This article is intended for the users of the following products:
For most golf trips, the captain wants to design the pairings so that everyone plays with everyone else about the same number of times. By “plays with” we mean in the same foursome. For many golf trips where golfers are playing 36 holes per day, the only quality time two golfers spend together is when they are in the same foursome, perhaps sharing a cart or walking the fairways together.
To understand the pairings challenge, think about a typical trip of 16 golfers playing five rounds. Over five rounds, a player (John) will be with three other players in his foursome five times - that’s 15 “spots” to play with other players. Since there are exactly fifteen other players, John would like to play with every other player exactly once. This is true for all 16 players - every player should play with every other player exactly once.
Now let’s add a bit of a complication. The most common tournament format on a golf trip is a Ryder Cup. In this case, the field of 16 golfers is divided into two teams of 8 golfers, and they play against each other in match play format for some or all of the five rounds. Let’s say we want to play a Ryder Cup for three of the 5 rounds. That means that in these three rounds, we need to have two players from each team in each foursome. Can we set up the pairings with this Ryder Cup format and still preserve the goal that over the 5 rounds every golfer is with every other golfer exactly once, and if that is even possible, how do we discover the correct pairings?
Fortunately, our software can discover just such a pairing. You tell the program how each round is to be set up in terms of teams (or AB or ABCD), and the scheduler will find the best possible pairing. It might test several million possible pairings in a few seconds to find the best possible schedule.
With the scheduler, you can also add rules to apply who is missing from rounds, or who needs to be paired together in certain rounds (Mike and Bob always play in the same foursome in the first round). The scheduler can then “optimize” over all rounds, instead of looking at one round at a time.
While we suggest creating pairings using our scheduler, you can alternatively create pairings manually. This is sometimes done in cases where pairings are predetermined (outside of the software) or a "draw party" is conducted to determine matches.
Below are instructions to create pairings using the scheduler or manually.
Creating Pairings using the Scheduler:
To use the scheduler to create pairings, follow these instructions:
Go to Trip > Multi-Round Pairings.
Select the rounds where pairings should be created using the scheduler.
Select the pairing method for every round (See below for information about pairing methods).
Go to the "Rules" tab to add any rules (e.g., player missing from round, keep players together, etc) that should be applied to specific rounds.
Click "Create Pairings".
The sequence below shows the process of creating pairings using the scheduler.
Pairing Methods:
Doesn't Matter: Schedule and balance pairings as best as possible.
AB: Look at all the player Handicap Indexes and assign each as an A player or B player. So each foursome will have two A players and two B players ordered by ABAB.
ABCD: Look at all the player Handicap Indexes and assign each as an A,B,C, or D player. Each foursome will be ordered by ABCD.
Flight: If you've create flights of players (You can do this by going to Golfers > Teams/Flights), the scheduler will make sure each player will only play with players within his/her flight.
Team (partners): Two Teammates play together in each foursome. This is ideal for Four Ball, singles matches, doubles matches.
Team (foursome): Teammates play together as foursomes. This is ideal for best ball of foursome, 4-person scrambles.
Team (spread): Spread teammates apart from each other as best as possible. If there are two person teams, this will avoid teammates from being paired with each other.
To review the results of the scheduler, go to Golfers > Player Times Together Analysis.
Click Here for details on using this scheduler.
Creating Pairings Manually:
To create pairings manually instead, follow these instructions:
Go to Rounds > Round 1 > Create New Pairings > Manual Pairings.
Select the players in the first foursome.
Click “Create Pairing”.
Repeat the previous steps for all remaining foursomes in the round.
Click "Next".
Click "Continue".
Round 1 pairings will then be created and you can repeat these steps for all remaining rounds.
Note: If you are playing a format with pairings organized by 2-person teams, the 2-person teams will be implied by your pairings. Players 1&2 are a team and players 3&4 are a team. The player order will be determined by the order in which you select the players (in step 2 above).
For more information on creating pairings manually, Click Here.