If you are joining a country club, one of the challenges is meeting new people. While anyone can book a tee time and go out there and whack the white ball around, it can be difficult to find groups to play with. No matter what country club you go to, there are always people that seem to know everyone. How do they meet all these people? Well, many country clubs have a weekly ABCD “Stag Night”. This is a weekly “tournament” that allows golfers to meet fellow members of all skill sets.

Any ABCD tournament is a scramble tournament with four players – an A, B, C and D. An A player tends to be a scratch or low single digit player. A B player is usually from a 6-10. A C player is from a 10-15. And a D player is usually a 15+ handicap. This can change depending on the overall skill set of the club. If you are a member of Seminole in Florida, a good C player could be as low as a 5 handicap. A D could even be single digit. At some country and golf clubs, an A player could be a 7 or an 8.

“Stag Night” is basically a “men’s night” in which the wives and ladies are not allowed. Men have the entire bar area or part of the restaurant all to themselves. Remember “locker room talk”? Well, that is where the phrase came from. Men have the opportunity to shoot the shit, brag about their bank accounts, talk about the famous hole in one and get to know other members.

Thursday night is a very popular night to have weekly tournaments or men’s leagues. Men’s league is not a Stag Night, nor an ABCD tournament. Most men’s leagues are teams comprised of four to 10 members that play matches every single week. Depending on the size of the team, some golfers will play every single week. Most league nights also encourage members not playing to come and cheer on their teammates.

The good thing about the ABCD Stag night is you will meet different people every single week. Over a three week period you are going to play golf with nine different golfers. One of those nine is going to be on an email list that will get you into a game on Friday afternoon or during the weekend. It would be impossible not to get into a group if you played in the ABCD Stag night three or four times.

So, get out there and meet some new people during the ABCD Stag Night. You’ll likely find people that want you on their men’s league team during those weekly tournaments. You might even win a few bucks. Don’t expect to win money if you are a brand new member though.