Am Golf Tour

[CougGolf]

Has anyone played Golfweek Amateur Tour and/or Golf Channel Am Tour? Looking to play some competitive around Orlando/Central Florida and wondering if there is value to the price they're asking.

[iKOH423]

I was thinking about potentially doing the same thing. I am in Illinois and am curious if anyone has insight to these type of experiences, cost, etc.

[Justmuckit]

I thought about doing this in STL until I realized they want $100+ per event for course I play regularly for $40.

I'll wait until I meet the handicap requirements and play Am events at the best courses in the state for the same price and get a practice round on top of it.

[gustoteg]

I played golf channel am tour and thought it was awesome, flights were always pretty evenly matched and sand baggers got moved quickly... It was fun playing tournament golf against people with the same skill level... Tournaments were well run and awards were nice, first place always made a profit from the entry fee... And 2nd and 3rd almost always got their money back... So yeah you pay more to play the course but that always goes for award money and trophies... The skins pot also got pretty big at most tournaments.. As did the closest to the pin... I thought it was well worth the $$ and I even had to drive at least 2 hours to all tourneys cause I live in the middle of nowhere..

[Creedo77]

I've looked into this but the costs to play the courses on the event schedule is just too high for me.

You pay the membership price with his IIRC $199?

But then for every tournament you play its around $115 and up when you can play the same courses for almost half the price on the exact same day.

If I were you and looking to play competitive golf, see what your state golf association has to offer.

I paid $96 for the VSGA membership and play up to 20 tournaments throughout the year for $58 a piece on the best courses in the state, which are around $90/100 tracks.

[aflackhook13]

If you live in the Carolina's the CGA is the way to go. Tons of 1 day tournaments at some private exclusive courses for around $60. Plus a discounted practice round.

[aflackhook13]

[quote name='Creedo77' timestamp='1423614056' post='10927889']I've looked into this but the costs to play the courses on the event schedule is just too high for me.

You pay the membership price with his IIRC $199?

But then for every tournament you play its around $115 and up when you can play the same courses for almost half the price on the exact same day.

If I were you and looking to play competitive golf, see what your state golf association has to offer.

I paid $96 for the VSGA membership and play up to 20 tournaments throughout the year for $58 a piece on the best courses in the state, which are around $90/100 tracks.[/quote][quote name='aflackhook13' timestamp='1423614440' post='10927945']If you live in the Carolina's the CGA is the way to go. Tons of 1 day tournaments at some private exclusive courses for around $60. Plus a discounted practice round.[/quote]

Plus membership is only $25

[Creedo77]

[quote name='aflackhook13' timestamp='1423614500' post='10927955']
[quote name='Creedo77' timestamp='1423614056' post='10927889']I've looked into this but the costs to play the courses on the event schedule is just too high for me.

You pay the membership price with his IIRC $199?

But then for every tournament you play its around $115 and up when you can play the same courses for almost half the price on the exact same day.

If I were you and looking to play competitive golf, see what your state golf association has to offer.

I paid $96 for the VSGA membership and play up to 20 tournaments throughout the year for $58 a piece on the best courses in the state, which are around $90/100 tracks.[/quote][quote name='aflackhook13' timestamp='1423614440' post='10927945']If you live in the Carolina's the CGA is the way to go. Tons of 1 day tournaments at some private exclusive courses for around $60. Plus a discounted practice round.[/quote]

Plus membership is only $25
[/quote]

playing the private country clubs is a nice way to see what some of the fuss about is with them. While some are very nice courses others dont stack up to the public course I belong to which surprisingly is a lot better than a handful of country clubs around me.

[aflackhook13]

I used to work at Greensboro Country Club while in college. A Donald Ross in town course and a Donald Steele 2010 redesign called The Farm Course. Everytime I go play a resort course at the beach or mountains, im usually let down. Employees were only allowed to play on Mondays, some Mondays I played both. Man, I didnt realize how fortunate i was. Two beautiful well maintained golf courses.

[crazy8golfer]

[quote name='CougGolf' timestamp='1423607574' post='10927345']
Has anyone played Golfweek Amateur Tour and/or Golf Channel Am Tour? Looking to play some competitive around Orlando/Central Florida and wondering if there is value to the price they're asking.
[/quote]I played the Golf Am Tour for 4 to 5 years. Each region is different, I believe the person running the region has purchased it from The Golf Channel. Personally, I enjoyed the major tournaments where all region golfers could sign up and play. These were held at some very nice high end courses, the cost was fairly high if you took into consideration your lodging and travel expenses, but the tournaments were ran excellent and very fair. You will not find any sandbagging in these tournaments.

[SilverBullets]

I played in the columbus golf week am tour a handful of times and it was great. Events were very well run. Fields were always pretty large. The columbus charter was awesome as pretty much every course at this point is a private track. I don't mind paying $125 or whatever to play a private track that I haven't played before.

Only thing that always sucked was pace of play. 5 hour rounds were pretty standard. It made for a long afternoon. Generally, however, the company was always great and I met some friends through the events.

[jgonz69]

I tried the GC am tour last year. Way too expensive (I could afford it) for what you get. Not to many "high end" courses available to play in my area. Only pay money on 2 or 3 top places at most. You can get disqualified too easy, and if you travel and drop over a grand to get there and entry fees etc, they have no problem disqualifing you for the smallest infraction. heard a guy got disqualified because his girlfriend or wife was riding in the cart and moved it. Or guys see you are doing something that may be wrong, instead of telling you BEFORE you hit a shot, call you on it. The SNGA is the way to go in my area at least.

[GolfSINC]

I wish we had nicer weather here in Alaska year-round for this stuff.

[Creedo77]

Jgonz69 brought up some good info.

They do penalize players for slow play. I cant remember the exact numbers but you have to finish within a certain amount of time in relation to when the first group turns in their scorecards.

[DCDeac]

Enjoyed the Golf Channel Am tour last year and am looking forward to it again this year.

We're a little spoiled in the DC area - there are Baltimore, DC, and Richmond tours, so there are a lot of tournaments at a lot of courses to choose from. People are always complaining about the cost, and while I get that it's expensive there are a lot of tours that have come and gone trying to be cheap.

The truth is, if you're going to charge only $10-$20 on top of greens fees and run a tournament, it basically has to be run by one person, and that person probably needs to have no interest in making any money, so you lose things like having someone pushing pace of play, arriving early to set up TV's for scoreboards, putting in scores digitally, running side bets, etc.

For better or worse, the Golf Channel shows up with flags, tents, TV's, multiple people managing the event, they ride with the front groups and push pace of play throughout the rounds, they enforce actual tournament rules, they announce groups on the first tee, and they have a very good online presence and communication setup for tourney info and details. Assuming you win or place a few times a season, take home a skin every now and then - it's really not that bad considering the effort that goes into it. Based on morning rates here, I'd guess most tournaments are between $30-$50 extra which isn't that crazy considering the level of effort.

[Creedo77]

[quote name='DCDeac' timestamp='1423634001' post='10929809']
Enjoyed the Golf Channel Am tour last year and am looking forward to it again this year.

We're a little spoiled in the DC area - there are Baltimore, DC, and Richmond tours, so there are a lot of tournaments at a lot of courses to choose from. People are always complaining about the cost, and while I get that it's expensive there are a lot of tours that have come and gone trying to be cheap.

The truth is, if you're going to charge only $10-$20 on top of greens fees and run a tournament, it basically has to be run by one person, and that person probably needs to have no interest in making any money, so you lose things like having someone pushing pace of play, arriving early to set up TV's for scoreboards, putting in scores digitally, running side bets, etc.

For better or worse, the Golf Channel shows up with flags, tents, TV's, multiple people managing the event, they ride with the front groups and push pace of play throughout the rounds, they enforce actual tournament rules, they announce groups on the first tee, and they have a very good online presence and communication setup for tourney info and details. Assuming you win or place a few times a season, take home a skin every now and then - it's really not that bad considering the effort that goes into it. Based on morning rates here, I'd guess most tournaments are between $30-$50 extra which isn't that crazy considering the level of effort.
[/quote]

I see your from DC, where do you normally play your golf?

I really like the line up for tournaments that the GC tour offers. If you happen to win or place what are the prizes? Is your standard gift certificate to the golf shop?

I do see that they have majors as well, do you rack up points for finishing in those top places that go towards earning a spot in a major?

[MarkCPA]

I dropped out of the Golfweek Tour a few years ago and joined a club. I haven't looked back with any regrets. The cost of the tour just made no sense and the courses were no better than what I already could play.

Join a club. You'll get plenty of competitive golf there.

[sompin2do]

[quote name='jgonz69' timestamp='1423623674' post='10929023']
I tried the GC am tour last year. Way too expensive (I could afford it) for what you get. Not to many "high end" courses available to play in my area. [b]Only pay money on 2 or 3 top places at most[/b]. You can get [b]disqualified too easy[/b], and if you travel and drop over a grand to get there and entry fees etc, they have no problem [b]disqualifing you for the smallest infraction[/b]. [b]heard a guy got disqualified because his girlfriend or wife was riding in the cart and moved it[/b]. Or guys see you are doing something that may be wrong, instead of telling you BEFORE you hit a shot, call you on it. The SNGA is the way to go in my area at least.
[/quote]

I've played in the GC AM Tour going on 4 years.

Prizes are Golf Galaxy gift cards and based on the size of your flight.

Optional cash skins pots just that. You don't have to get in. Some tours do closest to the pin cash prizes also. I was lucky enough to pocket $975 cash for 1 skin at Nationals in 2012.

We have the opportunity to donate a minimum of $20 per ticket to Troops First Foundation 50/50 raffle at Majors and Nationals. Usually the winner gets around $1200 - but more important we help the troops.

Disqualifications happen since we play by USGA rules. In most cases the DQ'd player(s) are still given the option to play the course, just not with the tournament players. And yes there have been players DQ'd for allowing a caddie, spouse, etc to ride in the cart when they weren't allowed to. During the briefing on the first tee we're reminded to invoke USGA Rule 3-3 if we have doubt about a situation. If they didn't stick to USGA & established tour rules it wouldn't last. Having been penalized last year at Nationals I will say they do everything to make sure the penalty is correctly interpreted and applied.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better organized tour where you play against others of similar skill and age with 6 flights in open and 6 in senior. The fees can be a bit pricey but it's a business and we do get the opportunity to play courses many of us don't have access to. Still time to qualify for nationals this year at PGA West!

http://gcamtour.com/rules-and-regulations/player-handbook/

[jgonz69]

[quote name='sompin2do' timestamp='1423679728' post='10932367']
[quote name='jgonz69' timestamp='1423623674' post='10929023']
I tried the GC am tour last year. Way too expensive (I could afford it) for what you get. Not to many "high end" courses available to play in my area. [b]Only pay money on 2 or 3 top places at most[/b]. You can get [b]disqualified too easy[/b], and if you travel and drop over a grand to get there and entry fees etc, they have no problem [b]disqualifing you for the smallest infraction[/b]. [b]heard a guy got disqualified because his girlfriend or wife was riding in the cart and moved it[/b]. Or guys see you are doing something that may be wrong, instead of telling you BEFORE you hit a shot, call you on it. The SNGA is the way to go in my area at least.
[/quote]

I've played in the GC AM Tour going on 4 years.

Prizes are Golf Galaxy gift cards and based on the size of your flight.

Optional cash skins pots just that. You don't have to get in. Some tours do closest to the pin cash prizes also. I was lucky enough to pocket $975 cash for 1 skin at Nationals in 2012.

We have the opportunity to donate a minimum of $20 per ticket to Troops First Foundation 50/50 raffle at Majors and Nationals. Usually the winner gets around $1200 - but more important we help the troops.

Disqualifications happen since we play by USGA rules. In most cases the DQ'd player(s) are still given the option to play the course, just not with the tournament players. And yes there have been players DQ'd for allowing a caddie, spouse, etc to ride in the cart when they weren't allowed to. During the briefing on the first tee we're reminded to invoke USGA Rule 3-3 if we have doubt about a situation. If they didn't stick to USGA & established tour rules it wouldn't last. Having been penalized last year at Nationals I will say they do everything to make sure the penalty is correctly interpreted and applied.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better organized tour where you play against others of similar skill and age with 6 flights in open and 6 in senior. The fees can be a bit pricey but it's a business and we do get the opportunity to play courses many of us don't have access to. Still time to qualify for nationals this year at PGA West!

http://gcamtour.com/rules-and-regulations/player-handbook/
[/quote]
I'm happy you've had good experience with GC am. I got the vibe it was more about here are the rules, if you don't follow them you will get DQ'ed instead of having fun and playing different courses and meeting fun and interesting people.
I obviously played in a different section than you, and was simply sharing the conditions that exist there.

[BrooklynGolfer]

Played the Golfweek AM tour.
You definitely pay more than it's worth, which is why I haven't gone back.....However, I got to meet some good people and it's pretty damn fun. I just can't bring myself to pay up to $100 over normal greens fees for a relatively small prize.

[DCDeac]

[quote name='Creedo77' timestamp='1423634977' post='10929871']
I see your from DC, where do you normally play your golf?

I really like the line up for tournaments that the GC tour offers. If you happen to win or place what are the prizes? Is your standard gift certificate to the golf shop?

I do see that they have majors as well, do you rack up points for finishing in those top places that go towards earning a spot in a major?
[/quote]

I live in Alexandria so Laurel Hill is my go-to spot, but I try to play everywhere. There are a lot of fun daily fee courses near DC and the nicer private clubs are astronomically expensive to join or they're too far away for me to justify.

The majors are all first-come first-serve as far as I know. They fill up pretty early and I haven't played in one yet, but I'm guessing they're fun. The only thing you have to qualify for is the finals. I think you have to play in like 5 tournaments scattered throughout the year to be considered, then to earn a spot you need a top 3 in a major, win 3 local tourneys, get bumped up a flight and stay there, top 3 in points, top 2 in your local tour championship, and then there's like an overall national points cutoff so the top third in points can go. I didn't go last year, it was expensive and far away... But who knows, maybe at some point. Hopefully they'll play the finals in Florida or on the RTJ trail or something a little easier to get to eventually.

Oh, and they do make a pretty big deal about pace of play, and a lot of my rounds there were much better than other DC tourneys that stretch well over 5 hours. So that helped.

[PhocusOne]

I've been looking to get way more competitive and finding information on tournaments is frustrating to say the least. I feel like I am looking in the wrong places.

I have seen GC Tour through my searching and wasn't sure about, nice to see some feed back. CO isn't the best place for golf but I didn't think I would struggle finding a tournament once a week.

[Creedo77]

[quote name='DCDeac' timestamp='1423686155' post='10933097']
[quote name='Creedo77' timestamp='1423634977' post='10929871']
I see your from DC, where do you normally play your golf?

I really like the line up for tournaments that the GC tour offers. If you happen to win or place what are the prizes? Is your standard gift certificate to the golf shop?

I do see that they have majors as well, do you rack up points for finishing in those top places that go towards earning a spot in a major?
[/quote]

[b]I live in Alexandria so Laurel Hill is my go-to spot[/b], but I try to play everywhere. There are a lot of fun daily fee courses near DC and the nicer private clubs are astronomically expensive to join or they're too far away for me to justify.

The majors are all first-come first-serve as far as I know. They fill up pretty early and I haven't played in one yet, but I'm guessing they're fun. The only thing you have to qualify for is the finals. I think you have to play in like 5 tournaments scattered throughout the year to be considered, then to earn a spot you need a top 3 in a major, win 3 local tourneys, get bumped up a flight and stay there, top 3 in points, top 2 in your local tour championship, and then there's like an overall national points cutoff so the top third in points can go. I didn't go last year, it was expensive and far away... But who knows, maybe at some point. Hopefully they'll play the finals in Florida or on the RTJ trail or something a little easier to get to eventually.

Oh, and they do make a pretty big deal about pace of play, and a lot of my rounds there were much better than other DC tourneys that stretch well over 5 hours. So that helped.
[/quote]

What a funny coincidence....thats my home course. Shoot me a message if you'd ever like to go out there and play.

After thinking things over I'm going to stick to the VSGA one day events, half the price of the GC tour. I'll probably look into joining that next year.

[Doc420]

[quote name='DCDeac' timestamp='1423634001' post='10929809'] Enjoyed the Golf Channel Am tour last year and am looking forward to it again this year. We're a little spoiled in the DC area - there are Baltimore, DC, and Richmond tours, so there are a lot of tournaments at a lot of courses to choose from. People are always complaining about the cost, and while I get that it's expensive there are a lot of tours that have come and gone trying to be cheap. The truth is, if you're going to charge only $10-$20 on top of greens fees and run a tournament, it basically has to be run by one person, and that person probably needs to have no interest in making any money, so you lose things like having someone pushing pace of play, arriving early to set up TV's for scoreboards, putting in scores digitally, running side bets, etc. For better or worse, the Golf Channel shows up with flags, tents, TV's, multiple people managing the event, they ride with the front groups and push pace of play throughout the rounds, they enforce actual tournament rules, they announce groups on the first tee, and they have a very good online presence and communication setup for tourney info and details. Assuming you win or place a few times a season, take home a skin every now and then - it's really not that bad considering the effort that goes into it. Based on morning rates here, I'd guess most tournaments are between $30-$50 extra which isn't that crazy considering the level of effort. [/quote]I don't like the announcing on the first tee. Kinda stupid.

[Holy Moses]

I might play some of the events in Atlanta. It looks like there is just one flight and the winner usually shoots 75 or so. If the winner was shooting 2-3 under, I might have passed. I don't want to get crushed. Is there just one flight in Atlanta?

[Doc420]

I have played on both tours, on Golf week you will generally have more people per event, and you will have mostly shotgun starts. Golfweek is a little cheaper than Gc am tour, and Golf week guys will always try to let you know it. Golf week has a major in June at the ocean course in Kiawah. One round on the Ocean Course and one round at Turtle Point for 375. That price smokes GC am tour for the same tournament being held in March.

I actually like the Gc am tour more, they run their events better all the way around. It's easy to sign up, and the rules made known at each event. They do slap you with slow play, but only after the 9th and 18th hole. If you are within 14 mins of the group in from of you, you should be fine. I have only seen a handful of penalties handed out, When they were the group deserved it.

I'm already qualified for Nationals so i won't play any more majors this year. Since the nationals are back at Pga west this year, I could expect to spend quite a bit if I decide to go.

[Doc420]

[quote name='Holy Moses' timestamp='1423700006' post='10934743'] I might play some of the events in Atlanta. It looks like there is just one flight and the winner usually shoots 75 or so. If the winner was shooting 2-3 under, I might have passed. I don't want to get crushed. Is there just one flight in Atlanta? [/quote]Golf Channel tour? no there are 5 or 6 and about the same amount for the seniors.

[Holy Moses]

[quote name='Doc420' timestamp='1423700375' post='10934797']
[quote name='Holy Moses' timestamp='1423700006' post='10934743'] I might play some of the events in Atlanta. It looks like there is just one flight and the winner usually shoots 75 or so. If the winner was shooting 2-3 under, I might have passed. I don't want to get crushed. Is there just one flight in Atlanta? [/quote]Golf Channel tour? no there are 5 or 6 and about the same amount for the seniors.
[/quote]

When I clicked "Results" everyone was grouped together it seems. And I looking at the full results? http://thegolfchannel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/thegolfchannel15/chapter/gaatlanta/schedule/atlanta/index.htm

[Doc420]

Yes full field comes up first.

[Holy Moses]

[quote name='Doc420' timestamp='1423700846' post='10934861']
Yes full field comes up first.
[/quote]

Oops, I just realized that you can sort the field in the upper right hand corner