A roll up is a golf competition where you don’t book your place in advance. Instead you simply roll up at the appointed time. Hence the name. This type of competition is also commonly referred to as a swindle. (Nope, no idea why). A roll up can involve any format – medal, Stableford, Texas Scramble... whatever.
It can be played as a singles competition, but more commonly is played in teams. In which case, the teams are formed on the day through a draw – often this is done by everyone putting a marked ball, often with their initials or name written on it – into a container and the balls are drawn out to form the teams. But drawing bits of paper from a hat or whatever works just as well.
The team element can be one of the most attractive features of this type of competition for it gets the members of a club mixing with one another. Often members have a regular fourball or whatever who they sign up to play with. So drawing players to play with one another is a way for members to get to know one another better – or sometimes just simply to introduce members to one another.
If playing, for instance, in a Texas Scramble or where the best two scores out of four count then this enhances the social element as all the players in the flight are on the same side. So a playing partner’s success is also your success, and everyone you are playing with is rooting for you. This makes this form of golf particularly convivial.
If you have joined a club and looking to get to know your fellow members, playing in a roll-up is a great way to do this. They are also great for fair-weather golfers, or those with erratic or unpredictable work patterns, to play some competitive golf as no-one has to commit to playing in advance.
