Anyone use a Stableford format in their golf league?

King_Slender · February 24

We do a team match play format, but wanting to run a parallel individual standings using Stableford.

Leaning towards modified Stableford since the normal Stableford is essentially just low net minus limiting blow up holes.

If your league uses it, thoughts on modified vs. regular scoring?

jvincent · February 24

We use normal Stableford. Our league has four flights and we run net and gross competitions.

Klubster · February 24

We run a 2-man team league with a modified Stableford. Bogie=1, par=2, birdie=4, eagle=6. No negative points. We subtract the average points from previous weeks between the teams that are playing each other to award a handicap. It is simply a win or lose match based on net points.

rogolf · February 24

5 hours ago, King_Slender said:

We do a team match play format, but wanting to run a parallel individual standings using Stableford.

Leaning towards modified Stableford since the normal Stableford is essentially just low net minus limiting blow up holes.

If your league uses it, thoughts on modified vs. regular scoring?

We use normal Stableford in our team games. Stick to the normal Stableford, not modified. Modified requires continuing play when you can't score any positive points and therefore it slows down play. Let people pick up when they can't score positive points.

King_Slender · February 25

5 hours ago, rogolf said:

We use normal Stableford in our team games. Stick to the normal Stableford, not modified. Modified requires continuing play when you can't score any positive points and therefore it slows down play. Let people pick up when they can't score positive points.

For our league the Stableford is for an ancillary individual competition. Our base format is 2-man match play (A vs A, B vs B) with a bonus for the team total net.

Because of the team total net, every has to play it out anyway - plus the league in front of is us slow, we're rarely in a situation to pick up the pace.

My problem with the normal Stableford is that it's basically a competition of of who had the least amount of net triple bogeys - otherwise you may as well just to a total net.

Imp · February 26

I'd re-think this before you implement it. Ancillary completions scare me when match play is on the table, and, via rules of match play, concession is available. Are you going to mandate regardless that everyone has to putt out now? Then it's no longer really "matchplay".

Player A puts 2 balls in the water off the tee on a par 3.

Player B stipes it puts it safe about 4-5 feet from hole.

Player A concedes the hole.

Player B - how many stableford points to they get?

Player A is putting for triple from a foot. Player B says "good" and they're getting a Zero anyways in the stableford.

Player B chose to putt 30 feet out for birdie just off the green by a few feet to a front pin.

Player B comes up short and left misjudging the embankment to about 8 feet.

Player A concedes.

Player B - how many stableford points to they get?

When a player concedes the next stroke(s), the other player knowing the hole is won, changes their play quite a bit. Many times, in the thought of pace, may just pick up while the teammates play out the hole.

And in league, many times, pace is a major topic of many. Don't slow things down by making people putt out when they don't have to. Play stableford. Play Match. Play stroke play. Etc... combinations with match play gums up the works.

Edited February 26 by Imp

rogolf · February 26

10 minutes ago, Imp said:

I'd re-think this before you implement it. Ancillary completions scare me when match play is on the table, and, via rules of match play, concession is available. Are you going to mandate regardless that everyone has to putt out now? Then it's no longer really "matchplay".

Player A puts 2 balls in the water off the tee on a par 3.

Player B stipes it puts it safe about 4-5 feet from hole.

Player A concedes the hole.

Player B - how many stableford points to they get?

Player A is putting for triple from a foot. Player B says "good" and they're getting a Zero anyways in the stableford.

Player B chose to putt 30 feet out for birdie just off the green by a few feet to a front pin.

Player B comes up short and left misjudging the embankment to about 8 feet.

Player A concedes.

Player B - how many stableford points to they get?

When a player concedes the next stroke(s), the other player knowing the hole is won, changes their play quite a bit. Many times, in the thought of pace, may just pick up while the teammates play out the hole.

And in league, many times, pace is a major topic of many. Don't slow things down by making people putt out when they don't have to. Play stableford. Play Match. Play stroke play. Etc... combinations with match play gums up the works.

If match play and stroke play (Stableford is stroke play) are mixed, the stroke play Rules over-ride match play Rules.

Imp · February 26

52 minutes ago, rogolf said:

If match play and stroke play (Stableford is stroke play) are mixed, the stroke play Rules over-ride match play Rules.

Ahh, thanks for that. Didn't find it originally and it's buried in committee procedures. Rule 6(c)(12). Much appreciated.

To me, that's a non starter since everything has to be holed out, meaning some of our D flights will be holding up the league instead of Picking up when out of the hole (or at 0 in the case of stableford)

Klubster · February 26

In our league, since we do not apply negative points, we pick up at double bogie to save time.

King_Slender · February 27

8 hours ago, Imp said:

Ahh, thanks for that. Didn't find it originally and it's buried in committee procedures. Rule 6(c)(12). Much appreciated.

To me, that's a non starter since everything has to be holed out, meaning some of our D flights will be holding up the league instead of Picking up when out of the hole (or at 0 in the case of stableford)

We play match play (really 1 point per hole), but there is also a 2 point bonus for low team net in each set of matches, so there's already a stroke component to our league.

Imp · February 27

9 hours ago, King_Slender said:

We play match play (really 1 point per hole), but there is also a 2 point bonus for low team net in each set of matches, so there's already a stroke component to our league.

How does that work for you? We found that a 1-2 point bonus more often than not goes to the team that had more points from the individual match play and scrapped it. It created a bigger divide in points than trying to keep things closer. And because of that, teams on the losing side as time went on focused less on getting points "beause they were so far out of it, why bother?"