Open season in the office
Your club runs a dozen opens a year: a men's open, a seniors' open, a mixed open, a ladies' am-am. Entries arrive by email with a home club and a handicap index, by phone to the pro shop, and through an online listing. Some pay by bank transfer, some promise to pay on the day. Groups of four ask to play together at a specific time.
The office builds a start sheet in a spreadsheet, checks home clubs, chases payments, and keeps a reserve list in case of withdrawals. On the day, the starter works from a printout that is already out of date because two teams withdrew and one changed a player.
Why opens create so much admin
Entries come from people outside your membership systems, so they cannot use the member booking tools. Every visiting entry has to be keyed in by hand.
Each open has its own rules: format, handicap limits, whether entrants must belong to an affiliated club, and prize divisions. These are checked by eye against each entry.
Team events add a further layer. A four-ball entry may change players several times before the day, and each change needs the new player's details, a fresh eligibility check and sometimes a different handicap allowance, all of which lands on the same person in the office.
Payment is the other drag. Transfers with vague references, promises to pay on the day, and refund requests for withdrawals all need matching and deciding.
Where the time goes
| Task | Why it hurts |
|---|---|
| Entries by email and phone | Typed up one by one |
| Eligibility checked by eye | Mistakes found on the day |
| Payments by transfer or on the day | Unpaid entries and matching work |
| Withdrawals and reserves | Start sheet rebuilt repeatedly |
| Results for visiting players | Extra steps to publish and record |
Opens are a showcase for the club. A slick entry process and a well-run day bring people back and sometimes bring members.
How we run open entries in one place
- Each open has an entry page with its format, date, rules and entry fee, linked from your website and shared with listing sites.
- Entrants enter as a team or individual, giving their home club and the details your club's rules require for that event, and pay the entry fee online through Stripe or a similar provider.
- Entries that fall outside the stated limits are flagged for the competition secretary to check, rather than rejected automatically, so judgement stays with the club.
- Tee time requests are collected with the entry, and a draft start sheet is built for the secretary to adjust and publish.
- When the event is full, new entries go to a reserve list. A withdrawal triggers an offer to the next reserve, who pays online to take the place. Refunds follow your stated terms.
- On the day, the start sheet is in the tee sheet and on the starter's tablet. Results are entered through your usual route and published to the entry page.
Your club's own competition rules and the national handicap system still apply as they do now. We make the entry and payment side easier to run.
The next open
Entries open in January. Teams enter and pay in the evenings. By spring the open is full, with a reserve list. The secretary builds the start sheet from the draft in half an evening. Two withdrawals the week before are filled by reserves without a phone call. On the day, the starter's list is current.
- Entries and payments collected together
- Eligibility questions flagged for a person to decide
- Reserves offered places automatically
- A start sheet that stays current
Is this your opens calendar?
- Open entries arrive by email and phone and are typed up by hand.
- Some entrants pay on the day or not at all.
- Withdrawals mean rebuilding the start sheet.
- Eligibility is checked by eye.
- The starter works from an out-of-date printout.