Spark Golf - Tucson

[kthomas]

Does anyone here play in the Spark Golf league in Tucson? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

 

I'm thinking of joining and playing at Arizona National on Wednesdays. Seems to be a good way to get out and meet new people that share a passion for golf. I'm a weekend hacker, and admittedly I bring WRX's PW average carry distance down (sorry, I can't hit a PW 160 yards). I just play to have a good time, I love the sport and the never ending quest of trying to improve. 

 

Anyways, would love to hear some thoughts from those of here that have tried it out. 

[kthomas]

I signed up for this Wednesday's Arizona National League. Going to give it a shot, why not?

 

I can report back my experiences if anyone cares. 

[kthomas]

Since I made this thread, I'll provide my feedback on my experience with Spark golf last night.

 

Overall, I'm happy. I signed up so that I can go out and golf more, to meet new people and have fun at the golf course. It checks those boxes, I had a great time, and was paired up with a fun individual to be with. 

 

Because I signed up as a single (you can also sign up with a friend/family member as a 2 person team), I get paired with another single, which we play as a team for the duration of the season. This could be good or bad, it's the luck of the draw of who you get paired up with. My partner was a lot of fun to hang out with, so I feel like I got lucky, could've went the other way. It's a shotgun start at 5 PM, for us we started on "1B", which means we wait for 1A to tee off and get further down range before our group starts. Some groups started on other holes. 

 

It took me a bit to figure out the handicap system, and how scoring works. When you first sign up, you put in an arbitrary handicap, a score that you would "typically" score on 9 holes. From there it starts you off with an approximate handicap, which adjusts over the season as you put scores in from your rounds. Depending on your handicap, you will be allotted a certain amount of strokes per hole, and that's your par. You input your "gross score" after each hole, and in turn it calculates a "net score", using your handicap. As a team, each player plays their own ball in hole (not a scramble), but the best "net score" between the two individuals is assigned to the team for that hole. A player cannot score higher on any given hole then their "net double bogey". At the end of the round, your team is assigned a score relative to your handicaps. So a team that shot a 55 could beat my 44, if they played "better" according to their handicap. 

 

This is to help even the playing field and make it more fun for those that are marginal golfers, but there's some nuances to it. The system rewards those that are playing better then their "handicaps" (we need to use the term loosely here). If they shot a horrible score the previous round (perhaps it was a bad day, we all have those), their handicaps will be adjusted accordingly to give them more strokes for the next round. Then if next week they are shooting their actual average, or have a great day and do even better then their average, then they are going to be rewarded very handsomely with points. If you are a consistent golfer, you actually get penalized by this system.

 

There's a live leaderboard through the app, and players can win "skins" on each hole on who gets the best "net score". This is where it gets confusing. For example, on a par 3, if a person has a high handicap and scores a true par on that hole, that could be a "net eagle", Which means that a better play may have to get an actual ace to beat that person out on the skin. 

 

For me, the scoring was a bit confusing, and it was frustrating to not gain really any points on the first match because I played true to my inputted handicap. My playing partner plays a round maybe every few months (he's joined the league to get out weekly, which I think is great), and he was a bit optimistic with his handicap, so we couldn't use any of his scores during our match to put toward our team score. We ended up tied for last place, even though I was probably one of the better players on the course (except for my putting, I dropped a lot of scores there). 

 

For me, I'm excited to get back out next week and play again. I had a lot of fun, and it gives me a reason to get on the course every week, and to meet new people. The course is obviously a nice course, so it's nice to be able to play at a really nice track for twilight golf every week, and for a pretty reasonable rate ($28/9 holes + cart). The scoring is quirky, and I understand that it helps to make the game more fun and inviting for "lesser skilled" players, but I still think there's some nuances to be worked out on that aspect. I'm looking forward to next week, my partners handicap has been adjusted to reflect his scoring from this past week, so perhaps we have a chance to get on the leaderboard 😛

[Bonneville85308]

I take it this generally draws a younger 20s/30s crowd? 

 

They have a bunch of these Spark leagues in Phoenix now at various courses. 

 

Not really my cup of tea personally, but I'd probably encourage someone who is a less serious golfer and wants a reason to play more/meet new people to give it a try.

[kthomas]

12 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

I take it this generally draws a younger 20s/30s crowd? 

 

They have a bunch of these Spark leagues in Phoenix now at various courses. 

 

Not really my cup of tea personally, but I'd probably encourage someone who is a less serious golfer and wants a reason to play more/meet new people to give it a try.

 

I'm 33, and I was the youngest one out of my foursome by almost two decades.

 

From what I saw, there was many more people in the 40's, 50's and 60's, then there was in the 30's. In fact, I may have been the only one there in the 30's.

 

The Arizona National Spark league is a small(ish) one, there's less then 30 people signed up. The other Tucson leagues may have different demographics. 

[kthomas]

And it's definitely designed for the less serious/competitive and skilled golfer.

 

It's a great way to go out and play golf with no real pressure. It appeared everyone was at best a weekend hacker, with some looking pretty new to the sport. 

 

For those wanting to get into the sport, to have fun and have a reason to play every week - this is a good one to jump into.

 

I'm planning on playing throughout this season, but in the future I may try to look for a slightly more competitive league with better golfers. I think playing with better golfers would help elevate my game more. 

[AZ_JHWK]

Quote

 I think playing with better golfers would help elevate my game more. 

Absolutely. That was my experience many, many moons ago.