Word.ws English Dictionary

shotgun start

UK/ˈʃɒtɡʌn stɑːt/US/ˈʃɑtɡʌn stɑɹt/

shotgun start noun: a tournament format in which all groups of contestants tee off simultaneously from different holes.

Noun

shotgun start (plural shotgun starts)

  1. A tournament format in which all groups of contestants tee off simultaneously from different holes.
    • Also, since the players teed off simultaneously, the infamous "shotgun start," with several foursomes at each tee box, the tournaments ran notoriously slow.2011 October, Mike Nettleton, Shotgun Start, Krill Press, →ISBN
    • In a classic shotgun start, 18 groups play, with one group starting on each hole, but, more often, there will be two groups starting on the par-fours and par-fives.2011 January 21, Bill Mallon, Randon Jerris, Historical Dictionary of Golf, Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 267

Examples of shotgun start in a sentence

  • A shotgun start begins at the clubhouse and has all participants leaving at the same time to travel to a designated starting hole to await the starting gun/noise.2011 August 8, Linda E. Swayne, Mark Dodds, Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing, SAGE Publications, →ISBN:
  • After the Dom Perignon toast and shotgun start, approximately 30 foursomes will head out to play two best balls on one of the most prestigious courses in the Cincinnati area.2009 January, “The Russ Wiles Memorial Golf Tournament”, in Cincinnati Magazine, page 155:
  • A shotgun start format is usually employed for a golf tournament of 120-144 golfers on 18 holes.2013 March, Frank MacGrath, The Complete Handbook for Planning, Implementing and Sustaining A Successful Fundraising Golf Tournament, Civil...

Forms of shotgun start

pluralshotgun starts

Origin of shotgun start

From the first reported use of this format in 1956, wherein a shotgun was fired to alert all players from each of the 18 holes that the tournament had started.

Questions about shotgun start

What does shotgun start mean?
Shotgun start means a tournament format in which all groups of contestants tee off simultaneously from different holes.
How do you use shotgun start in a sentence?
A shotgun start begins at the clubhouse and has all participants leaving at the same time to travel to a designated starting hole to await the starting gun/noise.
What part of speech is shotgun start?
Shotgun start is a noun.
How do you pronounce shotgun start?
Shotgun start is pronounced /ˈʃɒtɡʌn stɑːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of shotgun start?
The plural of shotgun start is shotgun starts.

Words near shotgun start in the dictionary

  1. shotgun pleadings
  2. shotgun proteomics
  3. shotgun sequencing
  4. shotgun shack
  5. shotgun shacks
  6. shotgun start
  7. shotgun starts
  8. shotgun surgery
  9. shotgun wedding
  10. shotgun weddings
  11. shotgunlike

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shotgun start (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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