Is always playing stableford stopping you getting a lower handicap ??

[Imurg]

As someone who wants to start playing medals this year, if I have a blow up hole and take an 8, would that just count as a double bogey looking at it from a handicap perspective, the same as a stableford?

You've got 2 separate things going on.
Firstly, in the Medal competition, the score is the score. If you take 10 then you put it on your card and that number counts towards your total. Take off your handicap and that's your nett score and the lowest nett score wins
Secondly, for handicapping, the worst you can score is a nett double bogey, or the lowest number that doesn't score a point in Stableford.
So a 10 on a par 3 hole with a Stroke index of 18, so you get one shot, will count as a 6 for handicapping but a 10 in the competition.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

They are both the same thing.
You play the hole with the aim of taking as few shots as you can. You then write the score in the box.
The only difference is that in one you can stop playing the hole once you reach nett double bogey and in the other you can’t.

 

[Imurg]

I suppose Stableford allows you to take more risks in the competition than Medal does.
You often hear of Stableford winners having a blob, less often do you win a Medal with a 10 on the card.
Stableford allows you to hit a shot you may not play normally as the penalty isn't as severe.
As far as handicapping goes, it's the same and as I'm playing for my handicap first and foremost it makes little difference.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I was just about to post similar imurg; my primary objective is getting my handicap down, winning a comp is secondary. So stableford or medal, it makes no difference to me.

 

[bladeplayer]

Its a confidence thing tho Ian . Well for me anyhow i play alota scratch cups as usualy its bit easier to get cut but when u.out of form strokes eat away at u

Like someone said earlier , the i had 42 points with 2 scratches and 2 1 pointers i hard to hear
In my opinion some1 that doesnt complete the 18 holes should not win an 18 hole comp ( i know u can finish a hole and scratch it aswell )
If u want to get better . Play all ur shots . Hopefuly take less next time . Annoying time wise as it mayb be u learn nothing from quittin and picking up ur ball .
Possibly ok for experienced golfers but starting out only way to get better is to know how much u need to do

Not the popular answer i know just an opinion

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Its a confidence thing tho Ian . Well for me anyhow i play alota scratch cups as usualy its bit easier to get cut but when u.out of form strokes eat away at u

Like someone said earlier , the i had 42 points with 2 scratches and 2 1 pointers i hard to hear
In my opinion some1 that doesnt complete the 18 holes should not win an 18 hole comp ( i know u can finish a hole and scratch it aswell )
If u want to get better . Play all ur shots . Hopefuly take less next time . Annoying time wise as it mayb be u learn nothing from quittin and picking up ur ball .
Possibly ok for experienced golfers but starting out only way to get better is to know how much u need to do

Not the popular answer i know just an opinion

If I say I had a blob, I just mean I didn’t get any points, not that I didn’t finish the hole. Is that not a blob?

 

[ScienceBoy]

The worst thing to do in a medal is have a bad hole, rip the card and walk in.

If people had told me at the beginning I could NR a hole on a medal card, score the rest and still make buffer, I would have had a lower handicap.

Is OK to pick up on a medal card and play on. If you have to NR a whole 9 however...

 

[User101]

Sorry but first I guess you mean medal play as strokeplay covers both medal and Stableford

And playing a medal and looking to shoot the lowest you can is the main way of playing the sport - in what way is it “snobbery”

Scratch comps all use medal because then it’s pure and just the lowest score wins

The handicap system is great but at times there also needs to be rewards for people that score the best score

Medal is the toughest format - in Stableford you can mess up a hole badly but still win , it’s tough to do that in a medal

Too many people throw around the snobbery word with no thought

This is actually what I meant when I started the topic, far too many people on here from what I see take an easy option by playing stableford, though strokeplay and medal play means the same to me, putting a score together.

If playing stableford suits how you like to play then fine but it's a cop out and will continue to allow you to just plod along.

 

[User101]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

 

[patricks148]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

in that case surely he will get a cut then because the 10 will be cut down to a double???

 

[Deleted member 16999]

This is actually what I meant when I started the topic, far too many people on here from what I see take an easy option by playing stableford, though strokeplay and medal play means the same to me, putting a score together.

If playing stableford suits how you like to play then fine but it's a cop out and will continue to allow you to just plod along.

It may seem as though people are playing a lot of Stableford as we’ve only just started the season and in winter, a lot clubs play non-qualifiers and ind stab comps.
Now the season has started the majority of ind comps will be stroke.
Our place only does ind stab or 4bbb Nov - Apr, now the season is here, between now and Oct we have 15 Ind Stroke comps and only 4 Ind Stab.
I agree with your point if people purposely avoid ind Stroke comps, personally I’ll play every weekend regardless of comp.

 

[Capella]

Almost all our club competitions are Stableford and as with the CONGU system, the German handicap system uses the Stableford-scores for handicap calculations. But I do see the op's point here, though. I know that I sometimes take on very risky shots in a Stableford round which I surely would not do in a medal. Because a nett bogey will still give me one point, but if I play a nett double, triple or quadruple bogey does not matter. I think in terms of "I am running out of shots here" instead of "I have to stop the bleeding and somehow get this ball home"

 

[Deleted member 23270]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

What will we always be?

 

[Fish]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

And with statements like this is why you will never be respected on this forum and the sooner your gone the better imo.

 

[BrianM]

You've got 2 separate things going on.
Firstly, in the Medal competition, the score is the score. If you take 10 then you put it on your card and that number counts towards your total. Take off your handicap and that's your nett score and the lowest nett score wins
Secondly, for handicapping, the worst you can score is a nett double bogey, or the lowest number that doesn't score a point in Stableford.
So a 10 on a par 3 hole with a Stroke index of 18, so you get one shot, will count as a 6 for handicapping but a 10 in the competition.

Thanks for this.

 

[USER1999]

Medal, stableford, makes no difference to my score, or the way I play. Most of my no score holes in stableford are missing a putt for a 1 pointer. I dont shoot double figures on a hole.

I also play sh or bust golf. Always. If a shot has a 5% chance of coming off, i am going for it. Why sit in the club house thinking about all the percentage chip outs you had? No fun.

My handicap is junk. I could halve it, it would still be junk. I will never be a pro, so i am doomed to being a chopper. But, i can sit in the club house, and remember that one shot that came off.

Golf is meant to be fun. If I am judged on my handicap, that is pathetic.

 

[upsidedown]

I tend to agree with the OP as I feel grinding out a medal score will in the long run make you a better player.
At Montrose on Friday I had a 9 on the 6th which put paid to any chance of a prize but I was still encouraged to go for the buffer as my next target, not that lasted any time with an 8 in the last.
Medal to me is the purest form and if you do well/OK in medals you'll do well in Stableford but don't feel that a good stableford player will do so well in medals.
When I tee it up I look to shoot as low as gross score as possible

 

[Deleted member 1147]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

Have you not considered the fact that it’s the club not the member who decides the format of the weekly event?

 

[Hobbit]

One of my PP's had a 10 on the 4th yesterday and had a net 73 with the css of 73, that to me is how put a score together, you lot taking the easy option of stableford would just write it off rather than having the mental strength to put that 10 behind you and compile a score, and that folks is why you'll always be what you are.

And with statements like this is why you will never be respected on this forum and the sooner your gone the better imo.

:thup: His fishing expeditions are rather tedious. He'll probably be a really nice guy..... when he grows up.

Golf is meant to be fun. If I am judged on my handicap, that is pathetic.

:thup: Maybe if we did it for a living it would be worth worrying about.

 

[virgilvdk]

We have a fair mix at my current club, Although both formats have the same effect on my handicap as its calculated, at least for now using stapleford.
I Guess even the new system will have a max score for a given hole.