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Bracket tournaments are very popular in the golf club environment. Seeing players advance on a bracket adds more excitement as the event progresses. These events can vary in many different ways and it's important to understand how to handle these variations.
In this article, we will discuss bracket tournament topics that may or may not be covered in the Singles Bracket Tournament Guide and Team Bracket Tournament Guide. Below is the list of topics that are discussed, many of which will be further covered in a separate article.
Season-Long vs. over a Weekend
Bracket Tournaments in Leagues
Qualifying Rounds
Bracket Tournament Setup Options
Seeding and Filling the Bracket
Adjusting the Bracket Players/Team
Consolation Brackets
Byes (Non-Perfect Brackets)
Multiple Bracket Tournaments within an Event/League
Side Games and Tournaments (e.g., Skins)
Printing Brackets
Entering Match Results and Scores
Tie-breaking with Extra Holes (Playoff Holes)
Live Scoring with Bracket Tournaments
Season-Long vs. over Weekend:
There are typically two different types of bracket tournaments. Bracket tournaments played over the course of the season or over a single weekend (e.g., Club Championships). Both can be created in our system, but it is important to keep the following things in mind:
If setting up a season-long bracket tournament, you may be wondering what date to add the rounds. We suggest making the date of each round the deadline to complete that round. For instance, if the first round of a 64-person singles bracket needs to be completed by June 1st, then add the round on the date of June 1st.
If setting up a season-long bracket tournament, you are probably allowing the players to play their matches whenever they'd like. If thats the case, there is no need to set tee times for each round. However, for weekend bracket tournaments, you will probably want to set tee times by going to Rounds > Edit Pairings for each round.
Bracket Tournaments in Leagues:
You can certainly create bracket tournaments within a league. The setup is no different than if you are setting it up in an event.
Simply select the rounds that the bracket tournament will be included in. Above is an example of a league that has a bracket tournament. The first 11 rounds of the league are stroke play. The final four rounds are a match play bracket. In this case, we are only selecting the final four rounds to create the bracket tournament.
Qualifying Rounds:
Qualifying rounds are sometimes needed for bracket tournaments in order to seed and fill a bracket. If this is the case, Click Here for instructions.
Bracket Tournament Setup Options:
When creating a bracket tournament (Event/League > Bracket Tournaments), there are many options and settings available. It is important to understand these options and settings to ensure your event is set up correctly and works as expected.
For details on Singles Tournament Setup Options, Click Here.
For details on Team Tournament Setup Options, Click Here.
Seeding and Filling the Bracket:
After completing the bracket tournament setup, the next step is to fill and seed the bracket(s). While you may want to manually seed and place players/teams into the bracket, there are also "Auto-fill" options like seeding by index, previous results, and custom fields. For details on seeding and filling brackets, Click Here.
Adjusting the Bracket Players/Team:
After seeding the bracket, there may be instances where you need to add or swap players/teams within the bracket or out of the bracket. This can be done by editing the first round matches. For complete details on changing the position or adding a player/team on a bracket, Click Here.
Consolation Brackets:
Some bracket tournaments have a consolation bracket that "spins off" the main bracket. Losing players/teams for a round in the main bracket tournament are placed in the consolation bracket where they will compete to win the consolation bracket tournament.
This type of bracket tournament can easily be set up with the main bracket tournament. For details on consolation brackets, Click Here.
Byes (Non-perfect brackets):
Not all bracket tournaments have the perfect number of players/teams (e.g., 16, 32, 64). Sometimes there is a late drop-out or the signups are lower than usual. This is not uncommon and it is very easy to handle these types of situations. Click Here for details on this topic.
Multiple Bracket Tournaments within an Event/League:
In many cases for club events, there are multiple brackets that need to be created. You may be wondering if you need to create a separate event for each bracket or simply include all the bracket tournaments in one event. Below are some common Q&As on this type of scenario.
Side Games and Tournaments (e.g., Skins):
Bracket events do not always have to just be match play. Other tournaments can be set up. This is more frequently done in bracket events played over a weekend. For instance, maybe there is a daily skins tournament for each round. For details on handling this type of scenario, Click Here.
Printing Brackets:
In addition to the usual printed material options, bracket tournaments offer the ability to print brackets on 8.5" x 11" paper or with a plotter (large format) printer. Click Here for details.
Entering Match Results and Scores:
There are several options to enter match results when setting up a bracket tournament:
Entering Hole-by-Hole Scores: Enter scores hole-by-hole. Golf Genius will facilitate entering hole-by-hole and final round results on the leaderboard and calculate points earned based on bracket setup.
Entering Hole-by-Hole Match Results: (Note: If you want this feature enabled, please contact support.) Only enter hole-by-hole results (i.e., W, T), no need to enter scores. Golf Genius will facilitate entering final leaderboard results and calculating points earned based on the bracket setup. Note: Scores cannot be posted to your Handicap Provider.
Enter Final Match Results: Only enter the final results of the match. No hole-by-hole scores/results will be calculated. When using this option, final round results and points/purse will be entered manually. Note: Scores cannot be posted to your Handicap Provider.
Note: Hole-by-hole match result and final match result entry are available under the following conditions:
The round is part of no more than one bracket tournament or
No more than one single or multi-round match play tournament, set as
player v. player,
pair v. pair, or
team v. team.
Match results can be entered on the Manager's Site or the Mobile App. To view complete details using one of these options, Click Here.
Match Adjustment Penalties (Association Only):
Match Adjustment Penalties can be applied for a rules breach during a match play or bracket event. For bracket tournaments, match adjustment penalties can be applied in the following locations:
For complete details on apply match adjustment penalties, Click Here.
Tie-breaking with Extra Holes (Playoff Holes):
When setting up a bracket tournament, one of the tie-breaking options is "Extra Holes."
If a match in any round is tied after the final hole, the players will move on to play extra holes to determine the winning team/player. It is important to understand that this option is only needed if hole-by-hole scores are being entered. If you are just entering match results (Rounds > Enter Match Results), then simply select the winning player/team and enter the details (e.g., 20 holes, 19 holes). For more details on handling extra holes, Click Here.
Note 1: Extra Hole tie-breaking is only available for 18-hole tournaments.
Note 2: As an alternative to extra holes, ties can be broken manually. Set the tie-breaker to retain ties and then break the ties manually by going to Rounds > Enter Match Results and select the winner.
Live Scoring with Bracket Tournaments (TM Club Premium & Association Customers Only):
Live scoring can certainly be used for bracket tournaments. Whether it is a season-long bracket tournament or a weekend bracket tournament, once the players in a match enter a GGID into the mobile app, they can enter scores. As long as the leaderboard is "In Progress", and mobile score entry is enabled (Rounds Menu), the bracket will update LIVE as scores are being entered.
Above is an example of a live bracket leaderboard. Rosend is currently 1 up thru 7 holes. This can create an exciting environment for weekend bracket tournaments with the leaderboard updating live on the portal and TV. For season-long bracket tournaments, it takes the responsibility of entering scores/results off the hands of the Manager. Simply hand out the scorecard, with the GGID, to the players and the bracket will update automatically after the match is complete. For complete details of live scoring, Click Here.