Neilds
Assistant Pro
What??????
Stroke Index 18
- Thread starter chico
- Start date
sunshine
Well-known member
Just to clarify my post, as it seems I didn't articulate my question very well:
When it comes to Stableford, what is the point of having a different SI from matchplay? If you get 5 shots (for example), does it matter which holes you get them?
If there is a tough hole where you don't get a shot, somewhere else is an easier hole where you do.
Crow
Crow Person
Following that to its conclusion, if the hardest holes were given the highest stroke index that would likely favour a handicap golfer.
Take a 16 handicap golfer.
The longest par 4 with several hazards might be a hole typically assigned a low SI, but the 16 handicap golfer is more likely to make a complete hash of this hole, scoring maybe 3 or 4 over par and so on that hole he's wasting his shot.
Far better for him to have the lowest indexes on the easiest holes where he's more likely to be able to use his shot, and the highest indexes on the hardest holes where he's more likely to go well over par and waste his shot.
As another example, a short par 4 with no danger to speak of where a par would be a possibility and a bogey very likely, the handicap golfer is more likely to get value from a shot in this hole than ne on the hardest hole.
Example 1
Hole 1, 320 yard par 4, SI 18, golfer scores par, 2 points
Hole 2, 455 yard par 4 with water hazard at driving range, SI 1, golfer scores 7, no points
Example 2
Hole 1, 320 yard par 4, SI 1, golfer scores par, 3 points
Hole 2, 455 yard par 4 with water hazard at driving range, SI 18, golfer scores 7, no points
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
???
What an odd question
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
Mental attitude towards the game
Have a very tough hole where you rarely get par and often a double bogey you are going to have a different attitude standing on the tee compared to having a shot or two on the hole.
Backache
Assistant Pro
Strokes don't ever change how I plan to play a hole. Never look at the SI, I play the hole according to how it is presented taking into account weather etc.
rosecott
Money List Winner
No, not what my question meant. How were SIs set prior to the changes made some 20 years ago?
chico
Club Champion
LLP p
How would you know if your scoring at a hole without the. S..I.?
sunshine
Well-known member
Really? Do people base their stableford strategy on SI?
Personally I never think about it. If I lay up it’s because I don’t fancy my chances, not because I get a shot. Equally I can’t imagine taking on a risky shot just because I don’t get a shot.
Obviously completely different in match play.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
difficulty (from memory)
However having dug out an old card from an unknown period (probably 90s) I see that card has all the odd numbers on the front nine and all the evens on the back nine but each nine I would say has the SIs set difficulty for that 9 nine. I can also see that it meant that 1,3,5 and 7 come fairly early in the round and some of teh holes that payer well have got a shot fairly late in the back nine.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
As a mid single figure handicap player (at least back then) I knew exactly where I got my shots. It did not change how I tried to play a hole but with one hole in particular I (and others I played with ) would often discuss the change to SI with a match play card when stood on the tee. It often brought about a 'why bother teeing off' attitude.
Hole is a par 4 difficulty 4, in winter in particular virtually always a 3 shotter to reach the green off the whites and more often than not off the yellows, and very often a 4 to reach the putting surface due to small raised green with a narrow entrance due to bunkers either side.
wjemather
Well-known member
Advice on SI allocation from 1983 through into the 1990s was not too dissimilar from today, if a little simpler: SI1=most difficult hole to achieve par but not too early or late on the course (not holes 1, 2, 17 or 18), SI2=next most difficult though to SI18=easiest but with consideration for an even spread, with odds on one side, evens on the other.
By the late 1990s, there has been a few changes and additions: SI1 and SI2 should be in the middle of each nine, SI1-6 should not be adjacent, SI7-10 should be allocated such that a player receiving 10 strokes doesn't take them on 3 consecutive holes, SI1-8 should not be allocated to the first or last hole - or 9th or 10th holes if matches may be started on the 10th (suggests SI9-12 be allocated to holes 1, 9, 10, 18), holes of varying length should be selected in turn. It was also clear the par is not a measure of difficulty, and that difficulty in relation to par should not be taken into account when allocating SIs (noting that long par3/4s are often difficult pars for low handicappers but easy bogeys for higher handicappers).
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jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
It is that point to which I was referring when what was S.I. 4 became a lot higher S.I. with the match play card we had.
Currently our 6, 7 and 8 are S.I.s are 4, 6 8 so would not meet that requirement when play a difficulty card.
Just to repeat what I have said all along - I am fully in favour of the 2 card/ 2 SI system that is/was recommended. Sadly where I play far too many golfers could not understand that simple point and played off the wrong card. May have been better if both S.Is were shown on one card.
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Orikoru
Tour Winner
On the course I played today, the first three holes were stroke index 3, 5 & 1. So if you were giving 5 shots in a match, 3 of them would be on the first 3 holes, and only two more across the remaining 15. Seemed like an odd way to do it
D-S
Well-known member
Even worse if you get to extra holes and have to give a shot on the first three.
