Curious to know your opinion on scrambles

[TheLongShot OH-IO]

Yesterday my brother and myself took on two of our buddies, the conditions were a little wet and the competitive juices werent flowing, therefor we decided to do a scramble. After we eagled the first hole (par 5) the game got pretty serious and for some reason our friends felt cornered. They cheated their tails off, we played a links style so there was sweeping rough, they hit it in there four to five times, one guy out of the crap and the other guy rolled his stuff out onto the 2nd cut. they stuck it close from there and picked up a ton of strokes. Then they continued to move the ball from the light rough to the fringe and put instead of chipping, they sunk 2 putts over 20 ft from the fringe which should have been the rough. Here nor there we shot a 70 and they shot a 68 and took our money, I was furious and did not talk to them once we hit the parking lot.

 

So it seems that every scramble is a cheat fest, (one time in a benefit scramble we fired a 63 at the raven @ verrado (adam scott shot a 75) and someone came in with a 57!!! and the winds were blowing.) Is this the case for you guys, and if so how do u call people on it, I mean i was moaning and groaning out loud so they could hear me but I guess i needed to be more blunt.

[jamo]

They are maybe the most fun golf scoring system, but, yes, there is cheating aplenty!

[TheLongShot OH-IO]

It is the most fun!

 

because well to be honest love filling in those low scores I strive for.

[Tyk]

Scrambles suck, I'd almost rather work. That said, I play in too many of them a year for business, networking, and charities. They're fun if you are in a good group, its for a good cause, and the drinks are free. Good ones have good prizes and good chances at long drives and closest to the pin etc, which ime people rarely cheat at. Score though is another issue! Prepare to be pencil whipped in most scrambles! My take is that if you really want to compete at golf, you wouldn't be playing a scramble anyhow, so who cares. Not to mention, who really gives a crap which 3 or 4 people can combine to score the best, or buy the most mulligans, or whatever.

 

I can't imagine paying for a round and playing a scramble though, talk about a day at the course ruined before it even starts!

 

However LongShot, if I were playing in one among friends, and we had a bet, we'd damn well all be playing by the same rules, or the bet would be off!

[mcbush25]

I have pretty much shunned off scrambles after this year. The foursome I normally play with played in a charity scramble earlier this year and my group and the group in front of us finished 1st and 2nd respectively. Once the group in front of us found out that we had beat them by two strokes they threw a fit and decided to tell everyone they knew that we cheated. It was the most frustrated I had been in a long time...I dang near got into a fight at a charity scramble because two of the guys decided to talk to everyone at the scramble and accuse our team of cheating.

 

No matter what scramble you play in there will always be cheating of some sort whether on the course or in the handicaps. I wouldn't call anyone on it unless I was 110% sure they were cheating. I've been on the side that has been accused and it is not fun to be accused of something like that.

[JBones]

The thing I hate about scrambles is no matter how good you or your team plays, someone is always going to play "better". I played in a scramble a couple years ago at a very tough course (best score there is an 83, as a 5 handicap). We all played very well and carded a legit (no mulligans or any of that other crap) 59 and we didn't even finish in the top 5; the winning team had a 48, forty friggin eight. They supposedly had 8 eagles, one of which they "drove" the green on a 415yd straight uphill par 4.

[TheLongShot OH-IO]

Yeah I mean they for sure moed the ball out of the rough and onto the fringe at least four separate occasions and its not like it didnt matter the first one they stuck it from the "deep" stuff aka the second guy in the 2nd cut and hit birdie and then those two "putts" that were magically in the rough on the first guy's shot and then on the fringe for the second guys, thats anywhere from 3-5 strokes right there. We do occasionally do best ball but somehow the scores get "mixed up" I never cheat never saw a reason to, sure i fluff the ball when It's me and my brother squeezing in line but when my handicap or money is on the line, I dont see a reason to cheat. But then again if everyone hates scrambles and everyone I talk to doesnt cheat, then who is cheating lol...

 

Sounds like everyone has crummy situations for scrambles tho, maybe next time when we need some team action alternate shot or something lol.

 

and Jbones... a 48? I have shot that on nine in the last week LOL... I mean if you are going to cheat why not come up with a realistic number. I mean did these guys go up there and accept the recognition and all that good stuff? I would have busted out laughing.

[JohnBarry]

They are fun!

[JBones]

and Jbones... a 48? I have shot that on nine in the last week LOL... I mean if you are going to cheat why not come up with a realistic number. I mean did these guys go up there and accept the recognition and all that good stuff? I would have busted out laughing.

I know, right? Supposedly they were four past city champions that teamed up, but still, a 48 is pretty ridiculous.

[Matt Saternus]

I'm a big fan of scrambles, personally. Scrambles are the best way for me to get my wife, mom, and/or brother to play because they're not that good and a scramble keeps everyone's spirits up and keeps the ball moving. I also like the opportunity to hit ridiculous shots that I wouldn't hit under normal circumstances.

 

As far as competitions, I agree that 4 man scrambles are junk. I think you just need to accept that going in and just have fun. If you want to be competitive and buy a million mullligans and 20' of string, go nuts, but just know that someone will buy more/cheat harder. I think a 2 man scramble could be ok if you keep a close eye on the other group. I've never played a 2 on 2 scramble with anyone outside my family, so I guess I can't say that with any real weight, but I would hope that people would not cheat right in front of their competitors (though based on the OP's story, I guess I'm wrong!).