GolfTracker Resources
Everything you need to run the golf.
Free, practical guides for the person organizing it — the trip captain planning a buddies weekend and the committee running a charity scramble. Formats, games, handicaps, budgets and sponsorship, written to be used while you plan.
Golf trips & buddies weekends
Running a trip for 8 to 24 golfers across two to four courses: the formats, the competition structure and the logistics that decide whether it runs itself or eats your vacation.
Golf Trip Formats: The Complete Guide
Every team format, individual board and scoring system for a multi-round trip — and which to play on which day so nobody is out of it by Sunday.
Read the guide → Ryder CupHow to Run a Ryder Cup Golf Trip
Complete session schedules and points tables for 8, 12 and 16 players, plus pairing rules, handicap allowances and tiebreakers that don't ruin dinner.
Read the guide → Side gamesGolf Side Games & Money Games, Explained
Skins, Nassau, wolf, Vegas, bingo bango bongo, snake and the junk — rules, payouts, and how to keep the books straight across a whole trip.
Read the guide → PlanningHow to Organize a Buddies Golf Trip
The trip captain's playbook, six months out to settle-up: deposits, balance dates, tee times, rotating pairings and the trip-week run of show.
Read the guide →Charity & corporate tournaments
Running a fundraiser or a company outing: what to lock down first, what it costs, how sponsorship actually pays for the event, and how the day itself runs.
How to Run a Charity Golf Tournament
The seven-step guide from date and course through registration, sponsors, format and event day — start here if it's your first tournament.
Read the guide → BudgetHow Much Does It Cost to Host a Golf Tournament?
A real line-item budget: course, carts, food, prizes and printing — and where the money actually comes back.
Read the guide → SponsorshipGolf Tournament Sponsorship Packages
A real sponsorship deck with prices, tier by tier, and what each level should actually deliver to the sponsor.
Read the guide → SponsorshipHow to Get Sponsors for a Charity Golf Tournament
Who to ask, what to send, and the follow-up sequence that turns a list into signed sponsors.
Read the guide → FormatsGolf Tournament Formats Explained
Scramble, best ball, shamble and more — which format keeps a mixed-ability field moving and finishing on time.
Read the guide →Quick answers
The rules golfers actually argue about, answered straight.
What is a skins game in golf?
In a skins game each hole is worth a prize called a skin. You win the skin only by winning the hole outright — if two or more players tie the low score, the skin carries over and the next hole is worth two. Carryovers are what make late holes dramatic: three tied holes make the fourth worth four skins.
What is a Nassau in golf?
A Nassau is three bets in one match: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall 18. A “$5 Nassau” means each of those three is worth $5. A trailing player may “press” — open a new bet over the remaining holes — traditionally when they fall two down.
How does the wolf golf game work?
Wolf is played by four golfers in a fixed rotation. Each hole, the designated wolf tees off last, watches the other drives, and either picks one player as a partner for a 2-vs-2 hole or declares “lone wolf” and plays 1-vs-3 for double points. Declaring blind wolf before anyone tees off pays the most.
How do you play Vegas in golf?
Vegas is a two-man team game. On each hole the team's two scores combine into a two-digit number, low digit first — a 4 and a 5 make 45. The difference between the teams' numbers is the points won. A natural birdie flips the opponents' number, so a 4 and an 8 becomes 84 instead of 48.
What is bingo bango bongo?
Bingo bango bongo awards three points per hole: one for the first ball on the green, one for the closest to the pin once everyone is on, and one for the first ball in the hole. Because points depend on order of play rather than score, it is nearly handicap-proof and works well for mixed-ability groups.
What is the best format for a golf trip with mixed handicaps?
Use a scramble or a shamble for the arrival round so nobody is exposed, then run team formats with handicap allowances — four-ball or best ball — for the middle rounds, and finish with singles match play or Stableford. Team games and points formats keep a high handicapper relevant, where raw stroke play does not.
How many points do you need to win a Ryder Cup style golf trip?
You need more than half the available points. Add up the matches across all sessions — 12 matches means 12 points, so 6½ wins the cup. Many groups weight the final singles session more heavily so a trailing team is never mathematically eliminated before the last day.
How do you handle handicaps on a golf trip when players don't have one?
The organizer sets a playing handicap for every player before the trip: use official indexes where players have them and an honest estimate where they don't, then apply strokes hole by hole using the course's stroke index. Lock every number before the first tee time — re-rating after a hot round is how trips lose friends.
Run your trip on GolfTracker
Every format and side game above, scored live across your whole trip — with the group's money handled and a history that carries year to year.
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