I see people mention on here they play in local tournaments or match play events. My questions are:

How do you find these? Are there websites that advertise them?Are they open to all skill levels with a handicap? I am about a 13 handicap so I'm not going to want to play in anything with a bunch of scratch guysJust curious on what these tournaments or events actually are. I would like to explore other options other than the casual Saturday round with a friend.

Don’t know where you are but here in South Carolina we have the SCGA that has tourneys throughout the year and I also play on the Golfweek am tour which is a nationwide tour in many states and regions. It is flighted by your handicap and you compete against golfers of the same skill level. Both your state association and the golfweek tour can be found on the net. Hope this helps.

They could be anything from association sponsored events, to local club tournaments or city tournaments to scrambles, who knows. There is no "normal" throughout the U.S.

Most courses these days have calendars on their websites you can click on that show all their events.

I've played on courses just after the golfweek am tour has played...have always wondered what that tour was all about as I've seen the ad's and stuff that remained on the course. I will check it out, thanks!

What places usually finish in the 'money'? I would be in the St. Louis tour, just wondering what the odds are of maybe making a few dollars back. Of course its for fun but still...

Also do you have to play in all the tournaments?

Top five here are paid in each flight, I assume it would be the same. As for tourneys you play in as many or as few you want. You are not tied to a number, but there is a points chase every year within each flight and at years end a national championship tournament.

O sorry for all the questions but one last thing....

Once you are done playing you can leave or do you have to stick around for everyone to finish and announce the winners? I can probably pull off playing every couple weeks but if I have to hang out at a course all day it probably wouldn't work given I have a wife and kids.

Also, I have a friend who might be interested, if he played also would we be able to play in the same grouping each week or is it totally random? Reason I ask is I saw you can 'bring a friend' to play with you who isn't on the tour.

Here we are do a shot gun start so everyone is finished at the same time. Works out well. But if you need to leave the director will hold any winnings until the next tourney you play in. As for your friend you can bring a friend a few times but pairings are generally random. The thing I like about that is you get to meet new people and develop some friendships.

www.amateurgolf.com has a large database of tournaments and a search mechanism that can filter the types of events you're looking to play in.

Your governing state golf association should have a list of scheduled tournaments. Might be a little early in the year but I know most have them out by the end of January.