Nothing Equitable About A Scramble

The Pope of Slope provides compelling rationale on why its so hard to have equity among teams when playing a Florida Scramble format. 

You have asked one of the toughest questions in handicapping and achieving equity in a scramble format is hard to accomplish.

First off, in any scramble format, the teams with the best golfers always will have a big advantage. A single digit handicap player hits better drives, approach shots and putts than beginner golfers. Rarely does every team have one good player and usually there is a big difference in the skill level of the best (A-class) player on each team. The team that happens to have a near-scratch golfer has a big advantage over other teams that is hard to overcome.

Also, without knowing what the playing ability of the competitors are, you just can’t have a competitive tournament. Players that show up without a USGA Handicap Index come without providing any evidence of their skill. What makes the problem even worse is that the term “playing ability” is hard to define in a scramble because USGA Handicap Indexes are based on total hole scores covering 18 holes. There are lots of different ways to develop a 17.0 Handicap Index, for example. You might be a “Wild Willy”, who hits the long ball, but without much accuracy and not much finesse in the short game. This is a player who can help his team off the tee, but may not be much use for the rest of the way to the hole. You might be a “Steady Eddy” who hits short, but straight shots and stays out of trouble most of the time, unless there is a long carry over water on a hole. Steady Eddy is a great player to have on a team–after the tee shot has been selected. Most of us might fit better in the category of “Average Andy”. We hit some good shots and some bad shots and some of our shots might get used by the team.

Whichever category that a player fits into, the USGA Handicap Index is not a great way to determine “playing ability” in a scramble, just because handicaps are based on total scores and not how you got those scores. A scramble is based on the individual components of playing a hole–Driving ability, approach shot ability, and getting up and down, which includes chipping, bunker play and putting.

SortaGolf’s 7 Amendments provide a better format for corporate and charity tournament outings.