LukeButch
Birdie Member
In your mind, what is the best time for a tournament to have tee off for the first round?
For me its about 9:30 players meeting, 10am tee off
For me its about 9:30 players meeting, 10am tee off
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Ideal tournament start time
- Thread starter LukeButch
- Start date
Agreed... allows for some folks to travel in the morning and save a night of hotel. Still getting the round(s) in for the day.
Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
But earlier on the second day in 2-day events like 8 or 8:30.
DGRZ001
Eagle Member
Then that would be the third round, Chuck, not the first round.
See you this weekend.
See you this weekend.
I would much rather get an early start and be done playing at a reasonable hour, especially if it's a one day tournament on Sunday.
Uh, doesn't this depend on other factors? Like the course (how long will rounds take?), the location (how many people traveling how far?), and the time of year (how much daylight will there be?)?
JeCroisQue
Eagle Member
I completely agree. There are so many variables that there will never be a perfect time.
If I'm playing at a one day local tournament then it doesn't matter. If the temp is gunna be in the 90's+, then the earlier the better. If it's a 2 day and I'm staying somewhere for the weekend I don't care. There's a bunch of different things that affect my "perfect starting time."
If all of the variables don't matter, my favorite time to start a round is about 6 p.m.
LukeButch
Birdie Member
what is so important that everyone needs to be done by 5pm? I understand if its a local 1 day event but at least for most people I know if they are playing a 2 day tournament, especially out of town they have committed their whole weekend to it and avoid making any other commitments.
I've seen many TDs have SUPER early start times this summer when there is daylight until 8:30 or later. While no one wants to be finishing at the time, is it really necessary to have 8am tee off to be finishing at 5pm?
LukeButch
Birdie Member
What if that tournament was playing multiple courses, but the first round was at a course 30+min away from where hotels(or friends sofas) were available?
GT Chris
Birdie Member
What is so important that everyone can't start until 10am? :|
tarel
Double Eagle Member
I would love to see a 6-7am torn start
ottawa_adam
Par Member
I prefer to start somewhere between 9 and 10 a.m. It's nice to have a sufficient lunch break in between rounds, so I don't mind earlier starts. I've been to enough tourneys where the TDs cut the lunch breaks short because of some slow cards coming in (or for other reasons). While I appreciate keeping things on schedule, it's frustrating to be a member of that last card finishing, only to find you have 15 minutes for lunch.
jobwilson
Eagle Member
Earlier the better. I'm a grown man, I can wake up early!
Plus, the morning is the best time of day.
Plus, the morning is the best time of day.
MikePinchico
Double Eagle Member
1st round- 9am players meeting 9:30 start
2nd- 1 pm
Second day 27 holes
Start at 10:00am finish (ceremony/awards done by 4pm)
2nd- 1 pm
Second day 27 holes
Start at 10:00am finish (ceremony/awards done by 4pm)
For me it does.
Of course, for the standard par 54 layout two rounder, with 72 or less in attendance, not during winter or late fall, 10:00 AM works fine.
Todd Wiley
Double Eagle Member
Well.. up here in Alpena, MI, we start our tournaments first round at 1:00 PM and have 2 courses for a round each finished with payouts/award ceremony done by 8 PM 
Of course there were only 16 participants. That makes for a fast round.
Of course there were only 16 participants. That makes for a fast round.
This right here.
I've driven an hour plus to early start tournaments, and the closest ones to me are 40 minutes away. I'd still rather start early.
Work the next day, house/yard/general living (laundry, etc) needs taking care of too.
I would much rather get up at 5, to leave at 6, drive an hour and be starting at 7:30-8 vs. finishing up at 7, waiting forever for the awards, then driving an hour home, showering, trying to figure out dinner, etc.
Plus, in the summer, it's a good way to dodge those late afternoon thunderstorms.
When it comes to personal preference---as opposed to a generic "best time"----I'm with BradC, Mashnut, and others in favor of early.
Especially in summer when it's cooler in the morning and, as BradC just said, less chance of catching the late afternoon thunderstorms.
I'd rather eat lunch closer to noon than 2 PM.
I've commuted 2 hours to events and I'd also rather get up very early and drive, in return for getting home with something left of my afternoon and evening.
That's personal. As TDs, we wrestle with this and all the factors to guess what will work best for the most players. There's no right answer. But other than summer, a lot of times it's simply a factor of working backwards from twilight with the time it will take for the slowest group to play the particular course.
Especially in summer when it's cooler in the morning and, as BradC just said, less chance of catching the late afternoon thunderstorms.
I'd rather eat lunch closer to noon than 2 PM.
I've commuted 2 hours to events and I'd also rather get up very early and drive, in return for getting home with something left of my afternoon and evening.
That's personal. As TDs, we wrestle with this and all the factors to guess what will work best for the most players. There's no right answer. But other than summer, a lot of times it's simply a factor of working backwards from twilight with the time it will take for the slowest group to play the particular course.
