Tournaments / Golf societies
Running a golf society leaderboard
Golf societies run monthly competitions and seasonal points races. Here is how to structure a season-long leaderboard, including handicap adjustments and season-end prizes.
Golf societies — informal clubs whose members play monthly at rotating courses — have run on paper scoresheets and email spreadsheets for decades. A season-long leaderboard, computed automatically, is one of the most-requested features in any society.
Season structure
Most societies run a 9-12 month season with one monthly competition. A points race across the season is the engine of attendance — members who fall behind in March still attend April through October to climb the table.
Award points by finishing position, with bonus points for participation. A typical structure:
- 1st place — 100 points
- 2nd-5th — 90, 80, 70, 60 points
- 6th-10th — 50-30 points
- Participation — 20 points for every event attended
- Best three events — count for the season order of merit
Handicap management
Run Stableford or net stroke play with each member's current Handicap Index. Update handicaps after each monthly event using the World Handicap System differential.
GolfStack stores society handicaps separately from official club handicaps, so the society can run on its own internal system if members come from different clubs.
Season-end prizes
Beyond the order-of-merit winner, consider category prizes that incentivise participation across the field:
- Most improved — biggest handicap drop
- Player of the year — society order of merit
- Eclectic — best score on each hole across the season
- Captain's cup — single-event matchplay
Related guides
How to run a virtual golf tournament
A virtual tournament lets players compete from any course, at their own pace, over a defined window. Here is how to set one up — and the formats that work best.
How to run a corporate golf event
Corporate golf days bring 30-200 players to a course for a day. Here is what to organise, in what order, and how to use GolfStack for scoring and the leaderboard.