What Is a Shotgun Start in Golf? How It Works and Why Leagues Use It

A shotgun start sends every group in a tournament or league event to a different hole on the course. At a set signal, usually a horn or an announcement over the radio, every group tees off simultaneously. A foursome on hole 1 starts their round on hole 1, a foursome on hole 7 starts on hole 7, and so on until every hole has a group.

If everyone starts at the same time, everyone finishes at roughly the same time.

Why Leagues Use Shotgun Starts

In a standard tee time format, the first group off might finish two hours before the last group. By the time the final foursome walks off 18, half the league has already gone home. There’s no window for post-round payouts, meals, awards, or just hanging out with the full group.

A shotgun start fixes that. Everyone wraps up within 15–20 minutes of each other, which opens up the social time after the round. Payouts happen while everyone is still there. The commissioner can announce results to the whole group instead of texting them later. In leagues that run a points race or season standings, the post-round gathering is where the trash talk and camaraderie happen.

How to Set Up a Shotgun Start

A shotgun start has more moving parts than a tee time format. The logistics break down into three stages: before the day, before the horn, and after the round.

Before the day, coordinate with the course. Ask whether they’ll put cart signs on each cart with starting hole numbers — or better yet, the names of the players assigned to each hole. Not every course does this automatically, and if they don’t, your players are left driving around the course trying to figure out where they’re supposed to be. That conversation with the pro shop saves ten minutes of confusion on the day.

Before the horn, the commissioner has a window of about five minutes where the entire league is standing in the same place. Use it. Cover anything the course needs players to know — cart path only on certain holes, a temporary tee or green, ground under repair. Then handle league business: on-course prizes, skins, mulligans, any special rules for the event. Finally, tell everyone the post-round procedure. Where do carts go? Where do scorecards get turned in? Where are results and payouts happening? Players who know the plan before they go out don’t have to track you down afterward.

After the round, groups come in close together. Have a plan for collecting scorecards and settling up. If you wait until everyone is milling around the parking lot, you’ll lose half the field before you finish.

Getting 60 Players to 18 Holes on Time

Getting 40 or 60 players to their starting holes on time is the single hardest part of a shotgun start. Someone is always at the putting green when the group starts heading out. Someone else runs into the clubhouse at the last minute and their cart is blocking three other carts. A foursome assigned to hole 14 ends up on hole 4 because nobody told them where to go.

Courses that run shotgun starts regularly usually have staff members who lead groups out or at least point them in the right direction. Courses that don’t run them often leave it to the players, and the result is a ten-minute scramble that delays the horn and puts everyone behind from the first hole.

The fix is communication, same as everything else with shotgun starts. Cart signs, a course marshal, or even a printed sheet on each cart with the group’s starting hole and the names of their playing partners. Get the right people to the right hole before the horn goes off and the rest takes care of itself.

Shotgun Start vs. Tee Times: When to Use Each

Use a shotgun start when the whole group needs to finish together, whether that’s league nights with post-round payouts, tournaments with awards dinners, or charity events with a schedule to keep. The tradeoff is that you need the entire course blocked out. Most courses require a minimum group size (usually 72–100+ players) to justify giving up tee times to outside play.

Use tee times when the group is too small for a shotgun, when the course won’t block out all 18 holes, or when finishing together isn’t important. Weekly league play with 20–30 players usually runs on tee times because the course can still book other golfers around your groups.

Some leagues run both. Tee times for regular weekly rounds and shotgun starts for the bigger events like opening day, mid-season tournaments, and the season finale.

How LeaderBoard Caddie Handles Shotgun Starts

When you set up an event in LeaderBoard Caddie and select shotgun start as the tee-off type, the system assigns groups to starting holes and generates a pairing sheet the commissioner can share before the round. Players see their starting hole and playing partners on their phone without needing a printed sheet or a cart sign, though having both never hurts.

FAQ

What is a shotgun start in golf? Every group in the event is assigned a different starting hole and tees off at the same time on a signal. A group assigned to hole 5 plays holes 5 through 18, then 1 through 4 to complete their round.

Why is it called a shotgun start? The name comes from the original signal — a shotgun fired into the air to tell all groups to tee off. Most courses now use an air horn or a radio announcement.

How many players do you need for a shotgun start? You need enough groups to fill most or all 18 holes. For a four-player format, that’s at least 72 players (18 groups of 4). Some courses allow shotgun starts with fewer groups if the event covers enough holes to justify blocking outside play.

Can you do a shotgun start on a 9-hole course? Yes. Nine holes with foursomes means 36 players minimum. Nine-hole shotgun starts are common for weeknight league play where time is tight and the group is smaller.

Do shotgun starts take longer than tee times? No, they’re usually faster overall because there’s no waiting on the group ahead. The round time is roughly the same, but everyone finishes together instead of trickling in over two hours.