What Is the 'Circle Hole' at a Golf Tournament?
Some charity golf tournaments will include a "circle hole." What is that? The gist of it is this: On the one, designated hole, golfers will have a chance to buy extra strokes to try to get their ball within a circle drawn on the green around the flagstick.
The point of the circle hole is to help the tournament organizers raise additional funds for the charity or cause the event is supporting. Charity tournaments raise funds through the entry fee they charge the golfers, plus, among other things, the selling of mulligans, or the selling of chances to win a hole-in-one prize. Circle holes are in the vein of selling mulligans, and they also fall into the category of proxy contests.
Here's how the circle hole works:
- The circle hole will be one of the golf course's par-3 holes.
- Organizers create a circle around the flagstick on the chosen green. The circle can be any circumference, but most organizers try to make the circle's edges around 10 to 15 feet out from the cup. Too tight of a circle results in very few golfers winning prizes.
- When golfers reach the circle hole, they are given the option to buy a chance to win the circle prize by placing their tee shot within the circle. Chances can be sold for any price, with $5 to $10 common.
- Golfers are not required to pay. But they can also buy extra chances. Say your tee shot doesn't make the circle and you want to try again. Buy another chance, hit another ball. Chances are usually capped at three to keep the tournament play moving along.
The circle hole is distinct from a closest-to-the-pin contest. In a closest-to-the-pin contest, there is a single, overall winner for the entire field of players, and the prize is typically larger.
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