How do you figure out strokes between buddies during a fun / competitive / betting round?

[bladehunter]

7 minutes ago, b.helts said:

 

 

Explain to me, please, the difference between playing well and beating someone straight up vs. playing well and beating someone in a fair, handicapped match.

To me ( you asked ).  It’s the mental battle I mentioned.  I do attempt to play to control myself each round. But.  I find that a net competition is 10x harder to retain that focus.  It’s just an entirely different flow , pace etc of a round.    
 

of course it’s easier the closer the competitor is in handicap.  But it’s usually me giving 10-18 shots.  I very simply have a problem keeping focused through it.  It doesn’t keep my attention.  I’ll be everywhere else except the course. Feels like a waste of time.  I don’t feel great if I win and I don’t really care if I lose.     
 

take this years interclub match play bracket.  It’s handicapped.  I made it to the semifinal match and lost to a member here who’s a plus handicap and a regular playing partner.  He beat me on the last hole last putt.   I had gotten lucky to draw a 6 handicap before that and I destroyed him ( don’t like the guy ) and had a 4 handicap guy take me 16 holes before that in the first round. .  I guarantee if I draw an 12-13 handicap the first round id have probably lost.   I’m not blaming anyone but me.  I just don’t get excited for it.  

[MK7Golf21]

1 hour ago, gripandrip said:

Interesting thread. Our group constantly has this discussion, but we play simultaneous money games. Net Score, Closest to pin, skins.

 

Depending on the size of the group, I'm a contributor or collector. In large groups, it's tough for the low handicap to win in the closet to the pin or skins game, as any one of the other higher caps can squeak out a good closet to the pin or a lucky hole. I've had eagles pushed by a high handicapper when he gets a par. With a large group this seems to be the norm. Doesn't happen so much in a smaller groups as odds drop. I've also seen a legit (I play with him all the time) 18 handicap shoot a net 65 or better. Hard to beat when you are giving up 16-17 strokes.

 

When our betting group gets larger, some of the low HC's tend to drop out of the betting pool. But no one really cares. We play together because we like each other, not because we want to take each others money.... 

 

The points you make are all reasons I don't really care for it but if it's not for much money or just drinks then it's not really a problem or we just play for fun. The guys I'm playing for bigger money is always straight up and I don't really have those kind of matches with higher handicaps for reasons mentioned above.

[denkea]

23 hours ago, bladehunter said:

It’s 0 points for a double bogey , 1 for bogey and 2 for par and so on up …. I believe 4 points is the max you can raise or lower on one round.   So if my quota is say 35.  And I play badly. The lowest my next quota can be is 31.  Or if I play well and break out of the 4 point range and say make 40 points. It raises the next quota to 39 points.  The initial quota is a guess based on handicap usually. Then adjusts from there only by play in the points game.  Say you’re a 4 handicap that roughly translates to a quota of 30-32 points.  
 

keep in mind I’m explaining best I can. I don’t run this game nor do I score it. I just play and the points are what the points are.  

We play that exactly in our Saturday game with about 16 to 20 players except that our quota is determined by 36 minus our course handicap.   Really good format and equitable. We have players that are single digit, mid digit and a couple 17 hdcpers

[Mudguard]

On 10/29/2021 at 2:58 AM, bladehunter said:

It’s 0 points for a double bogey , 1 for bogey and 2 for par and so on up …. I believe 4 points is the max you can raise or lower on one round.   So if my quota is say 35.  

 

Sounds like stableford. Which is about 99% of golf outside the US.

 

I don't get the whole 'can't get excited about playing net matches thing'. Sure some love gross events, but golf isn't like most sports. It's played with a massive age range. You don't see 70 year olds rocking up to basketball courts and playing against teens. I've played most of my golf with my older brother who is a professional (and in recent years has had to keep an official handicap at his home course), the difference between our handicaps has been as many as ten shots. Why on earth would I play him without strokes? I bet him off the stick about once a year. 

I played in our club's net championship last year, it was a hoot, I gave from zero to twenty something strokes. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Mudguard

[bladehunter]

20 minutes ago, Mudguard said:

 

Sounds like stableford. Which is about 99% of golf outside the US.

 

I don't get the whole 'can't get excited about playing net matches thing'. Sure some love gross events, but golf isn't like most sports. It's played with a massive age range. You don't see 70 year olds rocking up to basketball courts and playing against teens. I've played most of my golf with my older brother who is a professional (and in recent years has had to keep an official handicap at his home course), the difference between our handicaps has been as many as ten shots. Why on earth would I play him without strokes? I bet him off the stick about once a year. 

I played in our club's net championship last year, it was a hoot, I gave from zero to twenty something strokes. 

Yep. It’s a stableford.  I’m not sure honestly if it’s pure or a modified version.  It’s the version they’ve always played. 
 

it is what it is.  The points game is handicapped too , technically.  I have no issue with it though.  It doesn’t conjure up the visual of starting X number of strokes in the hole.  Or being a shot down on the tee box in match play.