Comments on: The Format for the Rest of Us

By: tommy

tommy — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:07:22 +0000

Scrambles are a gas!! everyone gets to contribute, everyone has fun. At our club the handicapped 2 man scramble and regular 4 man scrabble are the best attended events of the season. Over the summer, I get tired of playing every shot down, strict rules of golf--the scrambles are a welcome break.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:47:10 +0000

I play in several scrambles every year for local hospital charities in Denver.

What I really like is that I can have beers on the course, since I try not to drink when I'm playing for my own score.

I know that sounds weird, but its great to get out and have a blast, not really worry about where the ball is going, and enjoy a few beers with my team.

We have yet to win a tournament, but I have won the occasional "closest to the pin" or "longest putt". And I've seen a guy win a new car for a hole in one!

By: JP Bouffard

JP Bouffard — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:16:03 +0000

Nice article George.

Although I'd be lying if I said there's any form of golf I openly dislike, I have to say scrambles are my least favorite way to play.

They are good for all of the reasons you write, but in the end I hardly ever feel particularly satisfied after playing in one.

My favorite team events are handicapped four-ball tournaments. Everyone gets to play their own ball, and everyone still has a chance to contribute. You get an 18-24 handicapper to scrape together 3-4 pars or a birdie in an event like this, and this person is a hero. Low handicappers feel the challenge of having to anchor the team and play steady, and middle handicap guys can usually play very aggressively if they have one low man in the group.

But I have to say, one of my most enjoyable moments in golf was winning the Langley Air Force Base Hospital scramble tournament in 2000. I needed to bring in a ringer to do it, but we won, and it was a great thrill for a mundane pathologist to topple a bunch of strutting surgeons.