Last night at 8 pm, signup for a Carolinas Golf Association four ball at Tobacco Road on Nov. 11th opened. 50 teams capacity. (I wasn't in the signup process because a buddy and I are playing in a two day CGA four ball at Seabrook Island on that date.) There is no effective way that I know of to speed up the online signup process; you have to manually type in your partner's name, and your credit card info when the signup opens. There is no advantage to being a low handicapper or anything like that; it's first come, first serve in the truest sense, and CGA four balls draw all skill levels and ages.
The field was complete with 50 teams in under 60 seconds. One of my buddies was online and typing as fast as he could at 8 pm; he received an email back from the CGA at 8:03 that he and his partner were NOT in the field but were waitlisted; he checked, and they were #38 on the waitlist in less than 2 minutes after the tournament opened. There are currently nearly SIXTY teams on the waitlist for a 50 team tournament, and doubtless many more who decided not to bother; you rarely see the waitlist move more that 5-10 teams for a CGA tournament.
This sort of gold rush signup happens from time to time in CGA signups, but usually only for relatively exclusive private clubs for which there is normally little or no access; Old North State is a good example. The only other time I've seen anything like this for public courses was last year for a two day event at True Blue and Caledonia, and I think it's fair to factor in the beach trip aspect of that signup.
I post this because there will be posts here from time to time that imply that golfers see Tobacco Road once and don't want to come back, or that in some way or another The Road isn't as popular as less challenging venues, especially with less skilled players.
If you've ever written (or thought?) anything like that, don't do it again!
