What's ladies night in golf? A Ladies Night is 9-holes of golf in teams of 3-4, playing best ball format, followed by a dinner, skill-based prizes and raffle draws. Ladies Nights are fun events encouraging friendly competition amongst women on the golf course.
I’ve played Ladies Night Golf at a few local courses, including Arrowsmith Golf & Country Club in Qualicum Beach, Fairwinds Golf Club in Nanoose Bay, and Cottonwood Golf Course in Nanaimo. The cost has been very consistently around $50-75 per person for golf, dinner, and prizes.
It's very important to start every Ladies Night with a team selfie. Here we have (L to R), Mel, Dani, Britt, and Anne, pre-game!
Ladies Nights have good vibes, and they’re great value too. I encourage you to get your gals together and sign up for a local event!
To prepare you for your Ladies Night Golf event, I’ve answered some questions you might have about the playing style and format.
What is best ball?
Best ball is a golf format where each team member takes a shot, and the ball that is played is literally the “best ball.” The team then takes their shots from the best ball’s position, and then that best shot is played, and so on. This speeds up the game and saves anyone from having an on-course meltdown, pondering why they even bother to play this game and scoring +8 on every hole.
[Source: GIPHY]
Best ball is a beloved golf format by pro-amateurs like the Gals Who Golf and me. It means that only one of you needs to have a good shot off the tee! It’s teamwork! Sometimes nobody has a good shot, and that’s rough… but usually, in a team of 3 or 4, SOMEBODY manages to have a good shot. And if they don’t, oh well, we’re just here for fun.
What is a layup in golf?
To layup is to take a shot on the fairway where the goal is to avoid a hazard or correct a shot. It’s a shorter shot that puts you back into the optimal position to continue playing.
While playing at Arrowsmith Golf & Country Club’s Ladies Night, we had a challenging layup shot when Dani drove her ball (our best ball off the tee) towards the only tree in the fairway. The tree was blocking us from getting to the green.
In the example of the tree, we had to shoot diagonally on the fairway to “get around the tree” rather than shooting straight onto the green, (if we had tried to shoot straight onto the green we likely would have hit the tree, and then knocked ourselves out…).
Details on how we stayed safe (duck and cover) are in this blog which covers the Arrowsmith Golf & Country Club Ladies Night experience.
What are the skill-based contests at Ladies Night?
I think that all courses put their spin on skill-based prizes, with a few contests set up on different holes. Here are some of the common contests I’ve seen at different golf courses’ Ladies Nights:
· KP: Closest to the pin
This contest is usually set up on a short par-three hole. In theory, golfers should get their balls on the green right off the tee (in my experience with Gals Who Golf, this rarely happens).
There is a little stake with a sign and a pencil in the ground on the green. If your ball is closer to the hole than the sign, you move the sign to where your ball landed and mark your name down. If your ball was closest to the hole, you win a prize!
Arrowsmith Ladies Night had a fun spin on this where they had a “Closest to the wine bottle” contest. In this version of KP, golfers aimed for a wine-bottle shaped stake instead of aiming for the hole. I’m proud to report Dani won this prize on June 15th, 2022, at Arrowsmith!
· Longest putt
The longest putt is played on the green. The goal is to have the longest sunk putt for the evening. The length to beat is further than wherever the stake currently is. (Note: if you’re a witch (or a skilled player) who’s able to pitch and land within inches of the hole, you probably won’t win, you’re already too close!)
If you sink the putt, place the stake in the green where your ball was and write your name on the sign (same process as KP contest). As the evening goes on, golfers who sink putts from further than where the stake currently is move the stake further away, marking their names down when they make a longer putt.
· Hit the green
This one is also often played on a short par-three hole. It also involves gambling, which in my opinion, is very fun (just call me Gamblor!). Golfers pay a nominal fee, like a toonie, to enter the contest. At Fairwinds, they will have an attendant overseeing the contest.
The goal is to get your ball on the green from the tee. If you do, the attendant will enter your name into a draw. At the end of the night, there’s a draw of all the ladies who opted into the contest and hit the green. The winner wins the purse (purse is a golf term referring to the pool of prize money)!
Here are some Gals Who Golf celebrating a big WIN at Cottonwood Ladies Night circa 2021. L to R: Britt, Anne, Cass, Mel.
Have you played any skill-based contests at Ladies Night that I’m missing? Leave a comment below and share the game with us!