Preparing for an IJGT Tournament

Your son or daughter has signed up for membership and has now been accepted into an IJGT tournament. What is the next step?

Tournament Acceptance

It is important to have a valid e-mail on file with the IJGT to ensure timely receipt of all tournament correspondence. Once a player is accepted into an event, a tournament acceptance e-mail will be sent immediately containing important information listed below.

Travel and Lodging Accommodations

To ease the planning process, the IJGT tournament acceptance e-mail will provide detailed information regarding transportation and lodging. If you need transportation from the airport to your final destination, shuttle service companies and their contact information will be listed here as well. It is recommended that all participants and their families stay at the host hotel for the convenience of receiving IJGT information that pertains to the tournament. In addition, if you decide to stay at the host hotel, you must identify yourself as an IJGT participant in order to receive the discounted rate.

Tournament Schedule

The tournament agenda will also list a schedule of events for the entire weekend. It will include information on practice rounds, tournament registration; tee time blocks, courses played, and estimated course yardages.

Practice Rounds

Players are responsible for calling the host facility to schedule a Friday practice round. Practice rounds are optional and fees are not included in the entry fee, however, often times the practice rounds have discounted rates for IJGT participants. Please call the Golf Course Pro Shop (which can be found on the tournament agenda or schedule) several weeks in advance to schedule a practice round.

Juniors that are unfamiliar with the course should take the time to get to know it during their practice round. The following is a short list of what to look for when playing a practice round which will ultimately help you during the tournament:

Tee Locations:	1 slash on the tee box for Boys 15-19 Division 2 slashes on the tee box for Boys U-14 Division 3 slashes on the tee box for all Girls Divisions
Pin Locations:	First Round - Usually a White Dot Second Round - Usually a Red Dot
Out of Bounds:	Look for white stakes, white paint, walls, and fences
Hazard Areas:	Regular Water Hazards defined by yellow stakes, lines Lateral Water Hazards defined by red stakes, lines
Misc. Areas:	Ground Under Repair, Staked Trees, Flower Beds, Layout of the holes, funnels, kicks, etc.

It is recommended that players purchase yardage books at the Pro Shop. This acts as a tool for better knowing the course layout, trouble areas and yardages. It will save time walking off distances and ultimately speeds up pace of play.

Players Registration

Upon completion of the practice round, players should proceed to registration. Player registration is usually held from 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon and is located at the Golf Course Pro Shop Lobby. At registration, players will receive golf balls, hats, and other gift items that may be useful for the tournament. Players will also receive tee times, the tournament schedule with contact information, notice to competitors, and will have time to ask questions if needed.

Since this is a school-year tour and registration is done on Friday, we understand that it may be difficult to attend. For this reason, registration is not mandatory. If you are unable to register, you must check in Friday night or Saturday morning with an IJGT staff member. Gift items will not be given until after the first round in the scoring area.

Nutrition and Rest

Proper nutrition, hydration and rest play a huge role in any player's performance on the golf course. Prior to tee off, make sure you have prepared your golf bag with water bottles and energy bars.

Tournament Rounds

Range and Short Game Facilities

Range balls are complimentary prior to tournament rounds. The range opens roughly an hour before the start of the first tee times. After the completion of the first round, the golf course may charge a nominal fee for range balls.

Remember, hitting range balls in the morning is supposed to be a warm up, not a practice session! Save the practice session for after the round. There are too many players trying to warm up and space is often times limited.

Arriving at Designated Tee

It is the player's responsibility to be at his/her designated tee ready to play at their respective starting time. Late arrival to the tee may result in a 2-stroke penalty or disqualification.

The IJGT recommends arriving at the tee at least 10 minutes prior to your tee time. An IJGT staff member will provide players with scorecards, hole location sheets, local rule sheets, tees, pencils, sharpies and generic scorecards for spectators. The starter will announce each player's name and hometown before they tee off.

Tournament Media

The IJGT creates a press release after each tour event and will submit the story along with the results to local, national and global media outlets. The winners will be asked to complete a short post-round interview to be included in the news story. Highlighting your accomplishment on/off the golf course will develop your public relation skills and will increase your media exposure as a junior golfer. If interviews are new to you, IJGT representatives will be present to assist.

Equipment Survey

As a service to the IJGT's sponsors, the starter will conduct an equipment survey with each group prior to the start of the final round.

Scoring Area

At the conclusion of the 18th hole, competitors must go directly to the scoring area to make their score official. Parents must not enter the scoring area. Players are responsible for making sure their hole-by-hole scores are correct as well as signing in the correct space provided. No round will be deemed complete until players have left the scoring area and have agreed on all scores.

Second and/or Final Round Pairings

After the completion of the first round, all competitors will be regrouped according to score for their next round. Pairings will be available at approximately 5:30 p.m. depending on the tee time block issued by the host facility. Pairings can be found posted on the scoreboard, the pro shop, the front desk at the host facility, on IJGT.com and by contacting the IJGT staff.

Awards Ceremony

Trophies are awarded to the top three places in each age division. The trophy presentation will take place in front of the scoreboard immediately following the conclusion of play for each age division. All ties for first place will be decided by a "Sudden Death" playoff immediately following the conclusion of play.