Competition structures

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Awards and podiums

Also called Champion and runner-up, Podium, Prize positions, Competition winner.

A competition's awards are the champion, runner-up and third place taken from the prize positions on the leaderboard, plus a best net award when the competition is ranked on something other than net. Prize positions skip players who are not eligible for prizes and let tied players share, so the awards can differ from the raw finishing order.

Awards
Champion, runner-up, third, best net
Derived from
Prize position, not raw position
Best net
Shown only when the ranking axis is not net
Ties
Share the prize position
Flights
A podium per flight
Skill prizes
Assigned by the admin, never derived from scores

The ranking axis and the prize position

Every leaderboard is ranked on one axis: gross strokes, net strokes, Stableford points, quota or skins. The competition's format sets the default and the organizer can choose a winner basis that overrides it, so a Stableford competition can be ranked on gross if the club wants a scratch champion. Awards are read from that same ranking, so the podium can never disagree with the leaderboard the players saw.

The raw position on the board and the prize position are different numbers. A guest who is not eligible for prizes may lead the board for everyone to see, but the prize position skips them: the first eligible player is prize position 1. Tied players share a prize position, and the next prize position after a shared second is fourth. The champion is whoever holds prize position 1, the runner-up prize position 2. A shared position produces a shared award, with both names on it.

Podium and best net

The results podium lists first, second and third on the ranking axis, with the score written in that axis's units: 74 for gross, Net 69, 38 pts, +3 on quota. When the axis is anything other than net, the podium adds a best net award for the lowest net score in the field, because most clubs post both. The best net award is left off when the same person is already first on the headline axis; nobody is given two awards for the same card.

A competition played in flights gets a podium per flight, computed from that flight's players only, so the B flight has its own first, second and third alongside the overall podium.

Overriding a winner

Committees sometimes need to award a prize to someone other than the player the scores put first: a disqualification found after the board went up, a one-prize-per-player rule, or a player who declined. Parful keeps the factual rankings stored exactly as scored and applies the override on top. The rule is promote and shift: the chosen player becomes first, and everyone who was at or above their old slot moves down one place. Season standings points then credit the promoted player as the first-place finisher. The factual order is never rewritten, so the record still shows who shot what.

How Parful derives it

For a competition decided on a single day and ranked on a leaderboard, Parful derives the champion and runner-up at close-out from the leaderboard's prize positions and offers them as prize rows next to the outing's own low gross and low net. Round robins, knockouts and cups are decided across many matches, so their winners come from the standings table, the bracket or the cup board instead. The results email carries the podium, with best net where the axis allows it and a per-flight podium where flights exist.

Skill prizes are different. Closest to the pin, long drive, longest putt, straightest drive and any custom type from the club's skill prize library are assigned by the admin to the player who won them on the day. They are never derived from hole scores, and they can carry season points of their own.

Worked example

A worked example: a gross competition with a guest and a best net

Six players in a stroke play competition ranked on gross. Gus is a guest who is not eligible for prizes. Awards are read from the prize position, and best net is shown because the axis is gross.

PlayerGrossNetBoard positionPrize positionAward
Gus (guest)74701Not eligibleNone
Ana756921Champion
Ben777232Runner-up
Cal786543Third and best net
Dee796654None
Eve816865None
Gus leads the board but holds no prize position, so Ana is champion on prize position 1. Cal's 65 is the lowest net in the field and Cal is not the champion, so the best net award is shown.
  • Had Ben and Cal both shot 77 they would share prize position 2 and the runner-up award would carry both names; Dee would then hold prize position 4 and there would be no third.
  • If the committee then promoted Dee to champion, the effective order for season points would be Dee, Ana, Ben, Cal, Eve, while the stored rankings still show Ana on 75 ahead of Ben on 77.

Common variants

Net ranked with a low gross award
The mirror of the example: rank on net and post a low gross side award. On Parful the best net side award appears only when the axis is not net; a gross award on a net competition is recorded by the admin as a prize.
One prize per player
A club rule that a player takes only their highest award. Parful's outing prizes allow multiple winners by default and offer one prize per player as an option; on competitions the admin uses an override.
Countback-decided podium
Ties on the board are broken by countback before prize positions are assigned. Players still tied after the eighteenth share the prize position.

Awards and podiums questions

How is the champion of a competition decided?

The champion holds prize position 1 on the leaderboard's ranking axis. Prize positions skip players who are not eligible for prizes and let tied players share, so the champion may not be the name at the top of the board.

What is the difference between board position and prize position?

Board position counts everyone, including guests who cannot win prizes. Prize position counts only eligible players and is what the awards are read from.

When is a best net award shown?

When the competition is ranked on gross, Stableford, quota or skins, and the lowest net score belongs to someone other than the winner. A net-ranked competition already awards net.

What happens to the results when a winner is overridden?

The chosen player is promoted to first and the others shift down one place for prizes and season points. The scored rankings stay stored as they were.

Are closest to the pin and long drive worked out from the scores?

No. Skill prizes are assigned by the admin to the player who won them on the hole, from the club's skill prize library.

Do flights get their own podium?

Yes. Each flight has a first, second and third computed from its own players, alongside the overall podium.

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