Flights and Tee Times, Planned Properly

Flights and Tee Times, Planned Properly

Before you even tee off, the same question always comes up in the group: who's playing with whom? And somehow that discussion takes longer at the first tee than the actual planning did – especially once someone shouts "I'm not starting behind Dave's group" because everyone knows Dave hunts for every ball he hits into the rough.

Easiest to sort that out beforehand at a table instead of live on the first tee: who plays with whom, in what order, and how much time between groups. The spacing matters more than you'd think – too tight, and you're backed up by hole 3 because the group ahead is discussing every single putt. Ten to twelve minutes between flights is a solid default; give beginner groups more.

For a bigger round or a tournament with a shotgun start, add tee assignments on top – instead of everyone starting one after another off the first tee, everyone starts at the same time spread across the course. Convenient, since everyone finishes around the same time too, but you need a clear list of who starts where, or someone ends up standing confused at the wrong tee.

And then: that list should be visible to everyone before you're standing on the course – not a photo of a handwritten table circulating the group chat, where two people inevitably end up with different versions. Set it up digitally once and everyone sees the same thing, even if someone drops out sick at 7am and the flights need reshuffling.

Bottom line: who plays with whom gets decided beforehand at the table, not with a show of hands at the tee. Exactly that – building flights, keeping spacing sane, making it visible to everyone – is what Tournament Caddie is built for.