College Golf Tournaments

Do you want to know how college golf tournaments work? No problem! We created an article just for you that dives into the key details of the all-important college golf tournament.

Let's start at the top. The first thing to realize is that the typical college golf tournament is 54 holes and usually played on a Monday and Tuesday. The first day, you play 36 holes with a shotgun start. The 36 holes are played continuously (no break!), although your coach will bring a boxed lunch onto the course after the first 18. The second day is 18 holes, with tee times according to your team standing after Day 1. Five players compete on each team, with the top four scores from each round counting towards the team total. Lastly, there are awards for both individual performance and, of course, team performance, which counts towards your team's ranking.

College golf tournaments are usually hosted by a given college or university that invites other schools to compete. There are typically 10-15 college teams that compete in any given tournament. The average host course length of a men's college golf tournament is ~7,000 yards, with the average length for women clocking in around 6,000 yards.

Keep in mind again that not everyone makes the traveling squad. If there are ten members on a college team, only five will get to compete in any given tournament, leaving five members of the team back on campus to practice and root for their team remotely. Many programs use some type of objective qualifying system, where players on the team compete against each other to vie for who makes the traveling squad — but not all! We highly recommend talking to the coach to make sure you understand how qualifying works for the team. Playing well at a given tournament often earns you the opportunity to compete in the next one.

Teams typically leave for the tournament one day prior to the start of competition. The day before the tournament includes an extensive practice round, where you get a feel for the course, the speed of the greens, and pre-marked hole locations. The evening before the tournament includes a team dinner and a team meeting to discuss findings and observations from the practice round and course management strategies. As we mentioned above, the first day of the tournament is 36 holes, with 18 on the final day. After close of play, you'll head back to campus via van (if the tournament was in driving distance) or plane.

Here is a day-by-day drilldown for those of you who want a blow-by-blow on college golf tournaments:

One Week Prior

• Coach and upperclassmen implement a practice plan for the week that is conducive to the typical/expected tournament course and conditions.

• If you know that you will be away for golf, inform your professors so they can help you keep up with classwork in your absence.

Two Days Prior

• Pack up, and coordinate with teammates to determine shirt and pant combinations for the tournament.

• Prepare for weather, including rain, snow, wind, extreme heat, or cold. Bring extra layers of clothing, jackets, rain gloves, winter hats, and more.

• Stock your bag with all the essentials: extra rangefinder batteries, umbrella, golf balls, etc.

• Sometimes the traveling squad will get together for a team dinner.

• Clean the clubs and wipe down the grips.

One Day Prior

• Meet the coach at the athletic center and depart for the course at the scheduled time.

• Arrive at the course for a practice round, typically one hour prior to tee time.

• Take time to warm up as a team, roll a few putts, tee off.

• College practice rounds are slow — teams often tee off as 5- or 6-somes and use the time on the course to mark potential tournament pins and take notes on the course.

• Be a student — take notes on the course, don't play for score. Get a feel for course conditions.

• Hit shots into different types of good and bad lies off the fairway and around the greens to get a feel for the rough.

• Roll putts and hit bunker shots towards the pins you'll see during the tournament to get a feel for green speed and how the ball will react on certain areas of the greens.

• Team dinner near the hotel.

• Convene for a 30-45-minute meeting to discuss course management hole-by-hole. Talk about risk-reward holes, tee-shot placement, sucker pins, etc. Share observations as a team.

Tournament Day One (36-hole day)

• Quick breakfast at the course or hotel (don't expect anything spectacular).

• Head to the course at the scheduled time.

• 1-hour warm-up before shotgun start. Practice areas are often very crowded; teams are allotted 2 range spots for 5-6 players.

• Tee off with both 18-hole scorecards for the day (don't confuse the two).

• Make sure you are stocked up on snacks to hold you over for the day.

• Typically, coaches will be out on the course to walk with players.

• Give the coach your signed scorecard from the first 18 holes.

• Box lunch — usually a sandwich of some kind with an apple and chips. Typically, players walk and eat in between shots.

• Pace yourself — it can be a long day of golf.

• Finish up the second 18, sign scorecards, and check the standings.

• Eat a good meal with the team and discuss takeaways from the day and strategy for tomorrow.

• Get some good rest — hopefully your team played well and you have a late tee time, so you can sleep in.

Tournament Day Two (18-hole day)

• Pack up as a team and depart for the course at the scheduled time.

• Repeat the above routine prior to the round.

• Finish up the round, and maybe stick around to see the final groups finish.

• Fill out stat sheets on the way back to campus.

Feel like you have a better handle on college tournaments now? Great! We hope this was a useful overview. Best of luck making the team and the traveling squad, and, of course, play well!

Enjoy your Journey!