What's your favorite format?

Match play is fun. I played shamble for the first time last summer and that was a lot of fun because each team had one big hitter. Alternate shot takes a lot of teamwork which I enjoy as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I love match play maybe because I don't play it that often anymore. I also love the traditional foursome with 2 teams playing a $5 or $10 Nassau like we did yesterday. The other team was about to lose the back after losing the front nine and holed a bunker shot for birdie on the 18th hole to square the back nine.
 
My two favorites are Shamble and two man best ball match play.

Shamble because that makes the round more fun. Usually, one person has a decent drive in the fairway.

Best Ball match play because that brings in some good competition and you only can lose one hole versus many strokes if you and your partner blowup a hole.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I love match play
 
Gotta be match play or even a match play form of shamble (whatever that’s called)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Match play or two man better ball. The strategy can change by the second so it’s very engaging
 
Match play is my favorite. Going for every pin is ok because if you make a double, it really doesn't matter!
 
I really like match play as I play it every week in league. It’s also fun to play the other formats but alt shot is the most challenging. You and your partner really have to be in sync and keep that positive energy flowing to pull off great shots. Shambles are fun for outings as it’s much more laid back but I find myself not concentrating as much during those. I’ve play in two Ryder cup type formats each year and really love the challenge of playing 3 different formats over 27 holes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
... I am a little shocked so many love match play. Golf has always been an 18 hole grind where you have an opportunity to recover form a bad hole or holes. To me it is kinda like baseball over 9 innings. The game would be very different if each inning was a match. One team scoring 4 runs in one inning while the other scores zero would be a huge disadvantage. Here's a perfect golf example. I hit one of my biggest drives in years at Aguila in Phoenix. 10+ mph wind at my back, perfect swing/contact and caught a downslope for a 340 yd drive waaaaaay longer than normal. It left me with a tricky 60 yd shot to a front pin and I had to land short and bounce it on the rock hard fairway. Hit a 58* a good as I can hit it and it should have been very close but it hit a sprinkler head and bounced dead right over a bunker and into a lake. Two perfect shots and I am in the water with an impossible pitch with a very difficult pitch that ended in a double bogie. Match play I probably lose that hole after 2 perfect shots. In stroke play I can recover from one bad hole. That said I love watching match play but I just don't enjoy playing it.
 
What's your favorite format?

... I am a little shocked so many love match play. Golf has always been an 18 hole grind where you have an opportunity to recover form a bad hole or holes. To me it is kinda like baseball over 9 innings. The game would be very different if each inning was a match. One team scoring 4 runs in one inning while the other scores zero would be a huge disadvantage. Here's a perfect golf example. I hit one of my biggest drives in years at Aguila in Phoenix. 10+ mph wind at my back, perfect swing/contact and caught a downslope for a 340 yd drive waaaaaay longer than normal. It left me with a tricky 60 yd shot to a front pin and I had to land short and bounce it on the rock hard fairway. Hit a 58* a good as I can hit it and it should have been very close but it hit a sprinkler head and bounced dead right over a bunker and into a lake. Two perfect shots and I am in the water with an impossible pitch with a very difficult pitch that ended in a double bogie. Match play I probably lose that hole after 2 perfect shots. In stroke play I can recover from one bad hole. That said I love watching match play but I just don't enjoy playing it.

For me, I love match play because I believe it brings more excitement to the game. You could blow up one or two holes and the round is over for you in a straight to par round. Of course, I admit I am bias due to being a higher handicap player with blow up holes. I don’t think it’s as exciting that your one great hole could make or break the match. Match play brings more holes in play. One great hole versus many holes over the course of the round.

Playing with handicap helps, but still not as exciting as match play.

Using your example of baseball, it would be much more exciting and most games would go down to the last inning if each inning was a match play idea. I am not a traditionalist by any means.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I enjoy match play and 2 man best ball. Both allow for some blow ups, which I have b/c my consistency is pretty hot and cold right now.
 
My favorite format is golf.

I just enjoy playing golf. Scramble, shamble, match play, stroke play, best ball, alternate shot. Can’t say I like one over the other.

yep. this is me too. if you get me on the course, i’m doing my favorite thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
2 man scramble. Just enough pressure to make good shots but you have some support for inconsistent play.
 
Pinehurst or modified pinehurst. Love those formats.
 
In groups I like best 2-of-3 net or best 3-of-4 net. Better yet, some form of 1-2-3 type game where it's maybe best ball on the Par 3's, best two balls on the Par 4's, best three balls on the Par 5's.
 
Last edited:
One more reason to love this game. All the games within the game you can play. Few sports can hold a candle to all the different ways we can play.

For years I played in a league where we had two-person teams that played match play every week. The low handicap player on each team made up one match. Then the other two matched up. This was a handicap match play and the league tracked everyone's handicap, so everything stayed competitive. One point for a win. A half a point for a tie. We had a five-month season and at the end crowned the league champion. The league I'm in now plays a variety of formats and games and for most of them has a number of games going on at most events. For example, we might have a flighted medal play tournament with low gross and low net for each gender, plus a skins game. With about a hundred players of different abilities, this gives something for everyone.
 
Anything where you get to play your own ball


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1 ! My favorite in a foursome is Match Play either 1 vs 1 or a 2 vs 2 Fourball. I also like the largish group (3-5 foursomes) skins pot games like you sometimes play at your course. Can still play a match within your foursome but there's always the chance to cash in nicely with a skin or two.
 
Alternate shot. Very challenging and fun.
 
We usually play with a threesome. Match play doesn’t really work out. We tried 2 against 1 (they play best ball scramble thing vs. me), and that didn’t go over well. “It’s not real golf...” <shrug>
What we wound up doing during our recent OC trip was playing Skins and “6’s”. (Found the 6’s format while watching some Sheils and Finch Videos). Those seemed to keep the interest up. I’m giving a stroke a hole except par 3’s to each of them. I know it’s not exactly the way to do it, but it worked out pretty well for us. Skins was pretty straightforward, but the different scenarios in 6’s made for a bit more engagement over pressure putts to avoid the ‘nul pointe’.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Match play and 2-man best ball are always at the top for me. Love the style and strategy of those matches, tons of fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
We usually play with a threesome. Match play doesn’t really work out. We tried 2 against 1 (they play best ball scramble thing vs. me), and that didn’t go over well. “It’s not real golf...” <shrug>
What we wound up doing during our recent OC trip was playing Skins and “6’s”. (Found the 6’s format while watching some Sheils and Finch Videos). Those seemed to keep the interest up. I’m giving a stroke a hole except par 3’s to each of them. I know it’s not exactly the way to do it, but it worked out pretty well for us. Skins was pretty straightforward, but the different scenarios in 6’s made for a bit more engagement over pressure putts to avoid the ‘nul pointe’.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

5-3-1 is a really fun format with 3 people. Whoever scores the lowest on a hole gets, 5, next 3, highest 1. In the case of ties, split the points.
 
5-3-1 is a really fun format with 3 people. Whoever scores the lowest on a hole gets, 5, next 3, highest 1. In the case of ties, split the points.

It’s the shame of no points that went over well with us.
Here’s the thing- over the 25-30 years we have played together, no money has ever exchanged hands. We would joke amongst ourselves when we were paired up with a single- “usual? $1000 a hole?” Just to see the look on the singles face. Most got the joke. Under those conditions, I would own both their houses, cars and at least 2 of 3 of their children.
One of the guys figured let’s have some fun on the trip. make up a handicap they can use against me and play for a few bucks. Once I did the math on what they shoot compared to what I shoot I came up with the stroke a hole other than par 3’s. If they had a better day or I had a bad day, they were in with a chance. Skins had a 9 hole carryover at one point so the formula kind of worked.(After I had a gap wedge to 12” for a birdie, one guy sank a ridiculous 30’ roller coaster for a 4 net 3 to pick my pocket) As it turned out, I took all the money each round. And where did it go? Into the bar kitty. So for us it isn’t about the golf- it’s about being 15 again without parental supervision... only with beer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top