2026 CENTRAL FLORIDA OPEN

Tournament INFO & Prize Money

Friday, August 15

Practice Round: Call Alan Bailey at 407-396-3247. CFO Practice round times start at 12 PM. Watson or Nicklaus Courses.

6:30 PM Player Pairings Announcement – Player meet and greet – Tournament Announcements – Location: Eleven Bar & Restaurant located on the 11th Floor of the main tower (where you check in)

 

Saturday, August 16 – Nicklaus Course

6:45 AM – Complimentary Breakfast Buffet for all CFO players at the Watson/Palmer Clubhouse

8:30 AM – Shotgun – Nicklaus Course

6:00 PM Saturday – Flight Standings – 18-hole miniature golf course next to tennis courts

 

Sunday, August 17 – Watson Course

6:45 AM – Complimentary Breakfast Buffet for all CFO players at the Watson/Palmer Clubhouse

8:30 AM – Final round tournament play commences, shotgun format. After the round, all players will gather at the Watson/Palmer Clubhouse for winner announcements.

The awards presentation will start around 1 hour after all scores are posted.

 

Welcome to the Central Florida Open! Here’s How It All Works.

We’re so excited to have you! Our number one goal is to make this the most fun and fair golf tournament you’ll play in all year. To do that, we have a special system to make sure every single team has a real chance to win.

Forget confusing rules—here’s everything you need to know in simple terms.

 

How We Make the Tournament Fair for Everyone

Think of it like a video game where players get different power-ups to make the game balanced. We do something similar by giving each team a special “Team Quota.” This is the target score your team tries to beat.

It might sound complicated, but it’s just our way of doing some careful math behind the scenes so you can focus on having fun. Here’s our simple, 3-step recipe for fairness:

Step 1: We Find Your Personal “Good Day” Score First, we look at your usual golf scores. We use the official USGA formula to determine your Course Handicap (CH). This just tells us what a good score looks like for you on this specific course.

Step 2: We Add Your “Superpowers” A handicap doesn’t tell the whole story! So, we fine-tune your number by looking at two things:

• Your Driving Distance: Are you a long hitter? We’ll check your average drive distance to make sure you’re playing from the tees that are the right challenge for you.
• Your Iron Power: How far do you hit your irons? We even check what club you hit from 150 yards. This tells us if you have some extra power we need to account for.

Step 3: We Create Your Final “Team Target Score” Finally, we look at you and your partner together. Are you both scratch golfers? Or is one player more experienced? We use our special Team Balance Formula (explained below) to create one, single target score for your team to beat.

The Bottom Line: It means we do a lot of work beforehand so that when you get to the first tee, the game is already fair. Every team has a legitimate shot to win—now it’s up to you to play grea

 

The Team Balance Formula

Depending on how close your and your partner’s skills are, we weigh your handicaps differently to get your final Team Quota. Here’s a simple breakdown:

If Your Handicap Difference Is…	The Lower Handicap Player’s Score Counts For…	The Higher Handicap Player’s Score Counts For…
0–4 strokes (You’re basically twins)	55% of the total	45% of the total
5–10 strokes (A small gap)	65% of the total	35% of the total
11–16 strokes (A medium gap)	75% of the total	25% of the total
17–22 strokes (A pretty big gap)	85% of the total	15% of the total
23–28 strokes (A huge gap)	90% of the total	10% of the total
29+ strokes (Pros vs. Joes!)	95% of the total	5% of the total

 

How to Score Points (The Fun Part!)

The goal of the game is simple: score as many points as you can! You get points for good scores on each hole.

Here’s what your shots are worth:

• Double Eagle: +8 points (Amazing!)
• Eagle: +6 points (Awesome!)
• Birdie: +4 points (Great!)
• Par: +2 points (Solid.)
• Bogey: +1 point (Good save!)
• Double Bogey or worse: 0 points (No worries!)

Important: Notice there are NO NEGATIVE POINTS! A tough hole just gets you zero points. This keeps the game fun and fast—just forget about a bad hole and move on to the next one.

 

How to Play: A “Scramble with a Twist”

The tournament format is a 2-Player Scramble. It works like this:

1. Both you and your partner hit a drive.
2. You pick the best shot.
3. You both hit your next shot from that spot.
4. Repeat until the ball is in the hole!

Here’s the Twist: This is a true team game, so both players have to contribute! Each player on the team must use 8 of their own tee shots during the round.

• You’ll each use 4 drives on Par-4s.
• You’ll each use 2 drives on Par-5s.
• You’ll each use 2 drives on Par-3s. Your scorecard will have a spot to mark whose drive you used on each hole.

 

Keeping Score (We Make It Easy!)

Don’t worry about calculating points on the course. Your job is simple:

1. Swap Cards: Before you start, swap scorecards with another team in your group. You’ll keep their score, and they’ll keep yours.
2. Write Down Strokes: On each hole, just write down the other team’s score (for example, a 4, 5, etc.). That’s it!
3. Sign at the End: After the round, check the scores with the other team to make sure they’re correct, and then have one of them sign your card. (Don’t forget this last step! An unsigned card gets a 6-point penalty.)

 

A Few Simple Rules

• Out of Bounds: If both of you hit a ball out of bounds, no big deal. Just take a 2-stroke penalty and drop your ball near where it went out.
• Red & Yellow Stakes (Penalty Areas): If your best shot is in a penalty area, you can usually play it from there with no penalty. If it’s in a spot you can’t play from, you can move it for a 1-stroke penalty.

 

How You Win the Championship

• The tournament is played over two days (Saturday and Sunday).
• Your score on Saturday decides which “Flight,” or competitive group, you’ll be in for the final round on Sunday.
• The winner is the team that beats their special “Team Quota” by the most points over the two days combined.

Good luck, have fun, and play well!

 

Team Flight Payouts

 

Tournament Champion Team: $500

Proximities

• Par 3 Closest to Pin – $50 for A & B player each day (4 chances)

SKINS POT – $1,000 per day

*Disclaimer: The tournament coordinator has complete discretion regarding prize money payouts based on tournament registrations collected minus expenses. All information is subject to change.