Stableford Tactics!?

[Ethan]

No difference in tactics between medal and stableford unless you are standing over a putt for 1 point. No point in leaving that one short.

Plan conservatively and execute aggressively, as Sam Torrance said. Look for the safest line down the hole or the safest side of the green, choose a club that will get you there and then commit to it.

 

[MKDave]

Thanks again all of you, I thinks it's making me think more rationally now.

If you can shoot 79 off 22 using nothing more than a 7 iron then you should be good for about 50 points. Should be in with a shout, I would think...

I wish I could shoot it all the time.

Best rounds are;
79 - Once
83 - Once
86 - Twice
87 - Once
88 - Twice
89 - Twice

Then the rest are between 90 and 99

I've had one round since may which was 106 in my first competition!!! What a bottler eh!

I reckon I should be able to get between 36 and 40 points but always looking for some advice to get me more points!!

 

[Region3]

I'm going to bore you with a story. Allegedly a true one, that I read in a golf instruction book.

Tommy Armor turned to coaching after his pro golf career was over. One day he overheard a conversation between some guys and one of his students, trying to make a bet.

The bet was that the student couldn't break 90 in the round they were about to play. He had never broken 90 before, but Armor offered to take the bet, provided he could walk the course with them and offer advice to the student.

On the first, the student drove into the right hand rough. The shot he had left was 5 iron distance, and the green was protected by 2 bunkers front right and front left.
Armor told the student to put the 5 iron away, and hit an 8 iron short of the green between the bunkers, then chip on and have a putt for par, hopefully no worse than bogey.

This continued throughout the round, with Armor choosing only shots that he knew his student could pull off 90% of the time, rather than the typical high handicappers choice of always trying to hit the 2 or 3 out of 10 shot.

The student not only broke 90 for the first time ever, he broke 80 as well scoring a 79 and winning Armor his bet.

****

Much much much easier said than done, but well worth trying.

Bogey golf will score you 40pts.

 

[19th]

"As Gil says, a Stableford is a Medal with just one more column to fill in on the scorecard.

Simples."

--------------------
I accept the above but Stableford does put you in a '$hit or bust' situation where a medal round does not.

A 25 foot putt for a net point - no 'dustbin lid area' in stableford ... in the hole or it is a blob!

Down in two from off the green for a net point ... think Phil and go for it!!

Enjoy and the best of luck!

 

[Deleted member 1147]

19th,
Very true, once you get to the all or nothing shot for 1 point you must go all-out for it.
But by playing normal, sensible golf upto that point you will often be better off than if you try too much.

I quite often find that I'm poor at 4BBB as I change my game too much.
My usual playing partner is a short hitter, but is very steady, off 11.
As I get fewer shots I go for the risk/reward shots and they often come to nothing and he rolls in the 2 point putts. If I just played my normal game I'd probably be in better position for the birdies.
But I do enjoy trying stuff out in a competitive environment when my handicap is safe.

 

[Tiger]

I'm going to bore you with a story. Allegedly a true one, that I read in a golf instruction book.

Tommy Armor turned to coaching after his pro golf career was over. One day he overheard a conversation between some guys and one of his students, trying to make a bet.

The bet was that the student couldn't break 90 in the round they were about to play. He had never broken 90 before, but Armor offered to take the bet, provided he could walk the course with them and offer advice to the student.

On the first, the student drove into the right hand rough. The shot he had left was 5 iron distance, and the green was protected by 2 bunkers front right and front left.
Armor told the student to put the 5 iron away, and hit an 8 iron short of the green between the bunkers, then chip on and have a putt for par, hopefully no worse than bogey.

This continued throughout the round, with Armor choosing only shots that he knew his student could pull off 90% of the time, rather than the typical high handicappers choice of always trying to hit the 2 or 3 out of 10 shot.

The student not only broke 90 for the first time ever, he broke 80 as well scoring a 79 and winning Armor his bet.

****

Much much much easier said than done, but well worth trying.

Bogey golf will score you 40pts.

Playing on my own again this weekend I'm going to try this and see how I get on.

 

[CrapHacker]

I'm going to bore you with a story. Allegedly a true one, that I read in a golf instruction book.

Tommy Armor turned to coaching after his pro golf career was over. One day he overheard a conversation between some guys and one of his students, trying to make a bet.

The bet was that the student couldn't break 90 in the round they were about to play. He had never broken 90 before, but Armor offered to take the bet, provided he could walk the course with them and offer advice to the student.

On the first, the student drove into the right hand rough. The shot he had left was 5 iron distance, and the green was protected by 2 bunkers front right and front left.
Armor told the student to put the 5 iron away, and hit an 8 iron short of the green between the bunkers, then chip on and have a putt for par, hopefully no worse than bogey.

This continued throughout the round, with Armor choosing only shots that he knew his student could pull off 90% of the time, rather than the typical high handicappers choice of always trying to hit the 2 or 3 out of 10 shot.

The student not only broke 90 for the first time ever, he broke 80 as well scoring a 79 and winning Armor his bet.

****

Much much much easier said than done, but well worth trying.

Bogey golf will score you 40pts.

Playing on my own again this weekend I'm going to try this and see how I get on.

You'll get bored after 6 holes , and just try the slightly tricky escape as an experiment, and then be doomed to normality like the rest of us

 

[funkyfred]

Tiger

If you playing on your own this week may i suggest that you play two balls. The first one is your actual score ball, and your second is your ''lets go for it'' ball.

My money is on the 1st ball.

good luck.

 

[RGDave]

This continued throughout the round, with Armor choosing only shots that he knew his student could pull off 90% of the time, rather than the typical high handicappers choice of always trying to hit the 2 or 3 out of 10 shot.

The student not only broke 90 for the first time ever, he broke 80 as well scoring a 79 and winning Armor his bet.

Was his student me?

 

[Tiger]

You'll get bored after 6 holes , and just try the slightly tricky escape as an experiment, and then be doomed to normality like the rest of us

Most of the tome I succumb to peer pressure and/or machismo when I'm playing with other people probably why I have always scored better on my own

Tiger

If you playing on your own this week may i suggest that you play two balls. The first one is your actual score ball, and your second is your ''lets go for it'' ball.

My money is on the 1st ball.

good luck.

Mmmmmmm I feel an experiment coming on...

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Without wanting to be rude, are you sure you play off 22? Just it seems odd that someone off 22 can choose how they play to score points, can choose to attack the pins and can choose to be agressive. As for hitting a 7 iron 180 yards, I hope your not offended if I'm sceptical. In current conditions my 7i goes just over 140 and I can't get to any of our par 4s with 2 of them, I need my 19deg hybrid to carry 180.

Might I suggest that you play each shot on it's own merits. The worst thing you can do is decide how you're going to play before you start. You don't know how you're going to be hitting the ball and sometimes you have to play with what you've got on the day and make the best of it so you can't decide how you're going to play upfront (you've probably guessed that I don't buy the hitting your 7i perfectly 99 times out of 100)

After a frustrating year of not making the most of my own ability thanks to a suspect mental game, I have recently come to realise (with the help of the good folk on here) that a round of golf is actually a series of individual shots, each that must be played on it's own merits, neither one being affected by the one before or affecting the one after.

So don't worry about how you're going to play, assess each shot based on your capabilities which will allow you to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible.

 

[MKDave]

Thanks Hawkeye I take what you've said on board.

My three cards I handed in were 92, 93, 93 which were on a course with an SSS of 71. I had 4+ pars on each round so I feel my handicap should have been set at 17 (I worked it out manually). The bloke in the pro shop just looked at my cards, and said you can play off 22.

To be fair all three round were off yellow tees and comps are played off whites so I may be high teen handicaper. My dad shot 106, 103 and 93 and got a 22 handicap also! Go figure!!!

I know it might seem bandit of me to not challenge the handicap given but I did finish last in my first competition with a 106 round so maybe the pro shop knows my game better than me?!? I have felt negative since being given the handicap as I considered myself a solid 18 handicapper.

My 180 YRDS with my 7 iron is not carry that is with run. I consistantly shoot 170-180 YRDS WITH run.

As I say, I take all feedback on board, but at the end of the day it don't care if people don't beleive I can hit a ball a certain distance as I know I can.

I think I need to gain some confidence back and get back in the game. fingers crossed eh!?

Thanks again

 

[Deleted member 1147]

MKDave,
Being able to play to mid-teen handicap in friendlies is one thing, but, many of us when we have a card in our hand, off the white tees play totally different golf and the scores reflect that.

My advice would be to accept the 22, learn to play solid, sensible golf and then next year it should tumble. You'll win a few comp's and we'll all call you a bandit.
Good luck

 

[MKDave]

Thanks Gil

I know I need to admit defeat in handicap terms and it's my fault for building myself up.

I need to lose my nerves but the good feeling is that I should be able to win a comp along the way which is all I care about!

Thanks again

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'd say 22 was right for those cards. Playing with a card in your hand is a different beast though.

Golf is 80% between the ears so I would urge you not to get ahead of yourself. Don't try to plan your round up front as it won't work, I know from experience. The more you play the better you will understand your own game and that's when you have to make smart decisions based on your ability and how you are playing on the day.

As for s'ford tactics, it has already been said that medal and s'ford are the same thing with different margins for error. Personally I approach every round as a medal, I don't really give a damn about points. For me it is about gross score, s'ford comps just give me an opportunity to get cut with a couple of bad holes.

Finally your 7i, my misunderstanding, how far you hit each club is how far you carry it as far as I'm concerned. You can't be aggressive if you don't know how far you carry it. How do you expect to fire at a pin tight to a bunker if you don't know how far you carry the ball? Plus I doubt you'll still be getting enough run to hit a 7i 180 yards at this time of year when there is no run, good luck to you if you can.

All I can say as I said before is take every shot as it comes, stay in the present (something I don't do very well) and your h'cap will come down. Good luck.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Don't try to plan your round up front as it won't work, I know from experience.

Whilst I agree that it's hard to plan a round in advance, I would say that having a strategy for particular holes can work. This can take the pressure off when you're on the course. For example there's a reachable 5 that always used to catch me out as I was suckered into going for it. I changed my approach and decided to lay up irrespective of how good my drive was. This took the presure off me. Instead of trying to belt my drive or standing over my ball on the fairway wondering if the lie is good enough for my 3 wood, I just relaxed knowing I'd be playing to get on in 3. Result - more pars.

Your strategy will depend on your ability and what holes trip you up but most of my disasters come from that on course rush of blood (usually with a long club in my hands). How often do you find yourself saying "I knew I shouldn't have tried that"?