16 man buddies trip - what's a good scoring format?

[King_Slender]

I seem to remember a thread here (over a year ago for sure) of someone touting the "absolute best" format for a competition for a buddies trip.  

 

Heading out for a bucket list trip to play Pasatiempo, Poppy Hills, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Pebble and we're keeping it relaxed at one round a day (other than mixing in The Hay Par 3 course).  With 16 guys and 5 rounds, it's the ideal number so everyone plays one round with everyone else.  It also eliminates trying to play 36 in a day and having an afternoon round where certain guys will be drunk off their a**. 

 

Would like to keep it more of an individual format versus teams.  I think 2-man teams would be awesome, but that brings other logistics into play and, frankly, there are a couple guys on the trip I don't mind playing a round with, but I'd never want to be paired with them for 5 straight rounds. 

 

Maybe we just make it a total net score thing, but open to other ideas you guys have done.  

[CaseyC]

On one 5 round trip, we used  total Stableford scoring. Easy and quick to do.   Prize pool was $200 a person.  Paid out the top 5 with part of the money.  Everyone got a custom shot glass ordered for the trip (about $15 per glass)

 

Remaining cash was put in envelopes in various amounts from $300 to $25.  At the final dinner, the winner got to choose when he could pick his envelope, everyone else picked based on when their names were drawn from a hat.

 

Everyone "wins" something.  About half got their money back or more.

[Santiago Golf]

So you have 16 players and 5 rounds

 

Do like 75% handicaps

 

Stage 1 - 36 Hole Stableford (5, 3, 1, 0, -1 ...  Net Eagle to Net DB)

                Top 8 Players Advance to Stage 2a & Bottom 8 Players advance to Stage 2b

 

Stage 2a - Scores reset ... 36 Hole Stableford  (8, 4, 1, 0, -2 ... Net Eagle to Net DB)

                   Top 4 Players advance to Stage 3a & Bottom 4 Players advance to Stage 3b 

 

Stage 2b - Scores reset ... 3 Rounds of Net Match Play 

                   Win and Move on ... Play for fun rest of the trip

                   Winner is crowned 2nd Flight Champion

 

Stage 3a - Scores reset ... 18 Hole Stableford (10, 5, 1, 0, -5 ... Net Eagle to Net DB)

                   Winner is crowned Champion of the Trip

 

Stage 3b - Scores reset ... 18 Hole Stableford (10, 5, 1, 0, -5 ... Net Eagle to Net DB)

                   Winner is crowned 1st Flight Champion

 

Peter Hay - 9 Hole Horse Race ... 16 players

 

Hole 1 ... 12 Players Advance

Hole 2 ... 8 Players Advance

Hole 3 ... 7 Players Advance

Hole 4 ... 6 Players Advance

Hole 5 ... 5 Players Advance

Hole 6 ... 4 Players Advance

Hole 7 ... 3 Players Advance

Hole 8 ... 2 Players Advance

Hole 9 ... 1 Player Wins

[PeteNC]

You're playing bucket list courses.  Keep it simple.  Let people enjoy their rounds and the courses.  Run skins and some daily individual(front/back/overall).  Let guys have their own games in their groups.

[Fairway14]

On 5/30/2021 at 8:12 AM, King_Slender said:

I seem to remember a thread here (over a year ago for sure) of someone touting the "absolute best" format for a competition for a buddies trip.  

 

Heading out for a bucket list trip to play Pasatiempo, Poppy Hills, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Pebble and we're keeping it relaxed at one round a day (other than mixing in The Hay Par 3 course).  With 16 guys and 5 rounds, it's the ideal number so everyone plays one round with everyone else.  It also eliminates trying to play 36 in a day and having an afternoon round where certain guys will be drunk off their a**. 

 

Would like to keep it more of an individual format versus teams.  I think 2-man teams would be awesome, but that brings other logistics into play and, frankly, there are a couple guys on the trip I don't mind playing a round with, but I'd never want to be paired with them for 5 straight rounds. 

 

Maybe we just make it a total net score thing, but open to other ideas you guys have done.  

 

For a 16 player field a $20  buy-in means a $320 prize pot.

Half the pot  ($160) goes to low net scores. For example:

1st place pays $50

2nd pays $40

3rd pays $30

4th pays $20

5th pays $15

6th pays $5

The other half of the pot ($160) goes to skins:

If there are 10 skins they are worth $16  a piece

If there are 8 skins they are worth $20 a piece etc....

[King_Slender]

On 5/31/2021 at 7:58 PM, PeteNC said:

You're playing bucket list courses.  Keep it simple.  Let people enjoy their rounds and the courses.  Run skins and some daily individual(front/back/overall).  Let guys have their own games in their groups.

 

Yep, agree, not going to get too crazy - plus I don't want to do any more work than input scores.  

 

I HATE inter-group bets, so that's out.  As good a friends as we all are, people cheat/are overly generous.  My thought is just Mario Kart style points system.

 

Low net score each roudn = 16 pts

2nd low net = 15 pts

etc.

 

Keep the tally for each round and see who ends up with the most points.  Also removes some of the penalty of blow-up rounds if we just did pure low net score. 

[driveandputtmachine]

My group usually plays TILT on any trip 5 rounds or more.

 

Stableford, with some exceptions.  You make a net birdie, next hole is double points.  Make birdie on the next hole, triple points a so forth.  A net eagle is worth two birdies.

 

When you make a par or worse you reset to normal points.   Nothing like seeing a guy on 6 times TILT playing a hole with water on it, his swing gets super tight not wanting to give it all back with a NET double (-2) point times the multiplier.  I watched a 10 handicap get to 5 times tilt twice in one round, only to make a NET double both times and give most of it back.

 

We have found that 5 rounds is the magic number where the person who played the best against their handicap pretty much always wins.  There's even a spreadsheet floating around somewhere that you put the hole, hole handicap, and person handicap in and it automatically does the points.  However pretty much everyone is keeping up with it as they go along because it ends up being such a fun time.

 

I may have the spreadsheet on my google drive somewhere.

[chsneggs]

King, this is the Wasaga Wiener system we have been using for 14 years w 20 guys in daytona beach...all handicaps have won except me...

established handicap + quota points every day 

bogie 1 pt

par 3 pts

birdie  5 pts

eagle 8 pts

This is amazingly fair for all ... which is what we all want ... good luck

[cjblake09]

On 6/30/2021 at 8:35 AM, chsneggs said:

King, this is the Wasaga Wiener system we have been using for 14 years w 20 guys in daytona beach...all handicaps have won except me...

established handicap + quota points every day 

bogie 1 pt

par 3 pts

birdie  5 pts

eagle 8 pts

This is amazingly fair for all ... which is what we all want ... good luck

 

How do you figure the quota per HCP?  I have a trip coming up hcps' ranging from 3-18 and having a hard time coming up with a good format.  

[Fairway14]

20 hours ago, cjblake09 said:

 

How do you figure the quota per HCP?  I have a trip coming up hcps' ranging from 3-18 and having a hard time coming up with a good format.  

 

Skins game is simple and fun. Each player pays $20 to enter, 16 player field means a $320 prize pot.

At the end of the day pay half the pot ($160) to low net scores.. For example :

1st wins $50

2nd wins $40

3rd wins $30

4th wins $20

5th wins $ 15

6th wins $5

 

The other $160 is divided among skins winners. For example, if there are 8 skins won they are worth $20 each.

 

The above is a very simple format and players like easy to understand games. Following each round you collect the $20 buy-in from each player and divide up the pot.

 

[PorkChopExpress]

Like PeteNC said, keep it simple especially on bucket list courses. Let there be games within each group, presuming the groups will be mixed up.

 

Each round, folks can put in $20, pay 1st, 2nd gross/net? or 1/2 scoring, 1/2 skins?

When we travel it gets put back into drinks & food afterwards anyways

 

Large groups we like 4 man teams with the first day as usually it's a travel day, the only time all 4 within a team play together in the Irish Rumble 

modified stableford scoring - so if someone has a bad hole, it doesn't punish and ruin anyones round.

 

Irish Rumble

2 man best ball

ryder cup singles last day

 

[chsneggs]

CJ ... this is easy... my hdcp is 11 so i add my cap to the points i get each day... a top 5 for the week is 36 point / day including hdcp ... 

the fairness of this system is unreal ... after 14 years ...   !

[puttnforthe8]

Idea from doing trips for years now with 24-28 and the best format for us has been Quota with daily adjustment.  This format makes it so everyone has a shot to participate in the daily 'prizefund'.  Then you have an overall winner/s as well.  what we noted/learned, it is the worst feeling if you go on a trip (with the intent of competing as well as fun) and you are out of the running for an overall place after day 1.   So having daily and overall worked well.  You can also include, a throw out your worst round, since you are playing 5 rounds.

 

Format daily is Quota....easy enough to find out to do this.  Just doing that works well.

 

 

Adjustment option: optional add

Each day, players are adjust plus or minus to a maximum of 5 strokes based on performance.   5 course HC shoots 77 - no adjustment; 5 course HC shoots 76, -1 adjustment next round (play as a 4); 5 course HC shoots 78, +1 adjustment (play as a 6).  And you can decide if you want it 1 for 1 adjustment; or 2 for 1 adjustment, etc.  Easy enough to do.  So in scenario above if 5 HC shoots 75, they get -1; if they shoot 79, they get +1.  

 

 

 

[TheDominator273]

Quota points is about as fair of a format as you can get, plus it's super simple.  I'd also do a daily and overall tally on the points as was previously suggested.