Planning guide
Golf Trip Planning Checklist: A Commissioner's Timeline From Booking to Trophy
What to do 12 months out, 60 days out, trip week and after: deposits, tee times, format and handicap rules, teams, side games, scoring and the recap. Printable.
Written by Jack, commissioner of the Michigan Buddies TripLast updated
Running a buddies trip is a year-long part-time job that peaks in the two weeks before you leave. The way to enjoy the trip itself is to front-load the decisions: everything that can be agreed in July should not be argued about on the first tee in October. Here is the order I do it in, after running a 12-man trip every year for most of a decade.
What is the planning timeline for a golf trip?
9–12 months out: destination, dates, deposits
- Shortlist two or three destinations and put a date range to the group. One poll, one deadline.
- Commit with a deposit. A headcount without money is a guess; a deposit is a roster.
- Book the lodging as soon as the roster is real. For 8–16 people, lodging is the scarce thing, not tee times.
- Hold tee times if the resort allows it. Consecutive times, 10 minutes apart, matter for match play.
3–6 months out: tee times, travel, budget, rooms
- Confirm every tee time in writing, including which nine or course each round is on.
- Sort transport: flights for the fly-ins, vans or cars at the destination, and who is sober enough to drive.
- Publish a budget per person: golf, lodging, transport, a dinner or two, and the side-game stakes.
- Assign rooms before anyone asks. Price per bed, let the single pay the single rate.
60 days out: money, format, handicaps, teams, stakes
- Collect final payments. Same rule as deposits: one date, in writing.
- Confirm the format: how many rounds, which formats, points to win, what happens on a tie. The Ryder Cup guide has the point schedules.
- Set the handicap policy: official index or trip handicap, the allowance per format, and a cap.
- Name the captains or pick the teams. Captains need a month to do their job well.
- Agree the side games and stakes now, so nobody is surprised by a $20 skins buy-in at breakfast.
2–4 weeks out: pairings, setup, gear, itinerary
- Captains set pairings, or exchange blind lineups on an agreed day.
- Set the trip up wherever you are scoring it: the app, or the spreadsheet template.
- Order the trophy, shirts or hats in team colours, and whatever the losers have to wear.
- Send one itinerary: tee times, dinners, the rules sheet, and the stakes. Pin it in the chat.
Trip week: clubs, weather, roster
- Ship clubs or confirm rentals. Shipping needs a week; rentals need a phone call.
- Check the forecast and decide the rain plan in advance: play through, swap a round, or move a tee time.
- Confirm the final roster and any late substitutes, and update the pairings if anyone changed.
During the trip: score live, post standings
- Every group scores its own match, every hole. Standings go up each night, or live if you are using an app.
- Keep the side-game ledger current so the final settle-up is a glance, not an investigation.
After: settle up, awards, recap, book next year
- Settle the money, netted to the fewest payments. Do it at the Sunday dinner, not by text the next week.
- Hand over the cup and the jacket. Announce the skins king and the punishment.
- Write the recap: results, the best shot, the worst decision. It is the first page of the trip's history.
- Book next year while everyone is still in the mood. Attendance is never higher than at that dinner.
How do you handle the money on a golf trip?
- Deposits.Non-refundable, due early, big enough to cover the group's exposure if someone drops. Say the amount and the date once, in writing.
- Uneven costs. Price rooms per bed and let people choose. Split shared costs (vans, groceries, the big dinner) evenly and log who fronted what, so it can be netted at the end rather than paid back one transfer at a time.
- Side-game pot. Decide the stakes before the trip and collect buy-ins each morning or settle it all at the end. Either works; changing it mid-trip does not.
- Who holds the money. One person, with a ledger everyone can see. The commissioner never holds the side-game money and the cup money in the same place.
What rules should you agree before the first tee?
| Rule | Common choice |
|---|---|
| Gimmes | Inside the leather in match play; none in stroke-play side games |
| Maximum score per hole | Net double bogey for net scoring, or a flat 10 |
| Handicap source | Official index as of a set date, or a trip handicap agreed in writing |
| Handicap cap | 24 or 30 |
| Allowances | USGA: 100% singles, 90% four-ball, 50% combined in foursomes |
| Tied match | A halve: ½ point each |
| Tied cup | The holder retains; first edition decided by a sudden-death singles |
| Lost ball / OB | Local rule: drop in the fairway for two strokes, to keep pace |
The Ryder Cup guide explains the allowances and point schedules behind this table.
How do you turn one trip into a tradition?
Give it a name, a trophy and a number. "The Sand Valley Cup, 9th Annual" on the itinerary does more for attendance than any group text. Keep the record somewhere everyone can see it: who won each year, the captains, the skins king, the lowest round. Most groups keep this on a trophy and in one person's head; write it down, because that person will eventually forget, and the arguments about 2019 are half the fun.
The printable checklist
Everything above as a tick list. Print it or save it to your phone, and cross things off as the year goes.
9–12 months out
- Pick 2–3 candidate destinations and a date range
- Poll the group; lock the dates with a deposit deadline
- Collect deposits (a non-refundable deposit is what makes a headcount real)
- Book lodging; hold tee times if the resort allows it
3–6 months out
- Book every tee time, with 10-minute gaps for match play
- Arrange transport: flights, vans, and who drives
- Set the budget per person and the final payment date
- Assign rooms (and decide who gets the single)
60 days out
- Collect final payments
- Confirm the format: rounds, formats per round, points to win, tie rule
- Set the handicap policy: source, allowances, cap
- Name captains or pick teams
- Agree the side games and stakes
2–4 weeks out
- Captains set pairings (or exchange blind lineups)
- Set the trip up in the app or the spreadsheet
- Order the trophy, shirts, hats, and the losers' punishment
- Send the itinerary: tee times, dinners, the rules sheet
Trip week
- Ship clubs or confirm rentals
- Check the forecast; plan a rain-day alternative
- Confirm the final roster and any substitutes
- Print or share the tee sheets and the rules
During
- Score live, every group
- Post standings each night
- Keep the side-game ledger current
After
- Settle up, netted to the fewest payments
- Awards: the cup, the jacket, the skins king, the punishment
- Write the recap while it is fresh
- Book next year's dates
Free spreadsheet template for the scoring: captainspickgolf.com/guides/golf-trip-spreadsheet-template
Frequently asked questions
- How far in advance should you book a golf trip?
- Nine to twelve months for a popular resort on a peak weekend, because lodging for 12 people and consecutive tee times go first. Three to six months is enough for a regional trip in shoulder season. Whatever the destination, the thing to lock early is the headcount, with a deposit.
- How do you collect money without chasing people?
- Set two dates (deposit and final), say them once in writing, and make the deposit non-refundable. Collect through whatever your group already uses; the tool matters less than the deadline. Keep a simple ledger of who has paid and post it, so the chasing is done by the list, not by you.
- How do you handle uneven room costs?
- Price the rooms per bed, not per room, and let people choose. If someone takes the single, they pay the single rate. If the house only comes as one number, split it evenly and stop thinking about it; the time you save is worth more than the $40 difference.
- What rules should we agree before the trip?
- Gimmes (inside the leather, or none), maximum score on a hole for net purposes (net double bogey is the handicap standard), the handicap source and cap, what happens on a tied match (a halve) and a tied cup (the holder retains). Write them on one page and send it with the itinerary.
- What if someone drops out late?
- Have a standby list from the start, and make the deposit cover the group's exposure. If nobody can fill the spot, the format bends: one player sits a round on the bigger team, or a four-ball match becomes a three-ball. Decide the money rule in advance: the dropout forfeits the deposit, and the group splits any difference.