The 6th Hole

This morning I find myself thinking about golf leagues. Golf leagues are an incredible amount of fun and a great way to meet new golfers who are as crazy about the game as you are. Over the past 4 years I’ve been a member at Rose Creek here in Fargo, I’ve met scores of great golfers (some I now play with on a regular basis). We kick back, have a beer and perhaps a meal afterwards, and just focus on having a good time.

As much fun as it is to play, keeping tabs on a golf league must be a royal pain in the ass. First of all, you have to keep track of everyone either individually or in teams (which probably means substitutes and a whole new set of problems). You’d also have to organize everyone via schedules and/or tee times (which I can’t imagine is fun at all). After you’ve gotten done herding the cats, you need to compile the scores and do the math. Next, you need to total everything for your season-long statistics (and forget multi-season stats because no one has that kind of time). Last comes probably the hardest part, letting everyone know where they stand. Most people aren’t tech-savvy enough to put this stuff online and many golfers aren’t tech-savvy enough to find it online either. Most courses have it on the bulletin board, which just plain sucks.

The more I think of these problems the more I’m convinced there should be an easier way to do all this. As a league member who knows how to operate a web browser, I have a pretty good idea of what I’d like to see online. It should be incredibly informative and drop dead simple for the golf league’s manager to use. It should allow some kind of feedback loop so it has a true community feel. It should have notification so golfers can subscribe to see the results as soon as they’re posted. It should just be painless.

How does your golf league work? Do you manage a golf league right now and if so, how do you make it easier? If you have any comments shoot me an email (brandon [at] holein6 [dot] com).