Are you tired of the same old golf tournament formats? Check out our list of tournament games and fun ideas to incorporate some new elements into tournament play.
You are likely familiar with the best ball and scramble tournaments and the event regular tournament games like “closest to the pin” and “longest drive.” Next time you are organizing a tournament, try incorporating one of these fun games and formats to bring a new and exciting element to gameplay.
1. Theme the Tournament
Challenge participants with a fun tournament theme. Ladies’ Nights sometimes have themed events and easily transcend to tournaments too!
Some of our favourite themes are:
- Christmas in July
- Beach Party
- Summer Camp
- Glitz and Glam
- Black and White
- Safari
- Sock Hop
Try to fit catering to the theme and challenge participants to dress accordingly. Give a prize for best dressed. You can even add themed course activations (or have hole sponsors do this) throughout the tournament!
2. 3 Clubs
Tournament participants are only allowed three clubs each. They can choose which clubs to carry in their bag, but no sharing!
To further mix things up, write each club on pieces of paper (for example, a “putter,” “3-wood,” or “8-iron”) and place them in a hat. Have participants randomly draw out of the hat the three clubs they can use for the tournament.
3. Closest to…
You have likely heard about tournament competitions for the longest drive, but this similar game makes it fair for all levels no matter how far you hit the ball.
Have the course maintenance team draw a white line down the middle of the fairway. Individuals tee off aiming to keep their ball as close to the middle as possible. Use a sign similar to the longest drive to mark the closest ball.
Instead of a line, you can place an item out somewhere on the fairway (aim for about 150-180 yards from the tee box depending on the field and level of players participating). It can be any item you choose. It is fun to select an item similar to the tournament theme (cowboy boots for a Western theme, lawn flamingo for a summer theme, miniature Christmas tree for a holiday theme, etc.).
4. Golden Tee
Each playing group receives a specially painted tee. They can use this tee to tee their shot up anywhere (except the green) until they lose it or break it. It’s easy to make a “golden tee” using plain wooden tees and paint.
5. Golf Relay
Groups of 4 play in a team for this tournament format. They are randomly assigned an order from 1 to 4 and must play out the full tournament playing shots in that order.
For example, player 1 tees off, player 2 hits the second shot, player 3 hits the third shot, player 4 chips, player 1 then putts, and so forth. This order is followed throughout the entire 9 or 18-hole tournament.
The gross score is used at the end. When organizing teams and order of play, do your best to ensure fairness among groups.
6. String Tournament
Competitors each receive a string the length of their handicap (for example, a 20 cap would receive a string that is 20 inches or 20 centimetres long).
The string can be incorporated in a variety of ways in the tournament such as:
1. Every putt within the length of the string is considered “good.”
2. Players can use their string to move their ball to a better lie or location on any part of the course other than the green. You can also limit how many times players can use their string for this.
3. If two balls from the same playing group are within one string length of each other on the fairway, each of those players receives a 1 stroke deduction from their overall score.
Now that you’ve got your next tournament planned, check out our list of fun golf games to try with friends!