What's the fair way to resolve this dilemma?
 

This is not a big deal, but one of those little things that to me present interesting choices.

Imagine you are the tour director for a large (PGA) Junior golf league.

Kids sign up for tournaments a month in advance, on line. The fields fill up fairly fast, so not all kids that sign up can play. The rule is "first come first served." This is easy to track b/c the time and date that each kid signs up is recorded and shown as public information.

A bunch of kids sign up. The tee times and pairings are made and emailed out 2 weeks ahead of the tournament. A parent notices that his kid isn't in the tournament. The website shows that the excluded kid signed up earlier than 4 of the other players in the tournament.

The parent calls you. You look into it. It is clear that the excluded kid signed up before the others, and was only excluded because of a manual computer entry error by someone on your staff.

So, that's the dilemma: 2 kids for one spot. One is in the tournament because of an error, the other excluded because of it.

On the one hand, the rules are "first come first served." The tournament is 2 weeks away, and you can correct the error by removing the kid who was included only because of the error, and including the one who was excluded.

On the other hand, you have already sent out the tee times and pairings, and you'd now have to contact the parents of the kid who you put in the tournament, to tell them they were mistakenly put in ahead of a kid who signed up before them. You'd have to tell that parent that even though you sent out an email showing the tee times, and your kid was included, you have to now pull him because of the error.

How would you resolve this?

(I'm curious as to what you think, not because it's a big deal, but because I was surprised at the decision that was made. The answer seems fairly obvious to me, but maybe I'm wrong or biased. Also, I won't say which one was my son to keep it neutral).

Add three. Work in another foursome. Not that hard.

That's what I was thinking.

Cancel the tournament, but send everyone a trophy.
It's the only way to be sure that nobody gets his/her feelings hurt.

+2

"First come, first served."

Seems pretty straight-forward to me. The kid that was first gets to play and the other loses what he didn't rightly have.

For a variety of reasons, that's not an option. More players or tee times cannot be added.

LOL. I see you've never been involved in Jr. Golf!

What you are describing works for Little League or Soccer (both of which my son has done).

The attitude in competitive golf, even at the Jr. level, is 180 degrees the opposite.

I would try to find a way to include them both, if possible, just because I'm a nice guy. Failing that, the one that should have been denied gets denied so the one that registered first can play. First come, first served. He was first.

Certainly the right answer if the kid being dropped (this is, after all, Junior PGA) parents won't lawyer-up and cause a maelstrom easily avoided.

Where's my trophy?

Give the first kid his berth and offer free guaranteed entry into the next tournament for the kid getting bumped.

Paul's response is best! Add another foursome, let them start behind the 18th, every set gets a rest period waiting between 18 and 1.

Or follow the rules, inform both sets of parents of the mistake, and include the excluded player.

Question: Is it allowed for players who have signed up to show and see if anyone fails to show? Standbys if you will?

Plant illegal drugs on the player who got in, then disqualify him/her, thus opening up a spot for the one that got snubbed.

You guys don't think outside the box. Is the player's mom hot?

Dude if music doesn't work out for you, you've got a future in politics.

Don't plant the drugs on the kid who "got in." Too obvious. Pick some other kid in the tourney, maybe some fat kid.

Send e-mails to all the kids saying that golf is for sissies and (to quote George Carlin) "about as exciting as watching flies f**k"). Send them an enrollment form for Pop Warner and turn 'em into real men. ;)

Or law enforcement

land mines

How old are these "kids"?

While you may not like hearig it, your staff screwed up. Be a man and call the parents of the kid that is getting bumped and explain that to them. There really is no other answer.

Unless like Todd said, the kids mom is hot, then that causes a wrinkle.

[QUOTE] already sent out the tee times and pairings.


The last pairing gets an added player, and is now a threesome.

No big deal. It's happened before in the history of the world.

_

Yes, but it's a 100 mile round trip, and it is not common for people to fail to show. Happens, but not very often.

Kick out the kid who was erroneously included. Find the person who made the error, tie them to a post on the driving range and give the kid and his parents a bucket of range balls.

Seriously, add three players.

Mostly 12-15.

Again, that just can't be done. There are only a set number of tee times allocated by the course, the players play in foursomes, and the course will not allow fives.

I agree,, slip the pro a $20 there's always an exception to the "no exception" rule

LOL. Yes, there are no exceptions.

In addition to the course rules, there are other reasons why fives would not be allowed. For example, it is against the tournament rules. This is competitive golf, the results lead to qualifications for other tournaments that colleges look at, etc. It's not really a "slip the pro a $20" informal kind of thing.

Anyways, let's just say for purposes of this, there are no exceptions, only 1 kid can be in.

Would this not rather remove a wrinkle or am I wrong again or is this not the question at hand???? Where is that whiskey?

Kobayashi Maru...

Rodney Dangerfield never took that test, but his solution would be original.

Make them 2 have a street rules bare knuckle fight for the spot..

To make sure they are giving it their best, tell em that the loser will get a 7 iron in the nuts , after he is released from hospital from loosing the fight..

Turn it into a life lesson, deal with the parents of both kids and put it on them to explain the situation to their kids.

One gets in, one doesn't, too bad so sad.

"On time", "deadline", etc have little meaning to the entitled folks in this world.

Am I the only one who would just leave it alone? Is that the surprising decision?

just apologize to kid whoose application got missed, a kind of 5hit happens life lesson, and leave the tourney to run. It's all set up after all. Maybe I just don't get it? Or maybe I just don't think it matters that much.

Or just deny the truth. Tell them their kid applied too late and forget about it! Although that does seem a little wrong. I'd probably just tell the truth,apologize and say tough luck.

Ok, this is just a guess, but your son is the one who signed up earlier, but the other kid is playing in it. Whichever it is, the kid that should have been in the tourney in the first place isn't.

I would think the staff should call and apologize to the late kid, let him know is is not playing, and offer him a free guaranteed spot in the next one (and maybe some golf goodies). He was one too late afterall, the freebies would be because of the mess-up.

Also, lesson learned to not wait until anywhere near the last minute.

If either of the two positions involves your son, then obviously that changes how this is going to be perceived and received.

Does either of the two positions involve your son?

_

Clearly.

Have 'em play a round. Winner is in the tournament.

Yep.

Yes, one is my son. I tried to keep the description neutral, and not say which is my son, b/c I was looking for objective opinions.

It's no big deal to me one way or another. I was just surprised because the position the tournament took was opposite of what I thought was kind of a no-brainer. Was interested in some outside opinions, to check if I'm the one off base!

So what was the decision?
I would keep the child that was notified in error. I would offer the other child a standby spot, a guaranteed spot in the next tournament, and possibly a discount or some swag depending on how pissed he was or how sympathetic I was.

I think this is the fairest way as the wrongly included child may have made travel plans already, and while the first come first serve is a policy the error was an honest one.

Here is what I would do.

The wrongly included kid goes on standby (you said that often there are no-shows). Your kid (clearly the one left out) gets to play for sure given that the tourney rules say 1st come 1st served.

If the tourney rules don't allow a group of 5 or a 19th group to be added, then how can there be an exception to the registration rules. The rules are either flexible or they are not.