Shambles, My New Favorite Golf Game

[platgof]

The Western Hills men's league started a golf game called shambles, I have never before heard of it. You use the best first ball hit on every hole, then play your own ball on in. I detest scrambles because one player can run the gambit, but this game allows more of your shots regardless of good or bad. The team I was on placed first and it was a blast. This was my second game and I will do my best to show up for the shambles format every time!

[Klubster]

Our men's group occasionally plays that.  The bad thing with a scramble is that they may never use any of your shots and you almost never have a difficult shot to make.

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

Captain's Choice or Best Ball is a popular and fun format. I played in an employer sponsored event some years ago in that format.

 

That basically sounds like what you're describing.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Mikey_HACKilroy

[MattM97]

I played in a shamble this past weekend, I find you need at least 2 people who are solid off the tee, cause if the one decent player is having a rough day off the tee (like me) then just won't perform well.

 

It can be fun but you need a group of semi-decent players.

[david.c.w]

We call it Texas Scramble.  No idea why.  It is a great format for charity events or a once-a-year tournament.  I would not want that to be part of my weekly golf.

[SNIPERBBB]

Shamble really good when you have a handful of long knockers and a bunch of short knockers.

 

A similar game is the California Scramble. It's like a scramble till you get a ball on the green. Once on the green  every player must hole out. If you hole out from off the green, everyone on the team gets that score so it's often advantageous to choose balls to play off the green rather than long putt in the three putt zone.

[mark m]

Shambles often have formats with various rules/restrictions. For these, I will assume all are 4-man team format. For instance:

 

1. How are the teams formed? By a draw using ABCD handicap categories? Or can you form your own team? 
 

2. Handicap allowance? Most shambles use an allowance between 55% and 80% of course handicap.
 

3. Any minimum on the number of tee shots from each team member - which must be used during the round?

 

4. Scoring: Do all 4 scores count? Or is it 3 of 4, or what?

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by mark m

[slocalifglfr]

We use that for a golf "outing" we have during our family reunion. It's great when you've got occasional golfers as it keeps the group moving, doesn't overly penalize the poor golfers, and it lets better golfers play their ball nearly every time. BTW, in this event scores don't matter or are even counted. A golf "outing", like I said.

 

I've also played it in fairly serious club events. The hard part there is to remember when you flub your second shot you tend to think, "No problem, my partner hit a good one." Oops, it's shambles, not scrambles! Gotta play that foul ball. I can't remember if it was aggregate or better ball.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by slocalifglfr

[Augster]

We call it a scrumble. 
 

ABCD. Full handicap. 3/4 ball. You get some LOW net numbers. One time a high capper got to play off my ball each hole and shot a net 54. 
 

He didn’t want to hear it from the other guys inside, so he shook hands on 18, signed the card, and walked straight to his car and left. 🙂

 

 

[platgof]

On 8/28/2023 at 8:45 AM, mark m said:

Shambles often have formats with various rules/restrictions. For these, I will assume all are 4-man team format. For instance:

 

1. How are the teams formed? By a draw using ABCD handicap categories? Or can you form your own team? 
 

2. Handicap allowance? Most shambles use an allowance between 55% and 80% of course handicap.
 

3. Any minimum on the number of tee shots from each team member - which must be used during the round?

 

4. Scoring: Do all 4 scores count? Or is it 3 of 4, or what?

 

 

A drawing ABCD, best 3 scores count.

[mark m]

17 hours ago, platgof said:

A drawing ABCD, best 3 scores count.

Hello,

 

So it was 100% handicap? And no minimum of tee shots per player?

 

My club had a similar experience to Augster. A few of the high guys went really low. One guy - with a CH around 30 - shot gross scores of 78, 79, 80 in consecutive years. But they did try various allowances (70/80). But his net scores were still around 58-60. And they also tried the tee shot minimum - 3 per player - to reduce the advantage of having one of the few long hitters in your group. But the low handicaps didn’t like it because sometimes they had to go back 100+ yards from their tee shot in order to get someone’s drives in. We always had trouble getting the best players to participate in ABCD draw scrambles and shambles. In the shambles with the allowance and tee shot minimums - it makes it hard for a low handicap to contribute birdies where the mid and high guys can have a field day. You end up being a cheerleader/spectator. 
 

Shambles are good for guys that are short off the tee but pretty good from 100 in. I know the 30 handicap above well and have played with him numerous times. It would take him 2 or 3 shots to reach my drives, but from 100 in, he was decent. About the level of a 15 cap. And he was around a 10 putting.

 

And team best ball events are better for the erratic guys. You would rather have an 18 who makes 9 pars and 9 doubles, than an 18 who makes 18 bogeys. It’s common for Board members to promote formats they have personally done well in. It helps to have others there who can see the pitfalls and provide some history lessons. 

 

In general, the guys that have trouble when they have to hole out are the guys who are bad around the greens and cannot putt. This is common in the vanity handicap segment. They don’t hole out in “casual” play and are not prepared for tournaments. A couple of them said my group has an unfair advantage in tournaments because we play by the rules and putt out! My goodness. 
 

Have a good weekend 

[smashdn]

Greensomes is another "tweak" on the more traditional alternate shot twosomes.  There are lots of golf formats out there that are fun and fast to play that most of us in the US don't because of our propensity towards stroke play.