The Blitz

When I was in high school in the late 50s, in Savannah, GA, the municipal course Bacon Park had a Saturday Blitz.  Tee times were set aside each Saturday from 11 until 1, with people just showing up to play and signing up.  There were no reservations for the Blitz.  Total free-for-all.  It was either $1 or $2, can't remember which, and teams were pulled out of four hats.  You signed up as an A,B,C or D player and names were put in the B,C, and D hats.  The A players picked numbers out of one hat to determine tee time, then picked one name each out of the B-C-D hats and we were set to go!

One side benefit was that there would be a wait for your turn to tee off if you weren't first, during which there was a 25c putting game on the practice green among the people waiting.  A mini-tournament every Saturday!  The putting games were as much fun as playing almost.  Another benefit was that you got to play with real players.  Somebody close to scratch would be the A player, there'd be a good high 70s-low 80s shooter, a middling high 80s-90s guy and a duffer.

One of the regular A players in The Blitz was Kenny "The Hawk" Harrelson and I was on his team a few times.  He played with the Savannah minor league baseball team, before he was called up to the majors and going on to be the RBI leader one year.  HAMMERED the ball, as you might expect.  He also wore a golf glove when he was at bat.

There were basically two kinds of Blitzes and you didn't know which one would be on for the day until they made up their minds.  It was always like a Nassau, with a front side, back side and 18 hole winner, dividing whatever money there was in the pot three ways.  One was like a better-ball with four players, straight up medal play, but the other was more fun -- most birdies, an eagle counting for 2 birdies.  You could get 4 birdies on a single hole!  Very fun.  If the D player could toss in a birdie it was definitely cool.  You were also expected to pick up when you could no longer contribute, so play went very fast.  We always left the regular play field teeing off behind us in the dust after the regular players teeing off earlier got done with their rounds.  You could really haul if you were one of the last groups in The Blitz.  Playing in The Blitz every Saturday was the most fun I ever had playing golf.

There is a course about an hour away where a friend lives. Every Sunday they have a 4 person scramble. You field your own team though and not too many ringers, a couple of good young players. I enjoy it, $15 plus $5 for the pot. I wish a course did that by me.

Yours sounds nice because you don't have the task of putting together a team and you get to meet new people and play with some scratch golfers.

I'd definitely settle for a regular scramble. I love scrambles.

Meeting new people and playing with better players is something that seems to have gone missing these days.  Seems people have their regular groups and don't show up looking to fit into a threesome or twosome like they once did.  I see a lot of twosomes out there now, something that just wasn't permitted when I was younger, which more or less forced a situation where different skill levels would wind up playing together. And believe it or not, it was tough to get a foursome of hackers off the tee together.  They'd actually split you up and put a decent player who was waiting for a tee slot in each group.  They'd even split up groups who were playing too slow, especially if one could drop out and join a threesome a group or two behind.  Better than just sending one player back to the clubhouse for sure.  They were STRICT!

I love it, assuming I play with nice people. I've paired up with thee different sets of people last weekend, two sets were fun and one was ehh. They were all pretty bad golfers, but an enjoyable round. My friend was adamant that we not get paired up. It was saturday morning and the course was over booked, I told him it was going to happen.

But like I said, I enjoy meeting them and playing as long as there fun to play with, that doesn't mean good. I've played quite a bit by myself this year and got grouped up with others and had a really fun time.

At my club, unless there is a competition on, Saturday and Sunday mornings are always member roll-up. Which basically just means no tee times can be booked, you just turn up and go.

When it's roll-up there are a number of groups within the club that meet at a certain time, everyone puts their ball in a "hat" and groups are drawn at random. One I often play with do £2 for best overall score and then normally also play match-play within each grouping. So you get to play with different players who you might not often play with and it's nice knowing you can just rock up at a certain time and always get a game.

At a private club that's nice because you can avoid the people who hog the morning tee times and you take the scraps, if any. Unfortunately for me, I am not a member at a club and have to fight the public for spots. It seems this year courses are packed and prices are high, but that's another thread. I do like that "roll up and ball" method though.

We do this on thursday nights, except that the team selection is done by computer. Everyone has to be registered by 5:45, shotgun start at 6. I've met a lot of great players that way, two of them I play with weekly now.

My club does this on the weekend as well. Except we use what is basically a long ball sleeve. You put yours in the top, and when its at the bottom, you are up next. of course if your twosome or foursome or whatever, you put your balls in together, take em out together, and all go tee off. It works great, as we keep a lineup as well. Put your bag/cart in the line, and you know when your turn is up.