On a Day by Day basis which would you rather play?

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Whereas the original format in golf was match play

Quite probably so…but I hold that winning a matchplay match was not the primary objective of golf - matchplay being subsequent to, and perhaps very shortly behind, that objective…primarily since matchplay does not require the player to get his ball round the course in the fewest shots they can - just fewer than his opponent on a hole-by-hole basis.

 

[wjemather]

It's a little surprising to me that the poll is so close - almost everyone I play with would play Stableford if they had the choice, as I would expect for most people; the main reasons being that it virtually eliminates the lonely walk back after a lost ball/ob/etc., and one catastrophic hole doesn't completely destroy the round score.

 

[clubchamp98]

The same but different

There both called Rugby!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

There both called Rugby!

Gaelic Football, American Football, Football (proper ) All have football in them

 

[clubchamp98]

Gaelic Football, American Football, Football (proper ) All have football in them

It’s not the first word though.

Which came first Union or League? That’s the real one.

 

[Voyager EMH]

We made a really bad defensive error there, so can we not count that goal we conceded, we are 2:0 down as it is and we would like a bit more of a chance of winning?

I potted a red, but the blue went in a pocket as well, quite unintentionally. Can I just re-spot the blue and carry on?

There's such a lack of imagination in other sports. They ought to learn a lesson from golf to make it more enjoyable, sometimes.

 

[YandaB]

We made a really bad defensive error there, so can we not count that goal we conceded, we are 2:0 down as it is and we would like a bit more of a chance of winning?

I potted a red, but the blue went in a pocket as well, quite unintentionally. Can I just re-spot the blue and carry on?

There's such a lack of imagination in other sports. They ought to learn a lesson from golf to make it more enjoyable, sometimes.

I'll give you tennis. Oops! I missed my serve - don't worry, you can have another go!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It’s not the first word though.

Which came first Union or League? That’s the real one.

Too easy. Gentleman did not need paying to play rugby. Proper folk needed their wages covering if they were playing and not working. And so the split began.........

You are in true league country if memory serves me right

 

[2blue]

It's a little surprising to me that the poll is so close - almost everyone I play with would play Stableford if they had the choice, as I would expect for most people; the main reasons being that it virtually eliminates the lonely walk back after a lost ball/ob/etc., and one catastrophic hole doesn't completely destroy the round score.

I think folk have for their own reasons approached the question in ways other than that highlighted.... or I failed to word it correctly so allowed those options. Who knows??

 

[Voyager EMH]

In the part of your comment that I highlighted ("your golf score is your total strokes for 18 holes"), you appeared to be suggesting that counting strokes as a means of determining the winner has some kind of seniority over all other forms. Counting strokes is not your golf score, it's only your golf score under certain formats. Hitting a ball is golf. Determining the winner of a competition requires a format to be overlaid, and those formats are myriad.

Yes.
We are discussing two of them only. Quite a limited discussion, maybe?

 

[Radbourne2010]

Golf is hard. It's tough to focus and play well for four long hours. There's nothing worse than ruining a round with a quintuple bogey on the back nine somewhere, one terrible hole and the entire round is in the bin. Stableford is a great system that keeps the round enjoyable even you have a nightmare hole. So that gets my vote.

I refer you to Dr. Frank Stableford, latterly of Wallasey GC on the Wirral.
In 1936 he took 9 on their long 2nd hole & gave up two holes later. He’d already devised the system we know & love before long before this point. The club eventually succumbed & played the first ever Stableford comp on 16th May 1936.

 

[clubchamp98]

Too easy. Gentleman did not need paying to play rugby. Proper folk needed their wages covering if they were playing and not working. And so the split began.........

You are in true league country if memory serves me right

Yes St Helens!

 

[PaulMdj]

Ah but you see…that (stableford) way I can be in denial about my bad stuff and pretend to be a better all round golfer than I actually am…hubris and feeding my ego…

Like you I’d rather just be honest about my game and not pretend otherwise to others.

You really confuse me I, and I believe just about everybody else, can know exactly how their game is going regardless of format.

A few times now you’ve gone on about your ego and being honest with yourself.

I played an eclectic yesterday only putting our gross score down and knew during the round what was good, what was bad and were I need to improve.

Put’s the score in to the computer and found it scored the day as Stableford! Guess what? Yes, you’re right all my bad shots and areas of weekness disappeared…

 

[hambugerpete]

Invariably a blob in stapleford isn't a disaster hole. Personally its often just a double bogey for me. So the classic 40 points with 2 blobs would still have been a decent net score.

 

[KenL]

Invariably a blob in stapleford isn't a disaster hole. Personally its often just a double bogey for me. So the classic 40 points with 2 blobs would still have been a decent net score.

StaBleford.

 

[hambugerpete]

StaBleford.

Yeah stable

Stapleford

 

[bobmac]

It's a little surprising to me that the poll is so close - almost everyone I play with would play Stableford if they had the choice, as I would expect for most people; the main reasons being that it virtually eliminates the lonely walk back after a lost ball/ob/etc., and one catastrophic hole doesn't completely destroy the round score.

It's a skill, learning how to avoid the one catastrophic hole.
Hit it straight, find it, hit it again

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

You really confuse me I, and I believe just about everybody else, can know exactly how their game is going regardless of format.

A few times now you’ve gone on about your ego and being honest with yourself.

I played an eclectic yesterday only putting our gross score down and knew during the round what was good, what was bad and were I need to improve.

Put’s the score in to the computer and found it scored the day as Stableford! Guess what? Yes, you’re right all my bad shots and areas of weekness disappeared…

I’m simply saying that a handicap or a stableford pts total can cover up for a multiple of sins…and I shouldn’t forget that whenever I mess up and score poorly. Easy for me to think that off my handicap I shouldn’t be messing up so. That’s all.

 

[wjemather]

It's a skill, learning how to avoid the one catastrophic hole.
Hit it straight, find it, hit it again

Yeah, but we're talking about a hobby not a job and most people find playing conservatively to avoid disaster is (much) less fun. Plus, the analytics people tell us accuracy is overrated anyway.
Hit it as far as you can, find it, hit it again.

 

[Mandofred]

This all comes back to why do you play golf. Everybody does NOT play for the same reasons. A lot (most?) just want to get out with their friends and whack the crap out of things and take what they get. Others...want to play the best that they can....and stomp anybody getting in their way (and....everything inbetween). There is no right answer. But.....some want to pigeon-hole people into a particular way of thinking.....just...no.