This being the time of year when green speeds tend to be dangerously fast and the rough has thinned out just enough to eliminate the Easter egg hunts when someone misses a fairway, it’s also member-guest season at many golf clubs.
Autumn is an ideal time because it’s comfortable enough to be outside again, courses are often in their best condition and bourbon tastes particularly good when there’s a slight chill in the evening air.
… members sleep in the parking lot overnight to be there for the 6 a.m. sign-up in July for the October event, the way some of us had to line up at record stores to buy concert tickets years ago.
At many places, the member-guest is the golf/social event of the year and getting into the member-guest is sometimes the biggest challenge because they tend to be so popular.
Some clubs hold a lottery to determine who gets the honor of paying four-figure entry fees knowing they’re likely to be sandbagged by someone’s guest who brings a 9-handicap and shoots 35 in every nine-hole match while claiming this never happens.
At my club in Charlotte, members sleep in the parking lot overnight to be there for the 6 a.m. sign-up in July for the October event, the way some of us had to line up at record stores to buy concert tickets years ago.
The event is named for my father who shook his head at the silliness of what grown men will do to play golf, though he arranged for a summer sabbatical years ago to chase his goal of breaking 70 one more time as the theme of a potential book. He achieved neither but not for the lack of trying and a balky short game.
Member-guests can be fully immersive experiences, starting with the so-called “team discussion” the night before the event begins.
At a club in South Carolina, the member-guest featured a bull on site with a large checkerboard of squares on the ground and participants would wager on which square would have the largest cow pie. Boys will be boys.
Some member-guest duos think it’s fun to wear matching outfits, which is a dead giveaway that you should not trust them to handle your finances, sell you a car or believe the number on their GHIN.
Consumption is central to the member-guest experience and, though no one knows for sure, it’s believed that transfusions earned their spot in the pantheon of great golf drinks through their prevalence in member-guest tournaments.
The nine-hole match-around format is perfect because it provides multiple fresh starts, allows you to play with more people and keeps the double bogeys off the card because it’s easy to pick up.
The tournament-ending shootout could be nerve-wracking for the participants were it not for the aforementioned consumption involved and, invariably, something weird happens. But winning the member-guest – which usually comes with an envelope full of cash and a commemorative garment – is a badge of honor, provided their handicaps were accurate.
It’s about the friendships, the experience and the golf – hopefully in that order. And if the assistant pro comes by on Saturday night and slips you an envelope with a return on your investment, all the better.
Ron Green Jr.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Golfing friends (circa 1950)
Harold M. Lambert, getty images