Strokeplay

slingerz

Hey everyone,

strokeplay competition for me this weekend and looking for advice on the best approach to it. with stableford a scratch can still lead to a respectable round but fear strokeplay may mean a disaster does it for me.

any tips on how to approach this?

also a little matchplay question

if i'm playing of 21 and my opponent off 23 for example, where would i be giving him the shots? on index 4 & 5?

sodbuster77

slingerz wrote: »

Hey everyone,

strokeplay competition for me this weekend and looking for advice on the best approach to it. with stableford a scratch can still lead to a respectable round but fear strokeplay may mean a disaster does it for me.

any tips on how to approach this?

also a little matchplay question

if i'm playing of 21 and my opponent off 23 for example, where would i be giving him the shots? on index 4 & 5?

Index 1 and 2. As for stroke play the best thing to do is try not to compound a bad shot by following it up with a worse one. If you get into trouble take your medicine and get the ball back in play.

slingerz

sodbuster77 wrote: »

Index 1 and 2. As for stroke play the best thing to do is try not to compound a bad shot by following it up with a worse one. If you get into trouble take your medicine and get the ball back in play.

Was wondering that but thought it would be index 4 and 5 seeing as I would have a double shot on index 1 and 2 as well?

Tommo 76

Hi, with stroke play one hole will not win you the competition, but it will lose you it. With stableford on some holes you can afford the risk / reward shot, i.e knowing at worst you will scratch hole but with stroke play, literally every stroke counts, so look for the best bail out places if you are going to miss, and instead of thinking feck it I will go for this or that or try play this / that type of shot, play within yourself and your abilities even if it means laying up or taking an extra shot on some holes, this reduces the chance of indeed a bigger score.
Take a simple par 4 for example:
Scenario 1: say there is a risky drive with shortish second shot,
If you do hit bad drive or O.B Drive, you are hitting 3 off tee, but mentally you will think I need to catch up them lost shots. Don't, just count your losses and make sure next ball is in play.
Scenario 2 (on the same hole as scenario 1): Short tee shot (which you are confident with) with longer second shot, knowing at worst you will end up left / right / short of green (try figure best place to miss, i.e short right leaves full green depending on flag position, but short left leaves delicate flop shot over bunker with short run to pin) and play from there.

Chances are you will hit a bad shot at some stage, everyone does, we are human, but try put it behind you and forget about it and move on. Main thing is to enjoy it though, dont worry about it being strokes, it will actually give you a good indication of how good you are playing and consistancy wise will tell you a lot too. If you are off 21, play bogey golf. If you are on a par 4, allow yourself 3 shots to get to green, and 2 putt. There will be par 4's you get onto green in 2, and either 2 or 3 putt, balancing out. Likewise for par 3 and par 5's.

With regard to handicaps and index holes, yes in general the person will have an extra shot on holes playing index 4 and index 5. But with matchplay usually the lowest HC will go to scratch (you in this case off 21), and the highest go to the difference in handicaps from lowest to his HC (23-21 = 2), in this case you play off scratch and the opponent off 2 (In which case he has a shot on holes index 1 and index 2). Reason being he still only has two shots over you, and its less confusing than calculating you have 2 shots on certain holes, likewise he does on others etc too. He will still have the same benefits of 2 shots on the same holes as you so they cancel out, hence you going to scratch.

alxmorgan

slingerz wrote: »

Hey everyone,

strokeplay competition for me this weekend and looking for advice on the best approach to it. with stableford a scratch can still lead to a respectable round but fear strokeplay may mean a disaster does it for me.

any tips on how to approach this?

also a little matchplay question

if i'm playing of 21 and my opponent off 23 for example, where would i be giving him the shots? on index 4 & 5?

If you are not 100% sure you will find ball, hit a provisional. Otherwise you are running back to spot of previous hit or NRing the hole and you're out of everything apart from clause 19 adjustment perhaps.

slingerz

alxmorgan wrote: »

If you are not 100% sure you will find ball, hit a provisional. Otherwise you are running back to spot of previous hit or NRing the hole and you're out of everything apart from clause 19 adjustment perhaps.

I was just going over the holes in my head and think that the times that i am likely to go OOB or swiiming would need a change in approach from the tee.

instead of a driver on the first im going to go with a 6i to be short of the drain. its OOB LHS with thick trees lining the right so a 6i to the drain and a 5i 100 yards short of the green gives a handy wedge to the green then.

alxmorgan

slingerz wrote: »

I was just going over the holes in my head and think that the times that i am likely to go OOB or swiiming would need a change in approach from the tee.

instead of a driver on the first im going to go with a 6i to be short of the drain. its OOB LHS with thick trees lining the right so a 6i to the drain and a 5i 100 yards short of the green gives a handy wedge to the green then.

Yes that sort of thinking helps. I guess you need to be careful you don't get too defensive but really strokeplay reminds me of the saying that playing good golf is about making your bad shots better. Stableford lets you get away with it - strokeplay doesn't

charlieIRL

is it stroke play competition or matchplay?

slingerz

charlieIRL wrote: »

is it stroke play competition or matchplay?

stroke play comp at the weekend but was having a discussion on match play rules earlier that i wanted clearing up with the second question.

charlieIRL

The very first club competition i played in was a scratch cup. Took it steady all the way through and didn't take on any hero shots and tried to play within myself - and played exactly to my handicap. Steady golf is the way to go.

slingerz

charlieIRL wrote: »

The very first club competition i played in was a scratch cup. Took it steady all the way through and didn't take on any hero shots and tried to play within myself - and played exactly to my handicap. Steady golf is the way to go.

Was thinking similar. Reckon if i came in to my handicap or a shot or 2 less Id be doing very well. always have between 4-6 pars a round so if the rest were bogeys i think i'd be in contention anyway:D

Dbu

Just play...and double bogeys are NOT bad. forget this stroke/stableford thing...just play

Dr_Colossus

slingerz wrote: »

Was thinking similar. Reckon if i came in to my handicap or a shot or 2 less Id be doing very well. always have between 4-6 pars a round so if the rest were bogeys i think i'd be in contention anyway:D

And that's one of the attractions of stroke play, one or two under net and you're in with a great chance of featuring whereas in stableford you often need in excess of 40 pts. It's a great format and really gets you thinking about course management which is always a positive.
Strokeplay off the back sticks as you get in medals, majors and scratch cups is a true test of golf and a real thrill to play.

slingerz

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

And that's one of the attractions of stroke play, one or two under net and you're in with a great chance of featuring whereas in stableford you often need in excess of 40 pts. It's a great format and really gets you thinking about course management which is always a positive.
Strokeplay off the back sticks as you get in medals, majors and scratch cups is a true test of golf and a real thrill to play.

it is a club 'major' this weekend alright would love to do well in it but have to take it as it comes first!

Course management will be key really, my handicap is there for a reason and thats not to play the holes as same as the 3 handicapper im out with!:eek:

garancafan

slingerz wrote: »

Was wondering that but thought it would be index 4 and 5 seeing as I would have a double shot on index 1 and 2 as well?

In that matchplay situation, effectively, you would be playing off scratch and your opponent playing off 2. These strokes would be accorded on indices 1 & 2.

spacecoyote

If a par drops great, but remember you don't need to score a single par playing off 21 to beat par.

You could have 18 Bogeys and win the event with a net -3.

As was said earlier, if in even slight doubts play a provisional ball.

PARlance

I just play a stroke play like stableford, in that, I'll be conscious of my stableford score as I go around and I'll try to blank out the strokes as much as possible.
If you're in the habit of marking your own score as you go around, stick down the stableford points beside your strokes.

It's all physiological, but (assuming HC of 21) it's a much better feeling focusing on the 18 points you have after the front 9 rather than dwelling on a +10 or +11 (18 points).

For me:
Points = positive
+ Strokes = negative

I do the same in V Par now... I was getting too down, or used to start chasing, the other way.

GreeBo

I'm the opposite, I play every comp like a medal only difference is if I have a putt or chip for point/half.

90% off my comps are medal off comp tees

Ronney

Tommo 76 wrote: »

With regard to handicaps and index holes, yes in general the person will have an extra shot on holes playing index 4 and index 5. But with matchplay usually the lowest HC will go to scratch (you in this case off 21), and the highest go to the difference in handicaps from lowest to his HC (23-21 = 2), in this case you play off scratch and the opponent off 2 (In which case he has a shot on holes index 1 and index 2). Reason being he still only has two shots over you, and its less confusing than calculating you have 2 shots on certain holes, likewise he does on others etc too. He will still have the same benefits of 2 shots on the same holes as you so they cancel out, hence you going to scratch.

Also it makes sense to get/give shots on the hardest holes. Imagine a 17 and 18 H/C playing. Much fairer to have the shot on the hardest hole rather than the easiest. In theory it would be very difficult to give a shot on the easiest hole on the course.

garancafan

garancafan wrote: »

In that matchplay situation, effectively, you would be playing off scratch and your opponent playing off 2. These strokes would be accorded on indices 1 & 2.

I missed the fact that Tommo 76 had already, very effectively, explained this in Post #4.
gf