23 Under Texas Scramble!

[CasperGolf]

We had a Texas Scramble Today. The winning score was 23 under (49). The 4 players are new members with ‘official WHS handicaps’. The combined handicap allowance was 17. All their handicaps were in the 20’s. They won by 7 shots. We have never had a score like this before and it’s widely viewed as BS. The wind was blowing hard and conditions weren’t favourable either. 
Has anyone come across a score/situation like this before?

[TomR13]

Does this mean they shot 6 under and with the handicap scored 23 under? Forgive my lack of understanding of the scoring. Just trying to understand the situation. 

[CasperGolf]

Yep, that’s right. 

[ChetlovesMer]

I have to say I've never played in a handicapped scramble before. I've played a few scrambles but sometimes they've been were teams are selected to distribute good and bad players or it's flighted. 6 under par in a scramble doesn't feel like a ton. 

Edited May 27, 2024 by ChetlovesMer

[billchao]

6 under in a team of four high handicap golfers seems kind of sketch.

[StuM]

It does not seem too far out of line other than you indicated a lot of wind which may make it less likely.  With 4 putts on every hole there is a good chance of dropping a few long puts and rarely 3 putting so even much HCP may score well if the can get on or near the green in Regulation.

I’ve never seen a handicapped scramble so the -29 seems absurd but co  up of be in line.

[GolfLug]

A gross 6 under for a scramble is not that good. I would buy it. Our gross winning score is usually 17-18 under. First time I've heard of a handicapped scramble.

[iacas]

15 hours ago, TomR13 said:

Does this mean they shot 6 under and with the handicap scored 23 under? Forgive my lack of understanding of the scoring. Just trying to understand the situation. 

Six under in a scramble doesn't seem too bad, I agree.

[saevel25]

Their handicap Allowance looked to be around 15-20%, which jives with the USGA recommended allowances. 

Its somewhere in the range. 

It seems to be an optimal score for that team makeup but pending the course not something crazy. 

 

[bkuehn1952]

My guess is next year (or next Texas Scramble) there is going to be a maximum team handicap. There are 20 handicappers who can hit a fair number of good shots. Four of them working together obviously can go low now and then.

[p1n9183]

Scramble is a game of good shots, not misses like normal golf. They can be 20 handicapers but if all of them are pretty long of the tee and were lucky to at least one of them hit a decent shot on each shot, then 6 under is a posibility... small one but can happend. 

[mcanadiens]

Anytime you are sending teams out to play golf unsupervised you are always going to have these questions. 

You either have to trust the people playing in the event, not take it too seriously or find a different format.

 

 

[Maroon88]

On 6/6/2024 at 3:20 PM, mcanadiens said:

Anytime you are sending teams out to play golf unsupervised you are always going to have these questions. 

You either have to trust the people playing in the event, not take it too seriously or find a different format.

 

 

That's precisely why I don't like playing in 4-person scrambles.  I prefer 2-man scrambles with NO MULLIGANS because you still have to play well to score.

[ChetlovesMer]

14 hours ago, Maroon88 said:

That's precisely why I don't like playing in 4-person scrambles.  I prefer 2-man scrambles with NO MULLIGANS because you still have to play well to score.

I agree with you on this. I also like the fact that you have 2 teams playing together so one team kind of "keeps an eye on" another team. 

[HitemHard]

On 5/27/2024 at 2:00 PM, CasperGolf said:

We had a Texas Scramble Today. The winning score was 23 under (49). The 4 players are new members with ‘official WHS handicaps’. The combined handicap allowance was 17. All their handicaps were in the 20’s. They won by 7 shots. We have never had a score like this before and it’s widely viewed as BS. The wind was blowing hard and conditions weren’t favourable either. 
Has anyone come across a score/situation like this before?

Was it played as "par's your friend" and were "mulligans" bought or given to each team? Seems the only way I could half way believe the score with all four of them being 20+ handicaps. I enjoy charity scrambles for the social aspects of it but I never go into them expecting to win. There's always that one team who seem to turn their cards in last and either win by one stroke or some team that remarkably shoots the best golf of their combined lives  scoring 52's or better! Two man scrambles are much better as it keeps people honest IMO. "Par's your friend" is always a horrible way to play the game. Mulligans are great to sell for charitable purposes but unrestricted amounts make it so that someone can just "buy" the win...in some cases...but are great for the charity of course. In the end, scrambles are just for fun and shouldn't be taken too seriously.