Organiser hub
The golf organiser hub: how to run a golf tournament
Everything you need to plan and run a golf day in one place: step-by-step guides for tournaments, societies and charity days, a printable checklist you can take to the club, and an honest look at what a tournament costs to put on.
Start with a guide
Each guide walks through the stages in the order organisers actually meet them, with a timeline and a day-of checklist at the end.
How to run a golf tournament
Format, booking the course, entry fees, groups, tee times and getting results out before people leave.
Read the guideHow to organise a charity golf day
Fundraising goal, sponsors, team entries, the running order and finishing the prize-giving on time.
Read the guideHow to set up a golf society
Agreeing roles, writing the rules, handling money, handicaps and booking your first away day.
Read the guide
Take the checklist with you
Every guide has a printable checklist button that builds a two-page A4 PDF from that guide's stages, timeline and day-of list, in the language you are reading. Print it, tick it off in the pro shop, and hand a copy to whoever is running registration.
Open the tournament guide to download itWhat does it cost to run a golf tournament?
The honest answer is that the course sets the price and everything else is a choice you make. Build the budget line by line, price it per player, and you will know your entry fee before you commit to a date.
- Green fees and course hire
- Almost always the largest line. Quoted per head, and usually cheaper midweek, out of season or as part of a package with catering.
- Catering
- Rolls on arrival, a halfway house stop and a meal afterwards. Ask the club for the per-head package price and confirm what is included in writing.
- Prizes and trophies
- Winning team, runners-up, nearest the pin and longest drive. Donated prizes cut this line to almost nothing on charity days.
- Printing and on-course signage
- Tee signs, sponsor boards and anything you hand out at registration. Fixed cost, so it falls per player as the field grows.
- Software and payment fees
- Taking entries online costs either a platform fee or your evenings. RoundHQ publishes its prices in pounds on the pricing page, including a free plan for a single event.
- Contingency
- No-shows, weather and the team that drops out the night before. Most organisers hold back a small percentage of the budget rather than discovering the gap on the day.
Divide the total by the number of players you are confident of filling, not the maximum field. Sponsorship and a raffle then reduce the entry fee rather than rescuing the budget.
Common organiser questions
- How far ahead should I book the course?
- Popular clubs release charity and society dates months in advance, so aim to have the date and the club confirmed well before you promote the event. Midweek slots are usually easier to secure than weekends.
- What format works best for a mixed-ability field?
- A team format such as a scramble or a betterball Stableford keeps everyone moving and lets stronger and weaker players enjoy the same round. Individual Stableford suits a field of regular club golfers.
- Do players need to install an app to score?
- Not with RoundHQ. Each player gets a link that opens in the phone browser, and the leaderboard updates as scores come in.
Ready to set the event up?
Take entries online, organise your players, collect scores from any phone and publish a live leaderboard. There is a free plan for a single event.