Parent/ Child Tourney

[ruascott]

Trying to get some feedback on proper course setup for an upcoming parent/ child tourney at our club.  These are mostly young (to very young) juniors (5-12), and is just a casual fun 9 hole event.  

 

It's played as a Pinehurst alternate shot, but my question is more for tee setup. The juniors typically play each week teeing from 150-200 yards (on 4s/5s) in their jr camp.

 

I went out with my son (6) and played a few holes so he could understand the format.  We began with me teeing at the regular members tees, and he in the 175 range.  But it a quickly became obvious this was a waste, as my drive (and his 2nd off my drive)  were irrelevant, in this format.  

 

He can hit his driver maybe 75 yards.  And any approach off the ground 50 yards or so max.  So him hitting an approach from my drive was meaninglessness (can't come close to green from 140-170 yds)...I was always hitting his drive from about 100-125 in.  

 

We then played a few holes where we both teed off at about 175-200. In this case,  we both had "approach" shots that we were both engaged with.  Me from 100 yds or so,  him chipping or even putting.  

 

Would it make the most sense for both parent and kids to both tee from the junior tees in this format? I'm now thinking it does.  

Edited July 12, 2021 by ruascott
Correct

[Abh159]

I've never seen a parent/child tournament use an alternate shot format probably because of this specific reason. Having the adults play from the kids tees makes zero sense to me. If you do that you're going to have adults playing 200 yard par 5s (according to your post above)...

 

You might be better off doing a scramble or shamble type event, and let the kids play from wherever you normally have them play from. I feel like one of those two formats will also let the kids contribute plenty of shots which in turn will have them feeling happier at the end of the day.

[heavy_hitter]

Poor choice of format if you want to hear the truth.  Better off doing a scramble or a shamble.

[kcap]

i have played a couple of alternate shots, best ball (scoring done on "Callaway System" since kids did not have a handicap) and scrambles with my child.  Arguably my son was 8-10 when we played these events so he did the ball further than your 6yr hence his second shot was relevant. 

 

I think the one that worked best was Alternate Shot but both player would hit off their tee shots on each hole.  We would then select the best tee shot and play alternate shot from there.  

 

Kids played age specific tees, so 10 and under  played forward, 11-13 played ladies and 13-15 played srs and 15 over played mens tees.

 

Gross and net scores.  Net scores were avg of the handicap (if kids had  handicap) or used the Callaway System.

 

The alternate shot with both player hitting off the tee box was fun.  In most instance since he was playing forward tees, we would use his drive, my approach to the green etc. The par 3s were all about who hit the greens and par 5s required him to hit the third shot to the green.

 

HE preferred it to scramble and shamble since he shot mattered on every hole, plus the pace of play is a lot quicker.

 

 

[ruascott]

I think the idea of doing the Pinehurst alt shot was to keep pace moving along quickly, as mentioned above. My son and I played 9 holes of this format in just over an hour (on an empty course). He can't really play even a full 9 holes from jr tees without getting tired/ losing focus. And making it a scramble more or less just means playing my ball.... other than maybe his tee shots.  

 

Since it's a Pinehurst format,  my thought is that holes should play roughly the combined distances of a parent + childs shot (for a par 4). But maybe I'm overthinking it.  

 

 

[BFD3]

I played a 9-hole, true alternate shot with my daughter when she was 9. It was three years ago but IIRC, we played family tees on the holes she tees off from and forward tees when I teed off. It was actually flighted by the kid’s age and dad’s handicap. We came in 2nd in our flight because I choked on

the last hole. Any much younger than she was and I’d probably look at it as just a fun, learning experience. 

[Gunner Morgan]

It would be great really doing a scrambled or sample type event. Now I watch a lot of articles and videos on various resources that relate to the behavior of children, their upbringing and treatment of children. Unfortunately, in our world, cruelty sometimes triumphs over love, and on writingbros I read some sample essays on child abuse. I can say that this is one of the most important problems of modern civilization.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gunner Morgan

[BFD3]

I don’t know what Pinehurst alternate shot  is, but a few years ago, I played a 9 hole alternate shot with my 10 yo at the time daughter. It was a Girls Golf event and they set it up so the adult teed off on forward tees on the odd holes and the girls teed off from family tees on the even holes. We came in our flight because I sliced a drive OB. I was incredulous when they explained the format when we checked in but it was fun.