Going Golfing 5
I recently played golf at the particular golfclub in one of our business partners diversity golfing days.
The cache has been placed next to hole 12, where I had the best shot of my life. On the one side you had a big dam and on the other side you had and entire row of trees awaiting your ball to go into. The wind was howling and the rain was falling, but we ended up playing our hearts out. Our golfing carts was filled with enough beverages and lots of snacks at the water holes. At this particular tee we had one sponsor giving us biltong, beer, some shooter and of course cheering us on while some of us lost our balls in the dam.
It was my time to tee off and i slowly but shurely made my way to the tee. As the wind was howling, I automatically knew that this one is going to be very difficult to get the ball on the green, but I am going to try my best in getting it as close as possible.
Club choice was one of my Woods. I placed the ball, took my position, bent my knees and then for the big swing.... The ball went low to the left and luckily the wind brought it back to the fairway with an crazy bend. The ball just nearly missed the bunker and rolled onto the green.
I could not actually see how close it was, but when we arrived at the green, then I only realised that i missed and hole in one by 1.5m. The other players could not believe my luck. So I did what an good golfer would have done and made my birdie.
Now for your lesson:
In this cache, you will learn more about the types of game plays one can use playing and 4 Ball team match.
- Foursome: defined in Rule 29, this is played between two teams of two players each, in which each team has only one ball and players alternate playing it. For example, if players "A" and "B" form a team, "A" tees off on the first hole, "B" will play the second shot, "A" the third, and so on until the hole is finished. On the second hole, "B" will tee off (regardless who played the last putt on the first hole), then "A" plays the second shot, and so on. Foursomes can be played as match play or stroke play.
- Fourball: defined in Rules 30 and 31, this is also played between two teams of two players each, but every player plays their own ball and for each team, the lower score on each hole counts. Fourballs can be played as match play or stroke play.
Unofficial team variations
- Scramble: also known as ambrose or best-shot; each player in a team tees off on each hole, and the players decide which shot was best. Every player then plays their second shot from within a clublength of where the best shot has come to rest (and no closer to the hole), and the procedure is repeated until the hole is finished.
- Champagne scramble: a combination of a scramble and best-ball, only the first shot of each hole is a scramble; all players tee off, decide on the best tee shot, then each player plays their own ball starting at that point until they hole out, without deciding any further "best shots". The best score amongst the team's players is counted.
- Better ball or best-ball: like fourball, each player plays the hole as normal, but the lowest score of all the players on the team counts as the team's score for the hole.
- Greensome (also known as Scotch Foursomes): also called modified alternate shot, this is played in pairs; both players tee off, and then pick the best shot as in a scramble. The player who did not shoot the best first shot plays the second shot. The play then alternates as in a foursome. A variant of greensome is sometimes played where the opposing team chooses which of their opponent's tee shots the opponents should use. The player who did not shoot the chosen first shot plays the second shot. Play then continues as a greensome.
- Wolf (also known as Ship, Captain & Crew, Captain, Pig): a version of match play; with a foursome an order of play for each player is established for the duration of the round. The first player hits a ball from the tee, then waits for each successive player to hit (2nd, 3rd and 4th). After each player hits the 1st player has the option of choosing a partner for the hole (the 1st player is the Wolf for that hole) usually by calling Wolf before the next player hits. Once a partner is picked, each two-some (the Wolf and his or her partner vs the remaining two players) scores their total strokes and the winning two-some is awarded 1-point each for winning a hole and zero points for tying. The next hole, the rotation moves forward (e.g. the 2nd player is now hitting 1st and the Wolf and the previous Wolf hits last). A Wolf can decide to go alone to win extra points, but they must beat all other players in stroke play on that hole. If alone, the Wolf is awarded 2-points for going alone after everyone has hit or 4 points for declaring Lone Wolf before anyone else hits. If the Lone Wolf looses, to even one player, the 3 other players get 1-point each. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the round. Strategically, care must be taken not to let a low-handicap player run away with all the points by being constantly paired with the Wolf.
- Shotgun starts are mainly used for amateur tournament play. In this variant, each of the groups playing starts their game on a different hole, allowing for all players to start and end their round at roughly the same time. All 18 holes are still played, but a player or foursome may, for instance, start on hole 5, play through to the 18th hole, then continue with hole 1 and end on hole 4. This speeds the completion of the entire event as players are not kept waiting for progressive tee times at the first hole. This form of play, as a minor variation to stroke or match play, is neither defined nor disallowed by strict rules and so is used according to local rules for an event.
A good Golfer always brings along his own pen to write in his own scores after completing an hole.
Please take care retrieving cache as many golfers are around.
Happy Hunting