Making a Golf Schedule for 2025

It is December. Unless you live in South Florida, Arizona, Palm Springs, or Hawaii, the golf game mostly goes dormant for a few months. Indoor golf facilities on simulators or heated outdoor locations like TopGolf can help with the golf bug here and there. This time of year, is time to plan.

Tour players are working on selecting events to play, competitive junior golfers start piecing together their seasons, elite amateur and club players are getting to work on their schedules, and club professionals are doing the same.  College coaches, who are halfway through their season, and states that play high school golf in the fall are about the only ones not doing some amount of planning.

Being a PGA Professional myself, I am beginning to piece together what 2025 will look like for me. Which events should I play?

Like the last few years, my 2025 golf schedule almost makes itself.

I start by looking at my “majors.” I am eligible for two of our championships: wherever and whenever they are, I will be there. Next, I look at the next biggest events – I either always or almost always play. Unless something unavoidable comes up, I will be there for these.

In my Section, we have several one-day events, both individual and pro-ams. If I can stay at my house and make a day trip by car there and back, I will play in these. If a hotel stay is involved, I will take a much longer look at whether to play … or pass. Usually, I end up playing about twelve events a year.

The top PGA Tour players may take a similar approach when looking at the 2025 Tour schedule. Play the majors, The Players, and the Signature Events then pick out other events, like a hometown event or where a player won for the first time. Lower or middle-tier Tour players play any of the same events they can get into and Opposite events before picking out any other events.

Elite amateurs and junior golfers are no different: pick out top invitationals, USGA events/qualifiers, State events, and anything that helps bump up a ranking. Next up are club and local events and events to keep sharp between big events.

Happen to notice a pattern? Big events come first and are a must, next up are the second-tier events that should be played but could be passed on, and last are the events to fill in the gaps.

Think that a typical club player is any different? Not really: find out when the club’s biggest events are and clear your calendar. The Member-Guest, Club Championship, Member-Member, and an event at a nearby club get the most priority. Then pick out the small events: Par 3 Challenge, One-Player Scramble, etc.

All sounds easy, right? The hardest part is waiting for the schedule to come out. I previously discussed what goes into finding a host golf course, but any player wants to know the dates also. 

As they say, failure to plan is planning to fail.