Polar Bear League · October 2026 – February 2027
Take the map.
A 20-week team golf league across the Bay Area. You get a team. The Bay gets carved up. Every course you win is yours until someone takes it back.
- —10 rounds, one every two weeks. Play as many or as few as you want.
- —Teams of 8–12. Every match is a 2v2 scramble against a different pair.
- —Win at a course and your team owns it. Owned courses keep scoring for you, every round, for as long as you hold them.
Registration takes two minutes. Registration closes September 27. Not in the Bay Area? Put your city on the list.
Season
20 weeks
Rounds
10 · every 2 weeks
Teams
8–12 players
Format
2v2 scramble
Here's the whole game.
- 1
You get a team.
8–12 players, built to be balanced by how often people can play — not by handicap. You'll know your captain and teammates before round one.
- 2
Every two weeks, a round opens.
Tap the weekend windows that work for you. Your captain picks which courses to attack or defend. Links builds the 2v2 scrambles and hands you a foursome, a course and a window. You never organize a group yourself.
- 3
Win, and the course is yours.
It goes on the map in your color. It stays there — and keeps paying your team points — until another team beats you at it.
The map on the right plays out a sample season. Week 1 is empty — thirteen courses, nobody owns anything. Watch what five rounds do to it.
The map opens. Nobody owns anything yet — every course is up for grabs, and the first team to win there claims it.
Two ways to score. Only one of them is golf.
Your team scores
+1 per match win.
Simple. Beat the pair across from you and your team gets a point. Every match, every round.
Your courses score too
+1, then +2, then +3…
Every course you hold pays your team at the end of every round. One point the first round you hold it. Two the second. Three the third. It keeps climbing for as long as it stays yours.
Take a course from another team and you pocket its full value as a bonus. Then it resets to 1 under your flag.
A course held all winter is worth more than a dozen match wins.
Which is exactly why every other team will come for it.
Corica.
Presidio.
Harding.
Tilden.
…and nine more across the Bay. All unclaimed on day one.
Built for every golfer on your team.
Every match is a scramble, and Links builds the pairings to be even. Single-digit handicap or first winter with a full bag, you'll play matches that matter. Nobody gets benched — if you're available, you're in.
Play once a month or every round. You tell us how often when you register, and Links only schedules you inside weekends you've confirmed. Can't make one? Skip it. No penalty.
Showing up is worth points on its own: if 80% of your roster plays in a calendar month, the team gets a +2 Full Squad bonus. The teams that get everyone out are the ones that win the winter.
Every round, the map decides what matters.
At the start of each round your team sees who owns what and what each course is worth. Together you decide where to play: defend the course that's paying out, go after a rival's, or grab one that's still open.
Links then builds the matchups from whoever's available: two on two, at the course in question, in a weekend window everyone said works. One person in the foursome books the tee time. Everyone gets the details.
Odd numbers left over? Links pairs them into Wildcard matches across teams. Still worth points. No territory changes hands.
The details.
When does it run?
October 5, 2026 through February 21, 2027. Ten two-week rounds. Registration closes September 27; teams are announced the week after.
How much time is it?
One scramble round every two weeks if you play every round. Less if you don't. Confirming your availability takes ten seconds.
What does it cost?
Polar Bear League is included with a Links membership. Register first — it saves your spot — and you'll join or renew right after.
Do I need a handicap?
No. Tell us roughly where you land and Links uses it to balance teams and matches. Every match is a scramble, so every player contributes on every hole.
What if I'm defending my own course?
Home-course advantage: the defending pair gets one extra mulligan. Win and the course survives another round and grows in value.
What if I can't make a match I've been put in?
Tap "I can't make it" and Links looks for a teammate who fits the window. If nobody does, your captain helps fill the spot. Every official match stays 2v2.
What does a captain actually do?
Strategy and rallying, not coaching. Lead the call on which courses to go after each round, keep people engaged, help fill the odd last-minute hole. About twenty minutes every two weeks. Volunteer on the registration form.
Who books the tee time?
The players. Each foursome gets a booking lead who grabs a time in the agreed window and adds it to the app. Booking duty rotates over the season.
What about the weekends in between?
Yours. Play friendlies through Links, get your team out for a practice round, or don't touch a club. Only league rounds move the map.
The map starts empty.
By February, every course on it has a story. Be in one.
Registration takes two minutes. Registration closes September 27. Not in the Bay Area? Put your city on the list.