First tee matchplay saying - Wont be giving gimmees

[Dasit]

Just reading the thread, people seriously give 3 footers? Would be interested to know if this is actually happening out on the course or is it just for show on the forum

Even 2 foot is a tough enough putt that I would be expected to putt that everytime, even totally flat.


A gimme is surely anything that is resting around the hole.

 

[patricks148]

Just reading the thread, people seriously give 3 footers? Would be interested to know if this is actually happening out on the course or is it just for show on the forum

Even 2 foot is a tough enough putt that I would be expected to putt that everytime, even totally flat.


A gimme is surely anything that is resting around the hole.

not sure i've seen anyone mentioned 3 fters, most would give things up to a foot maybe 2 unless it was for a win maybe

 

[Deleted member 1147]

May be 3 footers in normal matches is a bit long, but if you're playing a very good putter who is off somewhere around scratch you would expect them to make those (assuming they are relatively easy putts - flat, uphill etc).

If you know the man you're playing you might know his strengths & weaknesses, and so can judge based on that. ie, I might be off 4 but I would never give me a putt!

It also depends what you're playing for - a board comp', club match, scratch league, County Match - all would bring different thoughts about how generous you'd be.

 

[chrisd]

So, I play BlueinMunich who by any standards is a good holer out from about 4 to 6 foot, yes he'll miss some but he's generally good. So, I ask him to putt out every putt, say from 18 inches, he gets a good feel of the speed and breaks on the course and gets his eye in - is that going to help me or would i benefit from conceding most putts from 2 foot that aren't to win the hole and then, hopefully, if the match is still live with 2 or 3 holes to go, to not give the putts hoping he has some doubts as to whether I see something in the putt that he doesn't and that he hasn't putted in anger during the whole match and got a better feel of the greens?

 

[pendodave]

So, I play BlueinMunich who by any standards is a good holer out from about 4 to 6 foot, yes he'll miss some but he's generally good. So, I ask him to putt out every putt, say from 18 inches, he gets a good feel of the speed and breaks on the course and gets his eye in - is that going to help me or would i benefit from conceding most putts from 2 foot that aren't to win the hole and then, hopefully, if the match is still live with 2 or 3 holes to go, to not give the putts hoping he has some doubts as to whether I see something in the putt that he doesn't and that he hasn't putted in anger during the whole match and got a better feel of the greens?

I might be wrong, but doesn't he have the opportunity after every hole to roll a couple of putts if he wants to keep his eye in?
If he is generally good from 4-6 feet, (which I take to mean that he's better than 75%), he's better than most tour players...
Having played a few matches (but not as many as many on here), my experience is that people give too many putts. In an 18 hole match, every hole is important - stats show that the leads are retained much more than they are overturned. Ams are generally much worse putters than they wish they were...

 

[Orikoru]

No moral in that at all. Unless they were 6" or under the opponent is having to hole out for the match.

I certainly won't be conceding 18" putts for the game. And to be honest I would rather hole it from 18" than have it given to me if I'm your opponent.

Have to agree here. Although I've not played match play yet, I would have thought that if they have a putt for the match you might as well make them putt it on the off chance they miss and you have a lifeline? Otherwise you're basically throwing in the towel. (Unless it's quite literally a 3 inch tap-in or something.)

 

[chrisd]

I might be wrong, but doesn't he have the opportunity after every hole to roll a couple of putts if he wants to keep his eye in?
If he is generally good from 4-6 feet, (which I take to mean that he's better than 75%), he's better than most tour players...
Having played a few matches (but not as many as many on here), my experience is that people give too many putts. In an 18 hole match, every hole is important - stats show that the leads are retained much more than they are overturned. Ams are generally much worse putters than they wish they were...

I dont think any golfer holing a putt after it's been conceded feels the same as they do when it counts. No, hes not better than tour standard but by my (12 h/c) standard is decent, he gives me 5 shots and I take the view that, yes, every hole is important but some become more important than others in the context of the game. If I ask him to putt everything and he does likewise I feel he would benefit more than me. The real art of matchplay is trying to judge the effects and to try and get them more in your favour

 

[IanM]

....no idea of the distance, but if I feel "he ain't missing that" it gets called good!

Some of the above has me thinking there are folk who get a tape measure out of their bag and say

"hang on, I'll measure this! ooh another inch and it would have been a gimme!"

 

[HomerJSimpson]

....no idea of the distance, but if I feel "he ain't missing that" it gets called good!

Exactly. I will call it as I see it on any given day. If a guy misses a relatively short one in the first couple (assuming its not so close as to be given) then I may give a couple and then chuck a similar distance to the missed one later on. To me that's all part and parcel of matchplay. I stand by my ball on the green and assume I'm going to have to hole each putt until I'm told otherwise. I'm not going to get overly fussy with it being a gnat's hair of being inside any "circle of friendship" and would rather pick the marker up and move on

 

[trevor]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

 

[Orikoru]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

Surely you just mark it on the card? Never thought about this until you asked, ha.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

I tend to mark a card, especially if I am giving shots so I know where they are coming and to keep a tally of how many I'm getting stuffed by

 

[patricks148]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

as you walk of the green just confirm to you oppo what the score is and do that throughout the game, never felt the need to mark a card ever, its usually straightforward

 

[ManinBlack]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

I am notorious for forgetting the score & I tell opponents that I will be writing down the score so that, when I'm standing over the putt I'm concentrating on holing it & and not trying to remember the score.

P. S. Orikoru, there's no obligation to mark a card

 

[trevor]

I am notorious for forgetting the score & I tell opponents that I will be writing down the score so that, when I'm standing over the putt I'm concentrating on holing it & and not trying to remember the score.

P. S. Orikoru, there's no obligation to mark a card

That’s my problem, I do forget and it’s kind of embarrassing to keep asking who’s winning. To be honest if I’m playing quite well and having a good chat and enjoying the game the score becomes the last thing on my mind.

 

[Birdie2]

If I'm giving you 10 shots, you're holing out everything unless it's literally inches.

If you leave it short to 2 foot, you're seeing it in. Put it 2 foot past and you can have it.

 

[backwoodsman]

Just wondering how most on hear keep the match play score. Do you both try to remember the score, say what the score is after each hole and hope to agree, does one or both of you write it down or how is it supposed to work. I have signed up for singles match play this year after a few years of not bothering but I do tend to forget what the score is and usually just rely on my oppo to keep me right.

As per Patrick148, just state the match score of the finish of each hole - "So, that's now two up to me?" (Ok, ok, let's be realistic, "So, that's three up to you then ... " ). I think if you can't retain that in your head for one hole at a time, then you are indeed struggling. As to strokes played on a hole, its really up to you to keep count what the oppo has taken. You are of course allowed to ask, (and they are obliged to say) but constant asking does get tiresome.

As to shots recieved, that's really up to you to remember where you get or give them - but ditto the above about constant asking. If its just a couple of shots different, then that should be easy enough to remember. But if its, say, a 4BBB match with a wide h/c range, can be worth noting on a card who gets what where.

 

[TheDiablo]

So, I play BlueinMunich who by any standards is a good holer out from about 4 to 6 foot, yes he'll miss some but he's generally good. So, I ask him to putt out every putt, say from 18 inches, he gets a good feel of the speed and breaks on the course and gets his eye in - is that going to help me or would i benefit from conceding most putts from 2 foot that aren't to win the hole and then, hopefully, if the match is still live with 2 or 3 holes to go, to not give the putts hoping he has some doubts as to whether I see something in the putt that he doesn't and that he hasn't putted in anger during the whole match and got a better feel of the greens?

You think someone can get a 'good feel of the speed and breaks on the course and get their eye in' from an 18 inch putt?

 

[chrisd]

You think someone can get a 'good feel of the speed and breaks on the course and get their eye in' from an 18 inch putt?

If someone is asked to putt out every putt they will imo get their eye in and it will, especially for a poor putter, increase their read, feel and confidence if they drop them. I've had many an 18 inch to 2 foot putt that breaks

 

[Orikoru]

P. S. Orikoru, there's no obligation to mark a card

Yeah, why would you not though? You might as well write it on there just as a failsafe and a record.