Tuesday Tip: Course Setup 🌳

Golf Tournament Course Setup: What to Coordinate With Your Venue

The course is the stage your whole tournament plays out on, and how it’s set up shapes everything from pace of play to whether your field has fun. The good news: you don’t have to be a superintendent to get this right — most of it comes down to what you coordinate with the course team ahead of time. As the founder of Colorado Under Par, I’ve learned that the organizers who walk the course in advance and ask the right questions are the ones whose events run smoothly. Here’s what to cover.

Partner with the course team early

Your single most valuable resource is the course’s own staff — the pro, the superintendent, and the events coordinator know their property better than anyone. Meet with them well before the event to align on the details: course conditions, pin and tee setup, cart rules, and how your format will run on their layout. Walk the course together if you can. Their local expertise will catch issues you’d never spot on your own, and a good working relationship makes the whole day easier.

Set up for your format and skill level

A tournament course should match your field, not championship Sunday. Talk through the setup with the course:

• Tee selection — choosing tees appropriate to your players’ skill keeps the round fun and the pace moving. A casual charity scramble doesn’t want the back tees.
• Pin placements — fair, reasonable hole locations for the field you have.
• Format logistics — for a shotgun start, every group needs a clearly assigned starting hole; for a scramble, make sure the setup supports the format.
• Pace of play — a setup that’s too punishing bogs down the whole field. Balance challenge with keeping the round moving.

The goal is a course that feels like a good time for your specific players, not a slog.

Make sure hazards are marked and safe

Hazards add the challenge that makes golf golf — but for a tournament with players who don’t know the course, they need to be clearly marked and safe. Confirm with the course that water hazards, bunkers, and out-of-bounds are properly staked and defined, both for fair play and for player safety. Communicate any local rules around hazards to your field so everyone’s playing the same game.

Keep players comfortable on the course

The on-course experience is in the details that keep players happy over 4-5 hours:

• Restrooms accessible around the course (or know where the nearest ones are on each nine)
• Water and hydration stations, especially in summer heat — a real safety matter, not just comfort
• Snack or beverage stations, often a great sponsor tie-in
• Shaded rest areas where players can take a break

Small comforts make a long round feel well-run.

Guide players around the course

Players who’ve never seen the course need help navigating it. Clear directional signs at decision points and a simple course map (showing tees, the turn, restrooms, and contest holes) prevent the confusion of foursomes wandering to the wrong hole. We cover this in depth in our guide to golf tournament signage — coordinate your wayfinding setup alongside the rest of your course plan.

Final thoughts

Great course setup is mostly great coordination: partner with the course team early, set up for the field you actually have, confirm hazards are marked and safe, and keep players comfortable and oriented. Handle those with your venue ahead of time, and the course itself becomes one less thing you’re worrying about on event day.

When you’re ready to run your next one, you can list your golf tournament free on Colorado Under Par and reach players across the state.

Best regards, Andrew Mueller, Founder, Colorado Under Par