I'll play scrambles for a charity, school, team fundraiser. That's it. They are fun if taken with the right mindset. But if they are not teamed by hcp, a b c d players, they always seem to be some rediculous blowout. As a matter of fact no matter how they are arranged one team ends up with an insane low score. It's the nature of the beast. 

Your "Ball Buster" sounds similar to our "Greenkeeper's Revenge" tourney, though yours sounds more focused on insanely difficult set-up, and not as many gimmicks (putting with a pool cue, pin in a bunker, etc).  I share your love/hate with scrambles...I'm the "big hitter" on our team, and don't think I've ever had a good day with the driver in a scramble.  Always fun though, and can remember a couple times where I actually bombed a few out there 15 or 20 yards further than my norm at the expense of my lower back (have since given up this spot on the team b/c it's just not worth it).

Our group has become friends with some of the other regulars who play every year, so we set up a side competition to keep it interesting.  Even if we're having a bad day with no chance of winning the whole thing (topic for another day if talking about charity scrambles), it keeps our competitive juices flowing the whole time knowing every hole still matters.  While the scramble on the whole is probably a crap-shoot with regard to cheating, at least we know the side game is on the up-and-up.

Just my two cents from personal experience...thanks for the post!

I don't compete as most of you do and am not very familiar with many formats, but a friend and I played a scramble format with the goal of simply breaking par. This occurred late last year when I was really struggling with my full swing.

It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable outings of the year. There wasn't any pressure, the company and weather were great, and we had the course to ourselves. Knowing that it would be one of the last times out probably made me appreciate it a bit more as well.

I think had we been competing, it still would have been fun. We wouldn't have beaten any one good, but we both took turns making good shots at the right time.

On 3/14/2017 at 9:52 PM, JonMA1 said:

... a friend and I played a scramble format with the goal of simply breaking par.

You hit on one of the keys to enjoying a team game or scramble.  Set a goal or target. Most of us are not going to win the event and/or the prize is so nominal as to not matter. When you have a group where even achieving par is a reach, set a goal of breaking 80 or 75.  Suddenly every shot counts even though the group may be getting lapped by the field.

Any time I play a scramble my swing and entire way of normally managing my game goes completely out the window because we're all trying to kill the ball off the tee.  I'd much rather play a competitive stroke play tournament.

My buddy is always jacked up to play a scramble. So much so that if we have a foursome he wants to make teams and play a 2 man scramble! I find myself praying for a threesome so we can play our own ball.

And he wants to play in every scramble tournament around, and has the insane idea that we actually have a chance to win! We're both 64 and don't hit it nearly as far as we used to. And I've told him that low and scratch handicappers put together "super teams" to play in these events with the sole intent of making money!

Case in point. The local paper hosts an annual event called "The Greatest Golfer in the Valley". Most of it is a stroke play tourney for various age and handicap brackets, but one part of it is an 18 hole 4 man scramble. The winning team last year posted a score of 21 under par! The newspaper article revealed that 2 of the guys were plus handicappers who were headed to Q School!

I enjoy playing scrambles, but it does help that I know several other scratch to plus handicappers who I can play in them with. Going out with buddies and shooting a round together in the mid to low 50's is always good fun, and sometimes it even ends up with us winning something (depending on if they do net or gross scoring during the scramble). 

The trick is to not think of it as golf, but as a fun way to spend time with friends. Because it really isn't golf.

I enjoy a good scramble, but I agree with the others that I don't look at as real golf. So I play in one or two a year. If I'm going to spend 5 hours on the golf course, I'd rather get 18 holes in.

It's interesting that you feel more pressure, @phillyk, when playing in scrambles. I tend to be the big stick when I play scrambles, but I feel less pressure when playing them. I know that we'll play an okay shot almost no matter what - even 3 20-handicappers can hit 1/3 of their shots decently - so it means I don't really have to worry about the big miss. I've hit some of my best drives and shots playing in scrambles because of that.

I feel pretty much the same as @deadman except I am extremely driven to hit the best shot out of the group. It's just my people pleasing nature. Most of the time I am the best player in the group (which is not saying much). That being said I still prefer to play a regular round.

I tend to play better overall in scrambles than I do in individual rounds. I guess there's less pressure to hit the perfect shot.

Also, on shorter holes, I'll hit the safety tee shot and let the others swing away. About half the time, the "swing away" shots are disasters and we end up using my ball from the fairway for our approach.

Also, I'm a bit inconsistent with my partial wedges, so I can drop in a couple of good ones to tap-in range for the team.

The benefit scrambles are a good way for me to get outside my normal golf circle and meet new people.

That said, I don't care much for league scrambles where your group plays once a week at different course. I prefer best ball events, so I can turn in my own score at the end of the day.

@phillyk, if you want to maintain your 'god of golf' status the trick in this format is to find players to play with who suck so bad that they are truly grateful that they have someone like you in their team who makes contact with the ball every time on their very first attempt. My guess is you are absolutely bulletproof in that skill.. 

Never underestimate the power of low standards..

30 minutes ago, phillyk said:

My trick would be to get a team of low handicaps and let them do the work and I can sit back and drink beer and fireball , I'd still get the god of golf status by hitting the long drives or my short game (if I'm still sober enough).

Ahh Mr. Achilles that would be great except the low cappers will expect you to rescue them when they f..up.

OTOH, the high cappers will never get over how far you hit on the first tee.. Nothing else you do will have to matter. You can swim in fireball after that and polo the ball all day from your cart and not disappoint a bit. They will simply be thanking their stars and tell their grandchildren that they played with a + capper (aka God of Golf) once with breathless stories of your great length... 

I like the scramble format because of the comraderie in the group. I have always played scrambles as any single round. Just go out and play within your game. Unless your playing with the Q school rejects, your normal game should be solid enough to keep the team in  competition.

UNLESS OF COURSE ......you're winning the closest to the anything "shots"...