Anyone Ever Played A Shootout?

[Maddog10]

Played in a 19 man shootout this past weekend at my local club. It was my first time playing in this kind of event, and I must say I had a lot of fun. Early on the pace was very slow, but it improved significantly after 4 or 5 holes.

 

For those that are unfamiliar with this format, you start with 19 players and the player with the highest score on each hole is eliminated until you end up with a winner on the 18th hole. Any time there is a tie for the highest score, a closest to the hole chip-off decides who moves on and who gets sent home. The 19 players were split into 3 groups. The first group would play a hole and the person/people with the highest score from that group had to hang back and wait for the next group to finish while the others went on. If after two groups they were still the highest, then they had to wait for the third group to come through. Basically if you made pars you got to keep playing at a normal pace without delays. If you made a bogey you had to wait and see if anyone made double. If they did, you are safe to move on. If they didn't, you had a chip-off after all three groups had finished the hole to see if you get to advance.

 

Double-bogey advanced through the first hole and got you in a chip-off in the second, but then bogey ended up in a chip off in pretty much every hole after that aside from a couple where someone would slip up and make double. I ended up doing fairly well in the event despite not playing my best golf. I made a lot of pars though which was good enough to keep me advancing, and I ultimately survived 15 holes before lipping out a 6 footer for par and being sent home.

 

It was a fun, laid-back tournament until about the 12th hole when everyone left was consolidated into a single group and thought they had a chance to win. At that point everyone was a good player and the pressure was really on to make good shots, not to mention the gallery of eliminated players and other club members that had started following us around at that point. At the end of the day though it was a really good time.

 

I was curious if any of you guys had ever played in an event like this, and what your thoughts were? Yes, the pace is very slow at first but I was fortunate to make a few early pars which got me moved to the front of the groups and then the pace was pretty good from there on out. When I got eliminated after 15 I think I had been playing for about 4.5 hours, so I'd say a little over a 5 hour round total for the winner.

[agunner94]

I have not played in one at all. Yesterday my course hosted one with a $10 buy in. Unfortunately I couldn't do it, had to grill out with the family. I know the few my course holds throughout the summer is handicapped, which puts the pressure on even more I feel like.

[Schoolboy]

I've done it before at a buddy's tournament. 32-man shootout, 4 flights of 8 golfers. Eliminate 2 players on hole 1, then one each until you're left with one man standing from each flight (chip-offs to break ties). The four remaining players play on. 'A' and 'B' flight winners play the back tees; 'C' and 'D' flight winners play the forward tees. One golfer is eliminated on hole 7, and another on hole 8. The two finalists play hole #9 to determine the shootout champion. Loads of fun!

[rlshea]

At my course we do a couple of them each year with two man teams one alternate shot and one two man scramble each year. We call it the King of the Hill. The cart girl hangs with the group and usually the losing teams follow along with 9 or 10 teams it's nuts seeing all those carts go down hole 1... I love it probably on the short list for most fun events we have each year...

[Maddog10]

[quote name='rlshea' timestamp='1432665189' post='11629862']
At my course we do a couple of them each year with two man teams one alternate shot and one two man scramble each year. We call it the King of the Hill. The cart girl hangs with the group and usually the losing teams follow along with 9 or 10 teams it's nuts seeing all those carts go down hole 1... I love it probably on the short list for most fun events we have each year...
[/quote]

That sounds interesting. Ours was just an individual stroke play format, and was gross scoring as opposed to handicapped like gunner mentioned above. You are right though. It was crazy to see all of the carts following us around the last few holes. I wasn't expecting to have a gallery like that in somewhat of a "non-formal" tournament. I have played in front of larger galleries in some of the big tournaments I've been in, but for that particular event I was surprised.

It really was a lot of fun. I was skeptical about it mainly because I knew the pace would be slow and I wasn't all that familiar with the format, but I'm really glad I decided to play. I had a great time. It was a slight amount of pressure early on because you didn't want to make an early exit, but as the day went on the caliber of players improved and the pressure began to increase with every hole. However, at the end of the day we each only had $25 in the pot (not counting side-bets) so it's not like it was high stakes. Everyone was having a good time and laughing up until the back 9 and then that's when things were still light but also a little more serious at the same time.

[deadsolid...shank]

They do a shoot-out for the conclusion of our member guest. Nine flights or "races". All the flight winners make the derby, all the 2nd place teams have a chip-off with the winning team also joining the derby, so 10 teams playing best ball for the shootout. I can't remember the number, but they eliminate more than one team on each hole. If they didn't they would never finish. Last year I watched everyone hit their tee shots, went and grabbed my clubs, played the front nine (riding), and made it back to watch a majority of the putts. I don't think I have the patience for that.

But everyone seems to love it, and it is pretty cool to watch all the carts following along. I think a majority of the teams that don't make it as well as many who didn't even play the tournament follow along.

[bogeymoose]

I played in a shootout last summer as part of the O'Briens Irish Open put on by a local pub/restaurant. Just a ten person one, with 5 getting in via scores during the morning round of golf and the other five via a Chip Off ($10 for 3 balls). I got in via the chip off, leaving one about 8" short of the cup. It was a BLAST. I finished 2nd. I had never been so nervous over shots. Partially because there were about 70 drunks cheering us on at the end of a long day. It was played at Buckhorn in Brandon, FL. I'm hoping they run that tournament again this summer, it was well worth it.

[puttnforthe8]

Bandon does one on the Preserve for their tournament events. It was a load of fun!