Tee times and playing groups for a society day

The draw is the most visible thing an organiser does, and the only part of the day everybody has an opinion about. It is also the piece most likely to change between the moment you publish it and the moment the first group tees off.

Group size and interval#

The trade is simple: fourballs get more people out in less tee time but play noticeably slower once they’re out. If your club’s tee sheet allows, threeballs make for a better day and a round that finishes closer to four hours.

Twoballs are only worth it for a small field or a late add-on. A group of two behind a group of four will be waiting all day, which is its own kind of annoying.

Who plays with whom#

Three approaches, and one is better than the others for social golf.

Mixed handicaps (recommended). Spread the range across each group. Newer members get to play with experienced ones, pace evens out because a group of four high handicaps is genuinely slower, and the day is more sociable.

Grouped by handicap. Feels competitive and produces a strong “leaders’ group”, but it concentrates slow play in the back groups and can make new members feel sorted into a bottom set. Fine occasionally, poor as a default.

Random. Defensible, quick, and immune to accusations of favouritism. The downside is it will occasionally produce a group where nobody knows anybody, which is a worse experience than any pace problem.

A practical hybrid: draw randomly within handicap bands so every group has a spread, then hand-adjust two or three groups for people who asked to play together.

Ordering the tee sheet#

• Put a reliable group out first. The first group sets the pace for the whole field. A slow first group costs everyone twenty minutes.
• Put a reliable group out last too, so the field closes cleanly and the results are complete sooner.
• Spread the known slow players rather than putting them together.
• Late arrivals go last, not into a gap. Filling a gap with someone who might not make it costs the whole field.

Publishing the draw#

Publish the evening before, not the morning. Include:

• Group, tee time, and the names in each group
• The format and the handicap allowance
• Where to meet and by when — “on the tee 10 minutes before” is the only line that reliably works

If your scoring platform publishes the draw to members directly, use that rather than a screenshot in the group chat; screenshots go stale the moment the draw changes and people play from the wrong one.

The morning#

The draw will change. Plan for it rather than resisting it.

No-shows. Collapse the group rather than leaving a hole. Two threeballs beat a fourball and a twoball.

Late additions. Add to the last group if they can make the tee time; otherwise add a group at the end.

A guest arrives. Slot them into a group with someone they know. Record them as a guest, not as a member — see handling guests.

Groups merge on the course. It happens. If your scoring is per-group, someone will need to move a player between groups after play has started. This should be possible for an ordinary member on a phone, not just an administrator on a laptop. Software that locks the field at setup turns a normal Saturday morning into a support problem.

Pace of play, without being the pace police#

The three interventions that actually work:

1. Publish an expected finish time with the draw. “Last group in by 15:40.” A number people can measure themselves against does more than any rule.
2. Ready golf as the default, stated in the rules of the day.
3. Stableford means pick up. Say it out loud at the start of the season. Once a hole cannot score a point, the ball goes in the pocket. This alone saves ten to fifteen minutes a round.