Polar Bear League · October 2026–March 2027
Win matches. Capture courses. Control the map.
A 22-week team golf league that lets you and your team fight for control of the Bay Area.
Every two weeks, based on your availability, you’ll be set up with a teammate and a pair of rivals from another team. Your team decides which territory to attack or defend. Beat the other pair at a course and your team claims it. Defend it to keep earning points. Lose there and the course changes hands.
- —10 rounds, with a new round every two weeks
- —Teams of 8–12 golfers
- —Head-to-head 2v2 scrambles
- —13 Bay Area courses up for grabs
Registration takes about two minutes and closes October 3.
Not into all the strategy? Set your availability and get new people to play golf with every two weeks. Leave the strategy to people with more time on their hands.
Season
22 weeks
Rounds
10 · One every two weeks
Teams
8–12 golfers
Format
2v2 scramble
How the league works
- 1
Join a team.
Links places you on a team of 8–12 golfers. Teams are built around how often people expect to play, with a mix of handicaps and playing experience.
You’ll meet your captain and teammates before the first round.
- 2
Choose where to play.
Every two weeks, a new round opens. Tell us which weekend windows work for you.
Your captain and teammates look at the map and decide where to send players. You can claim an open course, attack another team’s territory or defend a course your team already owns.
- 3
Play a head-to-head scramble.
Links creates the matchups based on everyone’s availability.
Each foursome receives a course, a weekend window and a booking lead. The players choose the exact tee time within that window.
Every official match is a 2v2 scramble.
- 4
Take control of the course.
Win the most matches at an unclaimed course in a round and your team claims it.
Out-win the owner at a course they hold and you take it from them. Ties stay with the owner.
Once a course belongs to your team, it stays on the map in your color and keeps earning points until somebody beats you there.
Registration closes October 3. Teams are announced that weekend.
Watch the season take shape.
Every course begins the winter unclaimed. Then the matches start.
Teams spread across the Bay, build territory and compete for the courses that matter most. A course that looks like an easy point in the first round can become the most valuable spot on the map a month later.
The example map shows how a season might unfold:
- —Teams claim open courses in the early rounds.
- —Defended courses become more valuable.
- —Rival teams begin targeting each other’s territory.
- —One win can change both the map and the standings.
The longer your team holds a course, the more important it becomes.
Every course starts the winter unclaimed. The first matches decide who plants a flag where.
Every match earns points. Every course you hold keeps earning them.
Win a match and your team gets a point. Simple. But the courses you win keep working for you: every course your team holds pays out at the end of every round, and the payout grows the longer you hold it.
Win a match
+1 point
Every head-to-head match win adds one point to your team’s score.
Hold a course
+1, then +2, then +3…
Paid every round, as long as the course is yours. One point the first round after you claim it. Two the next round. Three the round after that. It keeps climbing until somebody takes it from you.
Take a course
Earn its current value
When you beat another team at a course they control, your team earns that course’s full current value as a capture bonus.
The course then changes to your color and resets to a value of one.
Connect your courses
+1 per link
Courses that touch on the map are linked. Own both ends and the link pays a point at every round close. Three in a row is two links. Lose the one in the middle and the chain breaks.
A course held all winter can be worth more than a dozen individual match wins.
That also makes it the course every other team will want to take.
Corica Park.
Presidio.
Harding Park.
Gleneagles.
And eight more courses across the Bay Area. Every one of them is unclaimed on day one.
Every course starts unclaimed. Get on a team before the first round.
There’s a role for every kind of golfer.
Polar Bear League is built for a full range of players, from single-digit handicaps to golfers playing their first winter with a full bag.
Every match is a scramble, so both players can contribute throughout the round. Links uses handicap information to build competitive matchups, giving experienced golfers meaningful competition without shutting newer golfers out.
There is no bench or fixed starting lineup. If you’re available for a round, you can play.
You’ll tell us how often you expect to participate when you register. Before each round, you’ll confirm which weekend windows work for you. Links only schedules you inside the windows you select.
The league can work around real-world schedules, but your teammates will still be counting on you for the rounds you commit to.
Get the full team involved.
If at least 80% of your roster plays during a calendar month, your team earns a two-point Full Squad bonus.
Winning the winter takes more than a few great players. It takes a team that gets out and plays.
Every round gives your team a decision to make.
Before each round, your team sees the complete map:
- —Who owns each course
- —How long each team has held it
- —What every course is currently worth
- —Which courses are still unclaimed
Then you decide where your players can make the biggest difference.
Defend a valuable course.
Attack a rival’s territory.
Claim an open course before somebody else does.
Spread across the Bay or concentrate your team around a few important courses.
Your captain helps lead the strategy. Links turns it into actual matchups.
The best match for your team may not be the easiest one to win.
Ten rounds. Twenty-two weeks. Two minutes to register.
The details
When does Polar Bear League run?
The regular season runs from October 5, 2026 through March 7, 2027, with playoffs March 8–21. The Thanksgiving and Christmas rounds run three weeks instead of two.
There are ten rounds, with each round taking place over a two-week period. Registration closes October 3, and teams will be announced that weekend.
How often do I play?
You can play up to one league round every two weeks.
When you register, you’ll tell us how often you expect to participate. Before each round, you’ll confirm your availability, and you’ll only be scheduled during the windows you select.
What does it cost?
Links membership is $20 a month, and the Polar Bear League is included.
It pays for coordination, funds prizes throughout the season and means everyone you’re playing with is bought in. Register first to reserve your spot. You can join or renew right after.
I’m not in the Bay Area. Can I still play?
Not this season. But if you tell us your city, we’ll count you toward launching a league there. No payment until it’s approved.
What if I can’t play a whole round?
Sit it out. You confirm availability before every round and you’re only scheduled in the windows you pick. Your team keeps playing without you and picks you back up the next round.
Do I need an official handicap?
No.
Give us an honest estimate of your game and Links will use it to build balanced teams and competitive matchups.
Because every match is a scramble, golfers at different levels can play together and contribute throughout the round.
Is the league competitive enough for low-handicap golfers?
Yes.
Strong golfers are an important part of every roster, and the territory format gives every match real consequences. Links builds the pairings to create competitive head-to-head golf rather than simply using better players to balance weaker ones.
How does defending a course work?
When your team owns a course, another team can challenge you there.
The defending pair receives one additional mulligan as its home-course advantage.
Win the match and your team keeps the course. Its value increases again at the end of the round.
Lose and the attacking team takes control.
Can our team lose a course without playing there?
Only if you’re challenged and don’t answer. If nobody attacks a course, it keeps growing for as long as you hold it — you’re never penalized for another team’s inaction.
But if a team attacks and you can’t field a defending pair, the course is forfeited. It drops back to unclaimed at zero until a match is played there, and the attacking team gets first crack at claiming it. Keep enough of your roster available to answer a challenge.
What happens if I can’t make a scheduled match?
Mark that you can’t make it in Links and we’ll look for a teammate who is available during the same window.
If an automatic replacement isn’t available, your captain will help fill the opening. Every official territory match remains 2v2.
What does a captain do?
Captains help their team decide which courses to attack or defend, keep players engaged and fill the occasional last-minute opening.
They are not responsible for coaching, organizing every foursome or booking every tee time.
Expect the role to take about 20 minutes every two weeks. You can volunteer to be a captain during registration.
Who books the tee time?
Each foursome receives a booking lead.
That player finds a tee time within the agreed-upon window and adds it to Links. Booking responsibility rotates throughout the season.
What happens if the available players don’t create an even matchup?
Links may create a Wildcard match between players from different teams.
Wildcard wins still earn points, but no territory changes hands.
What can we do between league rounds?
Anything you want.
Play a friendly against another team. Organize a practice round with your teammates. Scout a course you may want to attack next. Or take the weekend off.
Only official Polar Bear League matches can change the map.
By February, every course will have a story.
Some will change hands again and again. Others will become strongholds that shape the entire season.
Your team’s job is to claim them, defend them and finish the winter in control of the map.
Registration takes about two minutes and closes October 3.