Guide
How coaches put together groups for a school golf match
No rule of golf says how to do this. It’s up to whoever runs the match, which at a school match is usually you. Here’s what most coaches weigh, in roughly the order they weigh it.
Who’s playing
Start with who can be there, then with how many the course and the league allow. Many leagues play six or nine holes at this age, with a cap on players per team, so the first decision is often who sits out this week, not who goes where.
How big a group is
Threes and fours are most common.
Who goes together
The things coaches weigh, none of which is a rule everywhere:
- Someone who’s played the course before in each group, so there’s one person who knows where the next tee is.
- Girls. Some leagues require a girl in each group, some group the girls together, and some don’t mind. Know which yours is.
- Family. Many leagues count on a parent in each group to keep the card, often with their own child in that group. Some leagues ask that a parent not keep score for their own child’s group.
- Your strongest players. Together, so they push each other, or spread out, so every group has one steady score. Coaches disagree, and both work.
- Kids who shouldn’t be together, which you already know about and don’t need written down anywhere.
When other schools are in it
Many leagues mix the teams, so each group has players from two or three schools rather than four from one. It keeps the scoring honest without anyone having to say so, and the kids meet somebody new.
Write it down before the day
Groups, the starting hole for each, and who keeps the card for which group. Hand it out the night before if you can. The match that goes wrong is nearly always the one where this got decided in the parking lot.
GolfJot’s coach area builds groups from rules like these and sends each card to the scorekeeper’s phone. Coach sign-in