Golf Scramble Day of Checklist: Your Runbook From Check-In to Awards

This checklist starts on the morning of your scramble and runs through to the prize table. Work it in order: check-in, cart signs, rules talk, shotgun, collecting cards, then settling any countback before everyone heads into the room. If you're still weeks out, start with the planning side first and come back here on the day.

The day-of runbook (in order)

1. Pack check before you leave. Rules sheets, pairing sheets, scorecards, contest kits, radios, spare pencils, tape and pens.
2. Arrive and find your course contact. Confirm the start, the carts and the weather call.
3. Set up the registration desk. Name list, pairing sheet, rules sheets and anything you're selling.
4. Open check-in. Tick names off and hand each team its rules sheet and card.
5. Lock no-shows at your cut-off and rebalance. Fix the teams before anyone heads out.
6. Put up cart signs. Team name and start hole on every cart, matched to the pairing sheet.
7. Give the rules talk. Format, tees, handicap method, contest holes, scoring and the turn-in point.
8. Start the shotgun or send the first group off the tee.
9. Watch the course. Contest marshals in place, pace checked, weather watched.
10. Collect cards. Each captain checks and signs the team card at the turn-in point.
11. Settle any countback using the tiebreak on your rules sheet.
12. Head into the room for awards. Results are already settled, so the presentation runs clean.

Morning-of task table

Print this and stick it on the desk. Tick as you go.

Before the day starts

This page is the day itself. All the weeks-out work, like the course booking, sponsors, prizes and volunteers, lives in the weeks-out countdown. Running a work day? The corporate golf scramble setup covers the lead-up for that.

Players should already have their scramble player packet, so most people turn up knowing their team and start hole.

Check-in and no-shows

Open the desk early enough that nobody's rushed. Tick names off the list, hand over the rules sheet, and point people to the carts. The scramble registration and check-in piece covers the desk setup.

Set a check-in cut-off and stick to it. Once it passes, lock the no-shows and fix the teams. Move a player across from a full team, or run a short team and adjust. The scramble no-shows rebalance piece covers the options. If you need to reshuffle quickly, the scramble team generator helps, and the scramble handicap calculator does the team handicap sums for any team that changed.

Update the scramble pairing sheet before the cart signs go up.

Cart signs and the rules talk

Cart signs should match the pairing sheet exactly. Team name and start hole, big enough to read from a few steps away.

Then gather the captains, or the whole field, for the rules talk. Keep it short and cover:

• The format, and any minimum drives you require.
• Which tees each group plays.
• The team handicap method, USGA or Ambrose.
• Contest holes and the rules for them.
• How to score. If groups are using the app, one phone per group with one named scorer.
• Where and when to hand in cards.

The scramble team captain duties piece is handy to point captains at beforehand.

Shotgun and on the course

Sound the horn or start the first group. The shotgun start piece covers how groups find their holes.

While groups are out, keep marshals on the contest holes so results get recorded properly. Keep an eye on pace. The scramble pace of play piece has tips. If the weather turns, follow your rain cancellation policy rather than making it up on the spot. Contest rules are in scramble hole contests.

Collecting cards

Have one turn-in point and one person on it. Each captain checks the team card, signs it and hands it in. Check drive tallies too if you ran minimum drives.

If groups use Scrambled Eggs, the scorer keeps the team score for 1 to 4 players on one phone, taps whose shot got used, and sees the score against par. It handles penalty strokes, works out the Team Ambrose handicap for you, and saves the round to history. So the group turns up with a tidy scorecard, not a soggy pencil card. The captain still signs off the team total for your results.

Your results board is yours to run. A whiteboard or paper sheet, filled in from the signed totals, does the job. Keep a printable golf scramble scorecard on hand as backup. More on the app at the golf scramble scoring app page, and charity days can see charity golf scramble scoring.

Settle countback before the room

Do this at the desk, not on the microphone. Use the tiebreak printed on your scramble tournament rules sheet. Matching scorecards is a common default. The scramble tiebreaker rules piece walks through it.

Once ties are settled and contest results are in, head into the room. The scramble awards ceremony piece covers the running order.

When do we lock no-shows?

At your check-in cut-off. Announce the cut-off in the player packet, then lock no-shows and rebalance the teams before cart signs go up and before the rules talk.

Who briefs captains?

The organiser, or an MC the organiser picks. One voice works best. Brief the format, tees, handicap method, contests, scoring and turn-in point.

What if the app is new to a group?

Show the scorer at check-in or during the rules talk. Set up the group on one phone before they head out. Keep a printable scorecard in the cart as backup.

When do awards start?

Once all cards are in, any countback is settled and contest results are checked. Agree the rough timing with the course when you book, then start when the results are ready.

Keep reading

• Golf Scramble Scoring App
• Printable Golf Scramble Scorecard
• Scramble registration and check-in
• Scramble no-shows rebalance
• Scramble tiebreaker rules
• Scramble awards ceremony
• Scramble player packet

Make turn-in the easy part

One phone per group, one team score, and a record of whose shot got used. The cards come in tidy, and you get to the awards on time.

Download Scrambled Eggs on the App Store