Top Amateur Events for Club Champions to Play In

Whether your local Club Championship is in the early spring or late summer, there are many options to hone your tournament skills with some amateur tournaments throughout the year. One of the best ways to prepare for a competitive tournament is to play in events that are similarly structured. Getting the competitive juices flowing a few times throughout the year is important so you are ready for your local Championship as well as the PGA National Club Championship! Here are some of the top amateur tournaments you can play in this year.

Local Amateur Championship – There are 58 state and regional golf associations that host some of the best amateur events out there. Each state will have an amateur championship that you must qualify for in order to make the field. These qualifying events are held throughout the spring and summer and will provide you some stiff competition. Some of the best players in the area will participate in these providing the type of tournament that is perfect to get you warmed up for you local club championship.

US Amateur Qualifiers – This year there will be 93 host tournaments that will act as qualifiers for the US Men’s Amateur at Arcola Country Club in New Jersey and 24 qualifying sites for the Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay. As the most competitive amateur tournament in the country, these qualifiers are a great way to play with some of the best players in your area in preparation for your club championship.

The Four-Ball is also a great tournament with a team based format that gives you the comfort of a playing partner but still with some great competition playing your own ball. These qualifiers have already passed with the tournament’s coming up in the next few months but are definitely something to check out at the end of 2022.

There are many amatuer events that are less competitive and can still be a great tournament to play in to get you in shape for your club championship. Check out your local PGA Section if they have an amateur tournament series which can provide a more casual environment while still getting the stroke play experience.

How to Encourage More Participation in Your Club Championship

As a former Assistant Golf Professional at a private course north of Boston, we were often faced each year with the question of how to get more participants in our club championships. Especially on the women’s side where we had 2 or 3 members that were consistently in contention each year and the rest of the membership not wanting to play because they figured they couldn’t contend with them. This is a common challenge amongst clubs around the country and every year the golf staff is tasked with figuring out new ways to grow the participation. With the PGA National Club Championships inaugural tournament being held last March at Pinehurst, this national tournament provides an additional opportunity to entice members to compete in their local championship.

A growing trend and something we found successful was paying out more spots rather than the top 3 or 5 and budgeting for additional monies to be applied here. Paying out the top 10 in shop credit was a way we saw more people wanting to participate knowing they had a better chance to not go home empty handed. Also working in net divisions was the most successful way we saw more people get signed up with the flighted tiers. This enabled us to have a championship flight which would compete for the gross championship and then have multiple champions for flights which would be determined by handicap ranges.

A new way to entice more participation in your local club championship is to present the opportunity for the winner to take their game to a national level. The chance to compete, and network with other club champions throughout the country is something that was brought to the table last March as the first PGA National Club Championship was held at Pinehurst. With over 300 men competing and over 200 women this past December in Palm Springs, this championship represented all 50 states and continues to grow since its inception in 2021. Providing this opportunity to a membership can create excitement and encourage participation from people that might not otherwise play. Some clubs are also working to cover the cost of the trip for the winners which is another way to entice members.

Have your Club Champions already been crowned? Don’t forget to submit your champions to be invited to PGA’s National Club Championship.