Do you play in a league?

[Jonny_Crash]

I'm curious how many people play in a league and how many play casual rounds only.  I'm planning on signing up for my first weekly league this summer and would love to hear your experiences.  

[DiscipleofPenick]

I've played in a few leagues. The most recent ones I had two issues. 

The first was run by the course so no one was ever interested in getting to know the other players. Everyone showed up at their time, played 9 holes and left.

The second league was much friendlier guys, but I was in my early 30s and about 75% of the golfers were over 65. They would have out both before and after, have a few beers, play team events, and have 2 big cookouts. Though only 1 guy was interested in playing more than 9 a week. So I left.

I was also in a traveling league one year, and those guys represented everything wrong with golf. Every round was an 8-9 hour day. Overly complicated games every week, 6+ hour rounds, and most of the courses were an hour drive. Also most of league were reported as single hcps, but maybe 3 guys of 40 would break 90 in a given week. And everything played under strict USGA rules, hole out everything.

The best league was the one my dad brought me in, in high school. These guys would be there on time, play a serious round in under 2 hours, and then all hang out and a group of us go for dinner and beers (coke for me) after. There were a few guys my dad would play with on weekends and other outings too. Every week there were 2 games and skins. This is what I thought league golf was supposed to be, this is it manifest.

I've been disappointed with every experience since and I'm happy to just play with my friends. I joined these leagues looking to make contacts and find like minded and similarly skilled players and went 0 for 3. I'm done with leagues and will just play with my friends.

 

[Tyler86]

Im also looking to join my first league. Ive been looking for a couple years now but cant seem to find one that i think is a good fit in the right location on the right day. this year is the year.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I played in golf leagues through work. Three out of the four companies I worked for had a golf league. For the most part they were all fun. Typicially 9 hole rounds handicaps were based on leabue play only. One league was single play. You were paired against a different person each week and accumulated points. 2 for a win and 1 for a tie. We played two six week sessions with an 18 hole scramble mid season. Beers, burgers and ribbing each other after every round.

Also played two man teams and accumulated points the same as above at the next company.

Currently our league disbanded at my current employer. It was a decent league for quite a few years but we had slightly offset shifts and some would go out earlier and turn in score cards. Never got to see everyone and no one hung around after. It just wasn't fun. I also moved in a sales role 7 years ago which requires travel so I couldn't make it every week. They also were not very receptive to make up rounds. 

Overall in 25 years of being in a league, 23 of them were a blast and I would do it again. Since they were work leagues you always had the opportunity to bust your co-workers chops before and after the day of play.

Now my rounds are mostly recreational. Either by myself, with friends, or some co-workers. I also take customers golfing and play in charity golf events.

[cnosil]

I play in a company golf league and have met some great people on my team and others.  

[RoverRick]

We have a Men’s Golf Association at my club. We have a tournament every month and the first for the year is this Saturday. The Icicle Open. We probably will not have any real icicles but 40° and 25-30 mph winds will be a challenge. 
 

We have at least 1 tournament a month and also have a Wednesday night scramble. Since our club pro is female we tend to allow players in some tournaments that are not necessarily members of the MGA. Especially in the Wednesday Night Scrambles. 
 

There are also several “groups” at my club. These are chat or text groups where we have regular scheduled rounds. My group consists of 26-30 players. We play Wednesday and Friday afternoons and Saturday and Sunday mornings. Of course most of us have pesky jobs that sometimes interferes so there can be as few as 4 or more than 20 show up on any given time. There are 3 or 4 groups like mine. We are considered the fast group and tend to be the first of the groups that go out. We also usually have 2 bets of $10 per player per each bet. So $20 buy in. $10 handicap net score and $10 half of handicap skins. So a 13 handicap gets 6 strokes. Why not all? Don’t know. Everyone in my group is between a 2 and 14 handicap. 
 

All in all it is a lot of fun. Some of the tournaments like this one are pretty cheap, $40 entry fee. Wednesday Night Scramble is $30 plus $10 if you want to get in the team skins pot. Last year we set the record 12 under in a 9 hole 4 man scramble and won the skins pot that had been carrying over for 3 tournaments. I bought a Ping G425 7 hybrid with my winnings. We have them range up to $300. 
 

My teammate and I also won our flight on a three club tournament last year, and I believe we also played the worst in a Member-Member Tournament. 

[silver & black]

I have played in the same league for the last 20 years. The age range of players is 30's to 80's. We all get along and have a great time. It's a great mid week stress reliever!

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

I did for about 5 years. Was a blast for several years. Most of the group was 50+ and struggled to get younger. I played a lot of golf those years and that league really boosted my game, learned a lot from the guys there and made some really good friends.

I ended up leaving because 1) the keague was not getting younger and was struggling to bring in more people. 2) Rule changes/league adjustments were rare, and it felt like the person running it blocked alot of that.

Refardless it was alot of fun and I would love to join a league again down the road but I’ve been enjoying playing earlier rounds during the week before work so once the kids are older I’ll for sure join another.

[GolfSpy BOS]

Was in that same league with @Lacassem.   It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the competitive aspect right from the start. I remember the first round I played being on the putting green and feeling like it actually mattered for the first time. 
 

it was a great competitive outlet since organized sports are harder to come by.  I had to leave the league during the first year of Covid as I wasn’t sure if I could commit to playing. Haven’t had a chance to try to rejoin since, but I’ve liked playing in the AM vs Afternoons too. If I end up joining a club I will absolutely play in another league. It’s good fun competition, and I learned a lot about myself as a player from it. 
 

if you’re at all interested I would give it a try! 

[Stuka44]

I have never been able to. I rotated shifts(7a-3p, 3p-11p, & 11p-7a) every 28 days for 30 years, with changing days of the week off.  Always prevented me from joining one.  When I finally retire for good somewhere, I am looking forward to joining one.

[den748]

I'm one of the very lucky people with an awesome wife who encourages me to play so I know I'm an outlier but last year I played in 2 leagues and was a sub in a third (that I may join this year)

Each league has a different format and also a different competitive atmosphere.

First league I played in was a 2 man scramble Friday night league.  This was more like doing something while drinking. While we all played by the rules, there was little in terms of prizes and at times we would end up drinking in the parking lot until 1am. Met some of my now great golf friends in that league.  I still play in it as a nice happy hour style league but as I got better at golf I wanted to test myself a little more so in came the second league.

Last year I was a co-founder of a Monday night league.  This one we decided to make individual score and wanted something that was competitive but fun. We played by the rules, called people on rule infractions (in a respectful way), and were able to play individual side games in our groups. Had some optional side games for the entire league(CTP, net/gross skins, etc) that were inexpensive to enter too. Could not have asked for a better group of guys. Was not as heavy on the drinking as Friday but we would get a good crew hanging out after the round to shoot the poop after the round. This coming year it is actually the most requested league to join at our course. 

The league I was a sub in is the most prestigious at our course.  It's a Wednesday 2 man better ball league that uses a modified stableford scoring with score targets and some weird math. This one causes the most drama at the course.  Being a 2 man better ball, some of the "better" players would purposefully get a double bogey if their partner scored well and then submit it to GHIN making their handicaps seem higher than they are.  But this is the only league that the course officially runs and has the biggest trophy that is displayed in the clubhouse so everyone wants to win. 

The people in the league mean everything. You have to set the tone early and bring in people that can change the tone if needed.  Is it a competitive league?  Beer league? Is it run the right way by the commish...is he ever guilty of crony-ism?   Unfortunately it can get annoying fast. 

 

[GolfSpy TCB]

I have played in "evening 9 hole" leagues in the past.  As much as anything, it was an excuse to play more golf ;).  Currently, I am in my course's Men's Club which holds weekly events most weeks, and also organizes the larger events (two day tourneys throughout the year such as the Club Championship).  The most fun I have is playing with a group of guys every Sunday - 2 or 3 tee times depending on availability - kick in some cash and low net takes the pot.  Plus non-carry over skins.  Not really a league, but a regular game.  

[Jwhite86]

I play in a nine hole league on Tuesday nights in summer... it's my excuse to play golf... some guys take it very seriously, but most are just out for fun.  We calculate handicaps to try to make play "fair"

[BostonSal]

I loved playing in an after work twilight league when I was young.

The trash talking lasted from one week all the way to the next.

[MaxEntropy]

This year will be my 4th year in this particular work league and I've played in two others in the past. To me, the best thing about it is it gets me out once a week, otherwise there is a good chance I'd only get out once or twice a month due to other commitments. I was a supposed to start in a second league last year, but it ended up being canceled due to covid (mostly older guys who didn't want to commit). There is another work league that has pretty frequent subbing opportunities. I'm going to make sure I'm on the official sub list this year.

[Weekend_Warrior]

I play in a league and it’s one of the best golf decisions I’ve ever made. I don’t know how normal the format is, but there are like 13 of us on a team. I was brought in by another buddy, but I’ve made a ton of friends. And now there is a regular group text where it’s easy to find a 4 some almost any time; weekdays and weekends.