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Planning guide
Golf Trip Planning Checklist (90 Days Out to Trophy)
A headcount that never locks, deposits nobody chases, and a format decided on the first tee can make the organizer’s job harder than it needs to be. Use this timeline as a starting point. Popular courses and large lodging blocks may need booking well before ninety days out; set payment deadlines around the terms of your actual reservations.
90 days out, or earlier: lock the basics
- Set the dates and destination, then get a firm yes from everyone before you book.
- Lock the headcount with a deposit attached. A text saying "I'm in" is not a commitment.
- Reserve lodging and tee times. Big groups book up fast and usually want money up front.
- Open a place to track who has paid what so you are not floating it on your own card.
60 days out: format and money
- Choose a competition the crew wants to play. A Ryder Cup works well when the headcount fits partner matches; individual or field-wide formats are options too.
- Set the round-by-round schedule and the point total.
- Decide handicaps: net or gross, and what allowance. Write it down.
- Collect the next round of payments toward lodging and tee times.
- Confirm transport, whether that is flights, a van, or who is driving.
30 days out: the details
- Finalize the roster. Anyone not paid up by now is a maybe, so plan teams around the confirmed list.
- Draft the rules sheet: teams, formats, points, handicaps, tie-breaker, pace expectation.
- Sort meals and any non-golf plans so the evenings are not a scramble.
- Reconfirm tee times and lodging in writing.
- Plan the trophy or traveling prize. The ending is what makes it an annual trip.
Week of: confirm and communicate
- Send the final schedule, tee times, and matchups to everyone in one place.
- Collect any last balances so settle-up at the end is clean.
- Have the captains draft the teams the night before the first round.
- Check the weather and have a rain plan ready.
During the trip: keep it running
- Post tee times and matchups each morning so nobody is guessing.
- Keep live scores and the running cup total where everyone can see them.
- Track daily side games and results as you go, not from memory at midnight.
- Take photos. They are the backbone of the recap.
After the trip: close it out
- Review recorded costs and game results, simplify the balances, and agree who pays whom.
- Crown the winner and hand out the trophy and any daily awards.
- Put together the recap: final standings, daily results, best moments, photos.
- Lock next year's dates while everyone is still riding the high.
One place for all of it
Give the crew one place to find the current schedule and their matchups. Stymie keeps those beside the entered scores and ledger. Add the photos and stories you want to keep, and review the results before sharing the recap.
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