# What's your favourite Golf game



## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

Sat here trying to ignore what Mrs Hobbit has on the TV and I got to thinking what is my favourite format?

I like pretty much all of them.

Singles Strokeplay, Stableford, Bogey(par), matchplay, strings.

Pairs Strokeplay, Stableford, Bogey(par), matchplay, foursomes, greensomes, yellowsomes, strings.

Team 3 man waltz, 3 or 4 man Texas scratch, Chinaman.

I guess for me its a toss up between Canadian Greensomes and strings.

For those that don't know. Canadian Greensomes is played with a partner. You both tee off, then you hit my ball and I hit yours. Then we decide which ball we want to finish the hole with, and take alternate shots till its in the hole. Then start again on the next hole.

Strings; e.g. if you are a 15 handicapper you are given a 15 foot piece of string, and you can use it 15 times. For example, if you go in a bunker/lake/ditch or are 15 ft or less from the hole you can use the string a bit like a get out of jail card.

I think I'd go with theCanadian Greensomes.


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## FrogsHair (Mar 4, 2010)

Well I like to watch match play events when the pros are playing. It's not as boring as stroke play to watch. Since half the field is cut every day, as the tournament progresses, the golf just gets better. I watched a lot of last week's WGC tournament, and was happy to see Luke Donald win it all. 

1. As for myself, I like to just have fun on the golf course. Hit it, go find it, and then hit it again is very fun, and relaxing to me. Score is not usually important. Mine or others.

2. I still like to play in match play stuff when ever I can, which is few, and far between. My local course has what they call a "Three Club Tournament" four times a year. I usually do quite well in that. Another one they have twice a year is a short game contest, where they have 3 rounds of pitching, chipping, and putting contests in various formats. Their short game contest is pretty involved, with the low score winning after the three rounds have been played. Actual par is 2 strokes a hole, for the 54 holes. 

3. Next, I like to play in local charity events which are of course are usually stroke play. Not so much for the golf, but for the charity involved. I also make sure that the charity involved is getting most of the money the tournament generates. 

4. I also like to play in a group where there is a golfer who is equal to, and even more so, a better ball striker than I am. When I play with better golfers, my own golf game is more focussed, and more enjoyable. 

Above are the only formats I have played in. Group size does not matter. I can have just as much fun in a group of 6+, as I can when playing as a single. I never fret about slow play.


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

I have played Scotch or alternate shot matches ( also correctly called foursomes) and I really enjoy them, but that format is rarer in the US than palm trees in Alaska. For whatever reason, too many guys feel that they aren't getting their money's worth if they don't get to hit the ball 100 times in a round. I think that in part it's because so many of us here play on public, daily fee courses, and a Scotch match can be played in about 60% of the time that a fourball match can, so they pay more per minute spent playing than they would if playing a fourball. They also have no excuse to hang around the course and avoid that honey-do list.

I also like a stroke play game with small stakes skins ($.25) for added interest. The most youcan lose is $4.50, but it just adds spice to the game.

Another good one to play is a 6 - 6 - 6 round robin match. For each 6 holes your are partnered with a different member of your fourball, so every one plays with everyone else during the match. The scoring is match play with 2 points per hole available, one point for the match between the 2 lowest scores for the hole and one point for the match between the 2 highest scores. For example: A & B play C & D for the first 6 holes. Then they realign and A & C play B & D for the 7th through the 12th. Then A & D play B & C for the last 6 holes. Scoring is net according to regular match play handicap application. We usually play for $2 per robin, or a max of $6 invested.

In the first robin, on the first hole A makes a 4, B makes 5, C makes 5 And D makes 5. The score would be A against one opponent (it doesn't matter who since C & D both scored the same) and B against the other. A would win one point for team AB and B would halve. On the 2nd hole, A makes 7, B makes 4, C makes 5, and D makes 6. The scoring would be A vs D (the 2 highest scores) and B vs C (the 2 lowest scores). D beats A to get one point and for his team and B beats C to get one point for his team.


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## Big Hobbit (Nov 2, 2010)

Our matchplay friendlies usually run along the lines of £1 front 9, £1 back 9, and £1 the match plus all the bits.

It is very advisable to find out what the bits are before you play. About 30 yrs back I subbed in a Sunday friendly where they said £1 plus the usual bits. I thought is was £1 match plus 10p bridies 20p eagles. Thankfully I was part of the winning pair, and was given £18 

An example of the bits I know. birdies, eagles, wooslums(hit the par 3 green, closet the hole and make a par), reverse wooslums(as before but 3 putt or worse and you pay out), rolling wooslums(if an wooslum isn't won on a par 3 it doubles up for the next par 3),sandy ferrets(out of a bunker and sink the putt for a par), golden sandy ferret(hole out from the bunker), par 5 wooslums (hit the fairway off the tee, the green in 3 and make a par).

Another match bet is a wrapped ball. Not heard of so much since balls no longer come in wrappers. Again you need to ask what the wrapper is. Once upon a time if you played for a wrapped ball you won a ball in its wrapper but equally, in some circles, that ball might have been wrapped in a £10 note.

As ever, never play for what you can't afford to lose. Over time you lose as many as you win.


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

Fourputt said:


> I have played Scotch or alternate shot matches ( also correctly called foursomes)


Fourputt, alternate shot is one of the Ryder Cup games we play at the end of the year. I call it "Sorry, partner" since this seems to be the most common thing said between partners


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