Some of the best pieces of advice for TD's I can give;
#1 Whatever you choose to do, and decisions you make, make it final. Don't ask players what they want for format, players pack etc, you'll get torn in 10 different directions and seem like a person who can't make up their mind. No one likes a TD who can't make a choice.
#2 Know the rules of the game, and enforce the rules of the game. You aren't there, in a sanctioned tournament, to be buddy-buddy with everyone so that they can walk all over you because you are "soft". Be kind, have respect for everyone there, and treat everyone justly.
#3 Get all your paperwork, facebook pages, and signups done EARLY and with FAQ's up for everyone to see. Don't bend over backwards the last 1-2 days before a tournament, when lazy people call/text/email you at all hours of the day trying to figure out how to signup. Copy/paste the link into the text or email, and tell them where to find it. Don't coddle them just because they decided to call you at 1130PM and then get mad because you won't spoon feed them all the details. I would HEAVILY advise you put up a refund policy (especially for non-sanctioned tournaments). If someone pre-pays for a non-sanctioned tournament, and doesn't show and doesn't contact me in any way to say they aren't coming, then they get a players pack and zero refund. If the tournament fills up, they lose their spot, they lose their players pack, and get 1/2 refund. If you put this out there in big bold letters, well ahead of time, you'll be just fine.
#4 If you have a tournament larger than 20 people, DON'T PLAY IN IT. No one likes to wait around for the TD to finish to get paid out. Nothing irks me more than sitting by TD central, with 50 other people, doing nothing because the TD is out playing and nothing can be done until they get back. Make sure you have a Co-TD to help you out. And "pay them" in merch.
#5 "Pay" your help. For some reason TD's get flack for paying help in cash. But if you give them 20-60 bucks in merch it's no big deal. Did someone volunteer? Give them $25 in credit, do you have a Co-TD? At least triple that. If players have a problem with that, tell them to volunteer next time, and ask for 10 hours of their life on a prime weekend day. If they still argue, don't even mind them. Happy help = a better run tournament = happy players = better run tournaments in the future.
Great list, but I do quibble a bit with #4. I think a good, experienced TD can handle playing and running a tournament with more than 20 people. Some can handle running a full 72 or 90 player tournament while also participating.
The way I see it, if the TD is still out on the course playing, so are a whole bunch of other players as well. Even if the TD isn't playing, he's not going to hand out prizes and such until everybody is done playing and their cards are turned in. So no one should be waiting around getting upset they can't get their payout because the TD's still on the course.
Now if they're waiting because the TD didn't have that stuff prepped in advance and had to figure it all out after he finishes his round? Okay, that's bordering on uncool, but only if the delay is significantly longer than it would have been otherwise. Even a non-playing TD isn't going to have an instantaneous turnaround once the cards start coming in after the final round.
But that leads me to another minor pet peeve regarding the end of the day...people in a rush to leave. Yeah, we all have lives to live, but to me, if you've committed to playing the tournament, you're committing to see it through to the end. If you plan to win something, you should plan to have to stick around for awards to get it if/when you do win it.
I get that some folks have long drives or families or whatever, but the expectation shouldn't be that the TD should accommodate your wanting to leave early by having your payout ready when you want it rather than ready in time for awards. So if you want to grab your prize and go, ask politely and be prepared to be told "no" or "not yet". Most TDs in my experience are quite accommodating when approached the right way (myself included), but odds are very good that the TD (and staff) are trying to get 50 things done at once to get awards rolling and requesting an early cash-out is just making it 51 things they're trying to do. It's silly to expect them to drop everything else they're doing just so that you can slip out 20 minutes faster than anyone else.
Oh, and if you're going to be the "can I grab my prize/trophy early" guy, make sure you actually leave before the awards start. Nothing more irksome than to have a player ask for an early cash-out, and then see him still lingering in the parking lot after the actual awards ceremony is over (or cat-calling during the awards...way worse).