Golfweek am tour 2016

[Ponderossa]

Gonna play some events this year, really excited never played in these before but wanted to get into some competitive golf!!! Not sure what flight will be but I'm around 18-20 handicap shoot around 90 or so. Looking forward to competing and playing some new courses!!!

[larrybud]

You're a 20 and shoot 90? You'll fit right in with net tournaments. lol.

[Ponderossa]

What that mean?

[joey2aces]

he means that if you are an 18-20 and shoot 90 your hcp is wrong. If you're an 18-20 and shoot 90 you should be very happy. HCP's are an approximation of how good you CAN be, not how good you currently are.

[Ponderossa]

I don't really have established handicap was just guessing 18-20 but shoot between 90-95 mostly so don't really know what flight will be in these tournaments

[golfandfishing]

he means that if you are an 18-20 and shoot 90 your hcp is wrong. If you're an 18-20 and shoot 90 you should be very happy. HCP's are an approximation of how good you CAN be, not how good you currently are.

 

How is his handicap wrong?

[joey2aces]

he means that if you are an 18-20 and shoot 90 your hcp is wrong. If you're an 18-20 and shoot 90 you should be very happy. HCP's are an approximation of how good you CAN be, not how good you currently are.

 

How is his handicap wrong?

 

do you shoot 8 over par every round? As an 8 HCP I am sure you have more rounds above +8 over than under +8. Why do people feel as if since they shoot 'around 90' it automatically makes them an '18 or 20'? A lot goes into getting a HCP and if he wants to enter competitive tournaments then he needs to establish a proper handicap.

 

Golf Channel and Golf Week Tours flight their competitors. So if I am playing in a tournament and someone signs up and says,"I'm about an XX" I take exception to that.

 

It's amazing some people just don't get it.

[snoilr1]

If you play the majority of your rounds on a REALLY easy course it's possible to have an 18 hcp and average 90. That said, I shoot similar scores to the OP, (the majority of my last 20rounds are 90-97, avg 94.0) and my index fluctuated between 15-17 last year. the guys in my league who average ~90 are 12-14 index.

 

If you've never had an official hcp and truly avg 90, you're probably estimating in the range of 4-8 strokes high at 18-20. Though there's no way to say for sure.

[golfandfishing]

he means that if you are an 18-20 and shoot 90 your hcp is wrong. If you're an 18-20 and shoot 90 you should be very happy. HCP's are an approximation of how good you CAN be, not how good you currently are.

 

How is his handicap wrong?

 

do you shoot 8 over par every round? As an 8 HCP I am sure you have more rounds above +8 over than under +8. Why do people feel as if since they shoot 'around 90' it automatically makes them an '18 or 20'? A lot goes into getting a HCP and if he wants to enter competitive tournaments then he needs to establish a proper handicap.

 

Golf Channel and Golf Week Tours flight their competitors. So if I am playing in a tournament and someone signs up and says,"I'm about an XX" I take exception to that.

 

It's amazing some people just don't get it.

 

Handicap has zero to do with par. If he shoots 90 from the tips at Bethpage Black? What if it's 90 from the forward tees at Rancho Manana in Arizona? What is his handicap in those situations?

 

You have no idea if his handicap is right or wrong.

[larrybud]

he means that if you are an 18-20 and shoot 90 your hcp is wrong. If you're an 18-20 and shoot 90 you should be very happy. HCP's are an approximation of how good you CAN be, not how good you currently are.

 

How is his handicap wrong?

 

do you shoot 8 over par every round? As an 8 HCP I am sure you have more rounds above +8 over than under +8. Why do people feel as if since they shoot 'around 90' it automatically makes them an '18 or 20'? A lot goes into getting a HCP and if he wants to enter competitive tournaments then he needs to establish a proper handicap.

 

Golf Channel and Golf Week Tours flight their competitors. So if I am playing in a tournament and someone signs up and says,"I'm about an XX" I take exception to that.

 

It's amazing some people just don't get it.

 

Handicap has zero to do with par. If he shoots 90 from the tips at Bethpage Black? What if it's 90 from the forward tees at Rancho Manana in Arizona? What is his handicap in those situations?

 

You have no idea if his handicap is right or wrong.

 

While it's true that I don't have the guy's score history, I'm going to presume that since he's going to play in tournaments that he's probably not playing all of his rounds on a course rating 63.0/102.

 

And while I'm at it, course ratings are certainly loosely related to par since the suggested par on a hole is based on the distance of the hole, and course rating is related to distance (among other things) of the hole. There's a reason course ratings generally float around par on a course by a few shots. I mean, you're not going to find a regulation 18 hole course rated at 60, and you won't find it rated at 85 either.

 

My tongue in cheek response to the OP was merely for fun, but is also due to the numerous "career rounds" I've witnessed in net tournaments. The GC Am Tour doesn't require someone to have a USGA index to join the tour, and they "work with the player" to establish proper flighting for the first tournament.

[Enzogorlami]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

[demand]

Golfweek am tour is a good time and well run. Usually at the better public tracks in your area.

There are 5 flights index between:

Champ: 0-3.9

A: 4.0-8.9

B: 9.0-13.9

C: 14.0-18.9

D: 19 and above

The tournaments take gross score not net. If you don't have a handicap put in some of your last scores in a handicap calculator and figure out what you would be. The tour directors do some screening to new players. If someone comes in with a score that is 4-5 strokes below the lowest number of their flights index they will likely be promoted to the lower flight. Once you play a few rounds you'll have a tour handicap established making it difficult and almost pointless to sand bag. They also have a max score of 7. It takes some of the pressure off stroke play knowing there's a score that you can stop at.

Get in the skins game you never know where it's going to fall. I won $200 with a par on the first hole in the A flight that had 65 players. Saw someone win $700 with a birdie on a relatively easy hole.

Two cons for me is they typically are 5+ hour rounds and you're paying full weekend rate at a better public course plus prize pool money and a small admin fee I'm sure.

[Enzogorlami]

Thanks, yeah but it's a different scenario. Also tournament play are we walking or pull cart, no golf carts unless handicapped?

[larrybud]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

 

They have a whole system around new and existing players detailed here.

 

http://gcamtour.com/handicap-faq/

[demand]

Thanks, yeah but it's a different scenario. Also tournament play are we walking or pull cart, no golf carts unless handicapped?

 

Carts were included in price. Most everyone rode. Handful of people walk.

[Enzogorlami]

Nice, thanks

[fairways4life]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

 

They have a whole system around new and existing players detailed here.

 

http://gcamtour.com/handicap-faq/

 

I think he was talking about the Golfweek Tour, not the Golf Channel Tour. Two different things (although very easy to mix up the two)

 

I've never played in a Golf Channel tournament but I have played on the Golfweek Tour and will be again this year.

 

Pros:

You can play some pretty high-end and even private courses in a tournament setting

Decent prize money (for an 18-hole amateur tournament anyway). Especially if you play the optional skins game.

Generally well-run

Chance to meet some new people

Ties within flights are settled by sudden death playoffs, which is cool (and so much better than a scorecard match)

Season-long points race to keep things interesting

Gross play within flights. Better format than net IMO

 

Cons:

Long days. Some of the tournaments are an hour away. Add in some time to warm up, a 5 hour round, some time to wait around to see if you won anything and an hour drive home and some of these tournaments are an all-day affair

Shotgun starts (this varies by regional tour; some do tee time starts)

Foursomes (our state golf association uses threesomes for tournaments which I find more enjoyable)

One person in the foursome is tasked with keeping score for all 4 players. Can be kind of annoying. Not sure why they can't just give a scorecard to everyone and have you trade cards to keep each others score like real tournament golf

They force you to ride. Heaven forbid we're allowed to get some exercise.

 

All in all they can be a lot of fun and a great experience for anyone looking to get into tournament golf.

[anker0071]

I am playing in my first event in 3 weeks. Pretty excited as it is my first competition round (outside of random captain's choice tournaments). Any advice?

[Ponderossa]

I am playing in my first event in 3 weeks. Pretty excited as it is my first competition round (outside of random captain's choice tournaments). Any advice?

 

 

Which event? Im playing my first in April!! I'm just gonna focus on fairways and greens eliminating 3 putts

[ltjackson]

If there were more events near my home I'd definitely get involved.

[fairways4life]

I am playing in my first event in 3 weeks. Pretty excited as it is my first competition round (outside of random captain's choice tournaments). Any advice?

 

5 handicap and never played a tournament round before? That's rare. Better late than never though!

 

Advice? Don't overthink it. It's just golf.

 

Every round you play between now and then, treat it as a tournament round. Which means no breakfast balls, play it as it lies and putt everything out. That's a big one. I see a lot of decent players struggle in their first tournament because they aren't used to putting out 3-footers. Suddenly, their buddy isn't there to say "that's good" and kick it back to him. In a tournament, that hole can look about as big as a nickel on a downhill, 3-foot slider. Good luck!

[Questforpar]

Golfweek am tour is a good time and well run. Usually at the better public tracks in your area.

There are 5 flights index between:

Champ: 0-3.9

A: 4.0-8.9

B: 9.0-13.9

C: 14.0-18.9

D: 19 and above

The tournaments take gross score not net. If you don't have a handicap put in some of your last scores in a handicap calculator and figure out what you would be. The tour directors do some screening to new players. If someone comes in with a score that is 4-5 strokes below the lowest number of their flights index they will likely be promoted to the lower flight. Once you play a few rounds you'll have a tour handicap established making it difficult and almost pointless to sand bag. They also have a max score of 7. It takes some of the pressure off stroke play knowing there's a score that you can stop at.

Get in the skins game you never know where it's going to fall. I won $200 with a par on the first hole in the A flight that had 65 players. Saw someone win $700 with a birdie on a relatively easy hole.

Two cons for me is they typically are 5+ hour rounds and you're paying full weekend rate at a better public course plus prize pool money and a small admin fee I'm sure.

 

How much is the buy in to the skins game?

[demand]

$20 divided three ways. I think they set it up as

$10 - flighted skins only scoring against your own flight

$5 - superskin lowest score on a hole against all flights

$5 - hole in one fund and insurance there was always one hole worth $10k and the other three had some other legit prizes.

[jmill88]

Just joined today. Looking forward to it. Do they always play it as it lies? Can't say I do that very often :)

[larrybud]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

 

Just because you move doesn't mean your handicap isn't legit.

[fairways4life]

Just joined today. Looking forward to it. Do they always play it as it lies? Can't say I do that very often :)

 

Haha. Yes, welcome to "real" golf :golfer:

 

Actually though, it depends. Seems like during the early part of the season there's a lot of lift, clean and place because the courses are so wet with rain. As with most any tournament, it all depends on the conditions, the area of the country you're in (lot of rain vs. not much rain) and who is doing the decision-making.

[Enzogorlami]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

 

Just because you move doesn't mean your handicap isn't legit.

 

I wasn't sure, bc it is a home course cap. I added up scores from my most recent 10 rounds and chose the best 7/10 and got a mean of 80.4. So I guess my cap is a 9 or 8.4?

[fairways4life]

Ok so I'm looking to join and start playing in this. I have a club handicap at red hawk in las cruces nm, which is an 8. But I recently moved (7 months ago) and I don't have an established cap anymore. I still play at least once a week and hit the range twice a month. Just looking for something a little more competitive since I stopped baseball. How would I get flighted if I don't have an established cap at the moment.

 

Just because you move doesn't mean your handicap isn't legit.

 

I wasn't sure, bc it is a home course cap. I added up scores from my most recent 10 rounds and chose the best 7/10 and got a mean of 80.4. So I guess my cap is a 9 or 8.4?

 

It's based off course rating, not par, but you're in the right neighborhood. Just do a Google search for "free golf handicap" and you'll find plenty of websites where you can calculate a handicap for free. That will at least give you a place to start as far as signing up for the correct flight. If you joined the Golfweek tour, you get a free USGA handicap. So you should have received some instructions about how to get that set up.

[Lazzloe]

I too am looking to join, and start playing competitive golf. (Golf week/Golf channel)

Very excited.