What Is a Member Guest Tournament?
A member guest pairs every club member with an outside partner for a multi-day event that is half competition and half hosting. Here is how the formats, flights and gifts usually work.
2 min read/Updated September 2, 2026
A member guest is a club tournament where each member enters as one half of a pair, with the other half being someone who does not belong to the club. It runs over two or three days, it is flighted so pairs compete against others of similar ability, and a large part of it happens off the course.
Most clubs treat it as the social event of the year rather than the serious one.
Being invited to a member guest is a favour. The member paid the entry, secured the tee time in a ballot, and is responsible for you all weekend. The guest brings a decent attitude and does not ask what anything costs.
The usual shape
Thursday evening. Practice round, a nine hole shootout, or a welcome dinner with the pairings draw.
Friday. First competitive round, often four-ball better ball or a shamble. Flights are set after this round at clubs that flight on day one scoring.
Saturday. Second round, followed by a shootout for the flight winners, then dinner and prizes.
Formats vary widely. Four-ball better ball with 85 percent handicap allowance is the most common, because it lets a high-handicap guest contribute on a couple of holes without dragging the pair down on the rest. Stableford shows up at clubs that want to keep the field moving.
Flights
A field of 60 pairs with combined handicaps ranging from 4 to 50 cannot compete as one group. Clubs split them into flights of eight or ten pairs by combined handicap, and each flight plays for its own prizes. Some clubs then run a shootout on Saturday afternoon where the flight winners play sudden death for the overall title.
Flighting is why a member guest can be enjoyable for a 22 handicapper. It is also why sandbagging accusations surface every year, and why most clubs use a handicap committee review rather than taking submitted handicaps at face value.
The gift bag
Nearly every member guest hands each guest a bag at registration. The contents are the club showing off slightly: a logoed headcover, a dozen balls, a towel, a hat, sometimes a piece of outerwear. Clubs that run a strong member guest treat this as marketing, because guests talk about it at their own clubs afterwards.
If you are on the committee, two practical notes. Order by guest count, not pair count, and order two weeks earlier than feels necessary if anything is being embroidered or engraved. Personalised items on a rush turnaround cost significantly more than the same items ordered a month out.
Contests on the course
Most member guests hang side contests on top of the main competition, because they give the pairs at the bottom of a flight something to play for on the back nine. Closest to the pin on the par 3s and a longest drive marker on one wide hole are close to universal.
What a guest should actually do
Arrive early enough to eat before the round. Learn the member's caddie situation before you get to the first tee. Say yes to the dinner even if you were planning to drive home. Write a note or send a message afterwards, because the member will be deciding next year's partner within about a week of this year's finishing.
Common questions
Who can you bring to a member guest?
Anyone who is not a member of the host club, subject to whatever the committee sets. Some clubs require a verified handicap, some cap how many years running you can bring the same partner, and a few bar members of neighbouring clubs during their own event window.
How long does a member guest last?
Two days is the most common shape, usually a Friday and Saturday, with a practice round or a nine hole shootout on the Thursday evening. Larger clubs run three days. A single day member guest is normally called a member guest day rather than a tournament.
What is a Calcutta?
An auction held the night before, where attendees bid for the right to back a team and share the pot if that team wins. It is a long-standing member guest tradition at some American clubs and is banned outright at others, so check before assuming it is happening.
Do you tip the caddie at a member guest?
Yes, and the member usually briefs the guest on the club rate beforehand so nobody is caught out. At many clubs the member quietly covers both, which is part of hosting.