For many club golfers, competitions are for weekends. With most people off work, it gives the majority of members the opportunity to turn their small entry fee into a pro shop voucher. Stableford, Medal, Stableford, Medal, sometimes a Texas Scramble… this is the weekend diet for a lot of club players. It’s great if your weekends are your own, of course, but what if they’re not?
A lack of weekend golf, or golf in general for that matter, is something that has been troubling me for some time – about ten years, in fact. There are a number of reasons why my handicap has gone up over the years – an aggressive hook, bunker fear, fatting wedges – but the biggest influence has been having children. I estimate having played, at the very most, half a dozen weekend rounds a year, on average, over the last decade. I know, sad, right?
There are millions of golfers around the world all suffering with this kind of pain, the no-golf weekends, one after the other. It's awful. As well as missing the game itself, it’s the competition that you start to long for, and that true test of having a scorecard in your hand.
This brings me on to the subject of midweek competitions. Last year, I was delighted to discover that my club ran a Wednesday Stableford. Played off the yellow tees, it attracted a decent number of entrants – not anywhere near the type of figure we'd typically get for a weekend comp, but enough to make it worthwhile entering and to get those competitive juices flowing. I found myself giddy with excitement, once again, by the prospect of winning £10 for making a two.
I’m fortunate, too, to have met a terrific group of members (mostly retirees), who have their own roll-up every Tuesday and Thursday morning. The format is simple: red tees (we skip round in 3 hours 20, usually), 85% handicap, two Stableford scores to count on each hole. Most importantly, it’s £1 to enter, and a win will see you double your money. There’s no trembling over two-foot putts, but it’s good, healthy competition. I love it.
It reminded me of just how important midweek competitions are. For parents who take on the role of taxi driver, and for anyone working Saturdays and Sundays, being able to tee it up in a midweek comp is important, especially for those who enjoy the occasional test where every shot counts.
If it were up to me, I’d actually pop a few more midweek competitions in the diary, certainly during the summer months; I might even suggest some kind of winter league/knockout. Nor would the Wednesday Stableford simply be named the Wednesday Stableford. Why should it just be the 'big' weekend comps that receive grand titles and fancy trophies? Let's give some of the midweek comps a bit more prestige.
Every club is different, of course, and many will already have a great variety of different competitions across the whole year. Members will form their own roll-ups and competitions, too, which is one of the best things about being a member of a golf club.
However, having those ‘official’ midweek comps is something that should exist at every golf club. Weekend comps will always be the staple diet, but let’s not forget about Wednesdays. And, please, spare a thought for anyone suffering with no-golf weekends.
