Yellowball

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No, not a disease or the new Z-Stars

Got a yellowball comp this weekend and I've never played in one before.
I (think) know the rules, but have no idea what sort of scores to expect.

Anyone played in one recently and what score won it?
 
Best 3 scores from 4 on every hole.

Yellow ball alternates round the team, and is a compulsory counting score. Player A must score on 1, 5, 9, 13, Player B on 2, 6, 10, 14 etc. If they don't score, then you'll only have two scores on the card for that hole, even if the other three players all scored points.

Holes 17 & 18 it is then simply the best 3 scores to count, no yellow ball.

Our place needs about 120 to be in the hunt, anything over 110 is a good score.
 
Whenever I've played "yellow ball" comps, we have had to keep a seperate card going for the yellow ball score. You each have to elect (on the first tee) which order you are going to play the yellow ball and keep to that order throughout the 18 holes.
In a fourball it makes sense for the better two golfers to elect to play the first two holes as they will get to play the yellow ball on 5 holes each with the higher handicappers only having to worry about it on four holes each. Only thing that would put us off playing that way would be if the 3rd or 4th holes were absolute horrors and then we would work it so the better golfers got to play those with the dreaded yellow.
That's the way I've always played it anyway..

:D :D :D
 
Rules vary. Sometimes yellow counts double, and sometimes once the yellow is lost, then the compulsory score on that hole is 0 for the player who should have been playing it. Plenty of local quirks, so you need to read the rules on the notice board.
 
Rules vary. Sometimes yellow counts double, and sometimes once the yellow is lost, then the compulsory score on that hole is 0 for the player who should have been playing it. Plenty of local quirks, so you need to read the rules on the notice board.
Good advice, because Smiffy seems to be playing quite different rules to our yellow ball.
 
Agree , if you lose the yellow ball then usually you cant score with it again so its vital you dont knob it into the water or in the heavy clinkenclacken.
 
I've been told the yellowball is taken in turns all through the 18 holes, and we can choose the order.

I'm looking at it a different way to Smiffy though.

Our teams h/c's are 10, 11, 14, 18.

Holes 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 are SI 15, 13, 9, 18, 16

If either of the lower players take the yellow ball first they only get shots on 1 hole. If we give it to the 18 hc first he gets all 5 as shot holes.
 
I've been told the yellowball is taken in turns all through the 18 holes, and we can choose the order.
I'm looking at it a different way to Smiffy though.
Our teams h/c's are 10, 11, 14, 18.
Holes 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 are SI 15, 13, 9, 18, 16. If either of the lower players take the yellow ball first they only get shots on 1 hole. If we give it to the 18 hc first he gets all 5 as shot holes.

Good thinking. See, strategy. That's what it's all about.
;) ;) ;)


Agree , if you lose the yellow ball then usually you cant score with it again so its vital you dont knob it into the water or in the heavy clinkenclacken.

But don't (repeat don't) do what I did at Mere Golf & Country Club one year.
Yellow ball competition, quite a big field and a tough course. We had nursed our yellow ball around and had a "reasonable" score. I had it on the 18th. Hit an awful drive, bad 2nd, ended up in a greenside bunker for 3 and took 3 swipes at it and it wouldn't come out. It was my first yellow ball comp and I thought (stupidly) that just putting a card together over the 18 holes was enough, didn't realise you had to hand the bloody ball over to the geezer standing by the green. So in my annoyance at not getting out of the bunker I took an almighty swing at the bloody thing and deliberately thinned the ball into the lake that was by the green. I'd blobbed the hole anyway so thought "what the feck".
Turned out we were the only group out of about 16 who had got to the 18th still with the yellow peril.
My playing partners were not happy.
:o :o :o
 
I've been told the yellowball is taken in turns all through the 18 holes, and we can choose the order.

I'm looking at it a different way to Smiffy though.

Our teams h/c's are 10, 11, 14, 18.

Holes 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 are SI 15, 13, 9, 18, 16

If either of the lower players take the yellow ball first they only get shots on 1 hole. If we give it to the 18 hc first he gets all 5 as shot holes.

We ahve a yellow ball this weekend' The 18 handicapper is going to receive shots on all of the holes though. Ours is A Stableford 2 scores to count 1 being the yellow ball and they will play 1 5 9 13 etc. The key is to look at the 14 handicapper and work out stroke index 14 and work back from there. Similarly with the 11 handicapper. Eg

In our team the best palyer plaays off 7. Stroke index 1. 2 and 3 are holes 7 15 and 3. Therfore he will take holes 3 7 11 15 to maximise his shots. Also Hole 11 is a par 5 and he could make a birdie.

There is a lot of thought needed.

Good Luck
 
I've been told the yellowball is taken in turns all through the 18 holes, and we can choose the order.

I'm looking at it a different way to Smiffy though.

Our teams h/c's are 10, 11, 14, 18.

Holes 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 are SI 15, 13, 9, 18, 16

If either of the lower players take the yellow ball first they only get shots on 1 hole. If we give it to the 18 hc first he gets all 5 as shot holes.

We ahve a yellow ball this weekend' The 18 handicapper is going to receive shots on all of the holes though. Ours is A Stableford 2 scores to count 1 being the yellow ball and they will play 1 5 9 13 etc. The key is to look at the 14 handicapper and work out stroke index 14 and work back from there. Similarly with the 11 handicapper. Eg

In our team the best palyer plaays off 7. Stroke index 1. 2 and 3 are holes 7 15 and 3. Therfore he will take holes 3 7 11 15 to maximise his shots. Also Hole 11 is a par 5 and he could make a birdie.

There is a lot of thought needed.

Good Luck

Well, I thought I knew what the rules would be, but I was guessing it would be all scores to count with the yellow worth double until we lost it.

If it's only 2 or 3 to count I guess we won't be off full handicap and I'll have to rethink the yellowball order.

Crikey, my life's exciting
 
My one experience of yellow ball was a while ago but my clearest memory was of the high handicap boys complaining about the bad scores they made when it was there turn to use the yellow ball because it had’nt got the “feel” of their usual ball. Their usual ball I imagine was anything they picked up in their frequent excursions into the cabbage or winning of the lumps of lead that the pro couldn’t sell in his shop in the monthly charity raffle.
 
Played it yesterday and it was how I initially thought.

Full h/c stableford. All 4 scores count, and the yellow counts double for whoever has it. Lose the yellowball and you just carry on but no double points.

171pts won it.
 
Yep.

Are you surprised that a score that low or high won it?

I was thinking that par would be 180pts (as you say, 5 x 36) so something around 190 or so might be needed.

I was surprised when I was told we'd won :D
 
Yep.

Are you surprised that a score that low or high won it?

That high Gary.
Usually in a fourball Stableford you stand a chance of one, maybe two of the guys scoring near their handicaps points wise (36) but you still usually get one or two come in with mid/high twenties.
The fact that this "supposed" five ball scored an average of 34.2 points each makes it a very high scoring group.
Or am I being naive?

 
That high Gary.
Usually in a fourball Stableford you stand a chance of one, maybe two of the guys scoring near their handicaps points wise (36) but you still usually get one or two come in with mid/high twenties.
The fact that this "supposed" five ball scored an average of 34.2 points each makes it a very high scoring group.
Or am I being naive?

Dunno.

My first time playing in one so I had no idea what to expect score-wise.

I think there were about 20 teams, so I thought there might be at least one group where all 4 played roughly to their handicaps.

I had 36 and my regular partner had 38. Not sure what the other 2 did individually.

We won by 1pt. I'm so glad we didn't lose by 1pt because on 2 holes when I had the yellow ball I first missed a 2' putt, then scored 6 on the last when pin high in 2
 
I thought it was a bit low for a winning score (unless conditions were bad)

We had 7 of us go out yesterday in our roll up, the course is up on the yellow tees so we play 3/4 h'cap stableford.

35 points came stone cold last. The 2 pros both scored 3 under par for 38 points. Modesty would prevent me from saying who won on 41 points, but our average in that 7ball was 37.2.

You need to change the lads you play with Smiffy, they are obviously dragging you down!! :D
 
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