Speaking of Scrambles........

[MikeG]

All this talk of Hireko's "scramble club" got me to thinking that I never posted aformat that I played last year.

 

It's a regular 4 man scramble on the par 4 holes but on the par 5's, after your drives, you play two of your balls, splitting up into 2 man scrambles, then you add your scores together. So if you and your teammate birdie, but the other two par, you put 9 on your scorecard. A great score would be 6, two eagles (in which case you belong on another site, rhymes with perks), a bad score would be 12, two bogies.

 

The par 3's are played like this: everyone plays their own ball, and you add up the two best, so a good score would be 4, two birdies, bad score 8, two bogies.

 

A normal par 72 becomes par 104, 52 per side. and they're plenty more opportunities for skins. My team won a skin with an 8 on a par 5, we had two birdies.

 

Also card playoffs would seem to be a thing of the past, with so many more scoring differences.

 

We've incorporated this format into a local scramble, and everyone thought it was great. It's only confusing the first time you do it.

[SMRT]

That is pretty cool. It would be a great way to bust up the teams that use a local pro as a ringer to win every year. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

I play in one that you turn in your handicap and they separate player in A thru D players then mix up all the names for each level then draw teams. You may end up on a team with people you know. You may end up on a team with 3 people you have never met. No chance of stacking a team unless you are the ones pulling names. It is a blast every year.

 

I might try to introduce some of your ideas into our foursome next year to mix it up a little. Thanks for sharing.

[BIG STU]

That is pretty cool. It would be a great way to bust up the teams that use a local pro as a ringer to win every year. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

I play in one that you turn in your handicap and they separate player in A thru D players then mix up all the names for each level then draw teams. You may end up on a team with people you know. You may end up on a team with 3 people you have never met. No chance of stacking a team unless you are the ones pulling names. It is a blast every year.

 

I might try to introduce some of your ideas into our foursome next year to mix it up a little. Thanks for sharing.

That's the way they used to do all the big money calcuttas back in the day. it did not matter if you were from out of town someone would make a phone call and find out what type of skill level you had. They always had a pairing party and the drawing for teams the night before with I might add had plenty of free food and booze. I did drink in those days but stayed away from the alcohol the night before. I could not handle the next day playing for big stakes with a hangover

[SMRT]

Big Stu,

I think most of the guys involved stay pretty sober Friday so they play well on Saturday but Saturday night is another story. It gets pretty entertaining. 

[hckymeyer]

That is pretty cool. It would be a great way to bust up the teams that use a local pro as a ringer to win every year. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

I play in one that you turn in your handicap and they separate player in A thru D players then mix up all the names for each level then draw teams. You may end up on a team with people you know. You may end up on a team with 3 people you have never met. No chance of stacking a team unless you are the ones pulling names. It is a blast every year.

 

I might try to introduce some of your ideas into our foursome next year to mix it up a little. Thanks for sharing.

We still have a decently big money calcutta in this format every year.  I haven't ever played in it, but a lot of buddies have and they like the format.  They've always said it comes down to having decent B or C players.  Doesn't matter how good the A player is, he can't carry the team.

[BIG STU]

We still have a decently big money calcutta in this format every year.  I haven't ever played in it, but a lot of buddies have and they like the format.  They've always said it comes down to having decent B or C players.  Doesn't matter how good the A player is, he can't carry the team.

That's exactly right. I have been in big ones where I was the "A" player but thought I should not be. There was one event where our team auctioned off for $50 where some of the favored teams went off for $1500 or more. We ended up with 3rd place money because of all things our "D" player who could not do anything bit chip and putt (he weighed 400 lbs) made 3 or 4 putts and had 2 chip ins including the last hole for eagle. We took our money and ran

[kbosecker]

That is a great idea. It really changes things up. Typically if you haven't birdied the first 5-6 holes scrambles turn into drinking events. I also like the draw idea -- nice way to mix things up. 

[BIG STU]

That is a great idea. It really changes things up. Typically if you haven't birdied the first 5-6 holes scrambles turn into drinking events. I also like the draw idea -- nice way to mix things up.

Most of the charity scrambles turn into "drunkfests" here there seems to be an abundance of alcohol at all of them along with the abundance of cheating. I try to avoid them like the plague not so much because of the drinking but the cheating. There are a few I play in if someone involved with the towing business invites me I will play and I do support the Shriners event every year even though I have not played in the Shriners event in several years. They had a certain bunch that was raising hell about some of us ex mini tour players playing in it so we stopped to keep it from hurting the Shriners event. I do a hole donation out of my pocket every year for the towing business even though my boss insisted that he pay at least half last year. Funny thing this one guy who was raising hell about all the ex mini players in the Shriners event (he is NOT a Shriner) tried to put on a event for something else and he tried to get me to play in it what nerve I told him hell no and called every mini player I know to tell them to not play in the event. I think the days of big Calcuttas outside of Vegas are all but done now because of the economy. I have not seen or heard of any around here for years