Commissioner Guides

How to Run a Pick'Em for Your Golf League

2 min read · by theStick

A pick'em gives everyone in a league a second way to win each week: pick the golfers you think will finish highest, and the best picks win the pot. Players can pick themselves, and members who aren't playing that week still have something to follow. Here is how it works and how to run one.

How a Golf Pick'Em Works

Before the round, each entrant picks up to five golfers from the field. When the round ends, the golfers are ranked by the week's Low Net results. Each golfer earns points by finishing position: first place earns as many points as there are golfers in the field, and last place earns one. An entrant's score is the total points of their picks, and the highest total wins.

Ties are broken by the total birdies made by each entrant's picked golfers.

Why It Works for a League

Everyone has a reason to follow the whole field, not just their own group.

Low handicappers are not automatic picks. Ranking on net scores means a 20-handicapper on a good day is a great pick.

Members who miss a week still play. They can enter without teeing it up.

How the Pot Splits

Entrants pay a buy-in each week. theStick splits the pot by how many enter:

Up to 6 entries: the winner takes it all.

7 to 12 entries: 70% to first, 30% to second.

13 or more: 50%, 30% and 20% for the top three.

Running It Each Week

In theStick, the organizer turns on Pick'Em for the round in the Live tab, sets the buy-in and creates the contest. Members enter from the round card on Home.

Lock picks before the first group tees off. Once scoring has started, theStick won't accept new picks anyway, so nobody can pick with hindsight. When the round is finalized, the contest settles automatically.

A Season Leaderboard

Weekly contests add up. theStick keeps every picker's running total across the season, with weeks entered, wins and net winnings, so a season-long pick'em champion falls out of the weekly contests without any extra work.

Who Holds the Money

Buy-ins go to the organizer, who pays the winners. theStick never holds money or takes a cut: each entrant's buy-in and winnings show in their Bank, netted with everything else they owe or are owed, and people settle directly with each other.

Game rules mentioned in this guide

Low Net (Multi Group)Skins (Multi Group)

More guides

Leagues, Tournaments, Simple Events and Groups: Which One Do You Need?The Organizer Playbook: Running Your League or Tournament in theStick Tournament Formats: Stroke Play, Bracket, Ryder Cup and Round Robin How to Run a Golf League: The Complete Commissioner's Guide

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