubs, the quietest weeks of genuine member vacations

Weekend 1: 36 Hole Medal Qualifier: Any Sign Up. Play 18 each day for Best 7 (Champ is Exempt)


Weekend 2: Quarters and Semis Match Play - Flighted Play for non-CC/ABC


Finals: 36 Hole match - By arrangement between Finalists (must be played by Sep 15, 36 in one day)....


While 20, 30, 40 years ago, it was no great matter to have the CC bloc be played in 3 consecutive weekends...there were 15 spots + Champ and thus another Round of 16 added to what exists now. NOW... there is less interest to play club competitions and particularly for the club championship, very, very few are willing (or seemingly able) to make a 3 weekend commitment, so some years back they decided to let the finalists arrange their own final match terms as long as they did so by Sep 15 and played the 36 holes in one day...


My question back out to the board is... How do you tackle the problems of a qualifier that is interrupted by rain/other condition... do you suspend until a full 36 can be played...do you go off one 18 hole score?.... do you make a primary cut if you have a large field?  Do you scrub all for another weekend? Do you make qualifying terms different? 

[jeffwarne]

Match Play
Friday
Championship Flight-18 hole qualifier, 7 spots, Defending Champ exempt
All other flights, including women(no qualifier) play round one


Saturday-other flights round 2, Champ round 1


Sunday-other flights-finals, Chap semis and finals


works well-the only guy that's upset about 36 holes Day 3 is Champ Flight loser

[Steve Lang]

Match Play

Winner gets through 4 18 hole rounds, Fri PM, Sat AM, Sat PM, Sun AM,
Consolation flight, estabiished after fri matches, winner gets through 3 matches.  For player entry fee, everyone gets minimum two matches and a sat lunch & drinks, consolation winner gets some $
Strokes only given in last flight, all other flights play with no pops


Medal Play ( gross and net payouts, Gross is CHAMPION GOLFER)

Champ flight: 3 days of 18 hole play, 1 at each of 3 courses
Other flights: 2 days of 18 hole play,  2 of 3 courses, some juggling of where flights play to keep things moving

[Peter Pallotta]

sorry wrong thread.

[James Boon]

Most of the clubs here in the Midlands in England, tend to have a 36 hole competition, all played on the same day. MY old club did and at Hollinwell that's how we do it as well. We have talked about possibly playing the 36 holes over the Saturday and Sunday to spread it out, but have decided not to.


When I was a country member down at Burnham & Berrow the Club Championship was (and still is I believe) a knockout matchplay competition so I never entered as being so far from home it didnt work out. So when my brother and I recently joined Brora in north Scotland as country members we naively thought it would make for a nice long weekend away to enter the Club Championship, only to find they play 72 holes over 4 days! These Scots don't mess about! 


Cheers,


James

[Bill Brightly]

Three weekend event at my club. Weekend 1 Sat-Sun qualifying. Weekend 2 round of 16, round of 8. Weekend 3, semi-finals Saturday, 36-hole finals on Sunday.


I am a strong supporter of this format. Years ago we went to stroke play for over two weekends, which clearly is the way to identify the best golfer. But it was a boring format and it always came down to the two best golfers. That lasted three years before we returned to the traditional format.


Match play is a whole different animal, and there have been many stunning upsets over the years. I'm a pretty decent golfer and have some impressive wins, but no club championships. (Got to finals once...) But this format allowed me to have some of my most enduring golfing memories, both wins and losses.


And since almost every other competition at my club is match play, the 36-hole qualifier is a tremendous challenge in and of itself for marginally good golfers.