Scramble vs. Stroke Play

[kevin.chan]

Scrambles are what they are. When I play on at a familiar course I typically lose the free sleeve of balls by the turn. Try to fly every hazard and drive every short par 4 - why not? I was in one last week that was totally different though. I was the only active golfer in the group (one newbie and two guys who hadn't touched their clubs in a long time) and we struggled to finish 10 strokes behind the winning team - we sure had fun though!

Had the similar experience once where i have to cover for entire team ( my co's COO ) included . LoL !

We had fun !

[Rexx]

My favorite rounds of the year are scrambles. I probably play in 6-8 a year (and maybe 12-15 normal rounds). I'm usually playing with people that don't play much, so we end up using my shots (especially full shots) a lot of the time. We drink, bust on each other, flirt with the cart girl(s), and have a great time.

[JML22]

stroke for practice rounds for sure
scrambles just to have fun because the trash talk gets goin
i play in a couple scramble tourneys a year and we jut get wasted and its a blast

[Blades4me]

I seem to notice so many people scrambling when I'm on the course. My friends and I always play stroke play, we want to see our actual scores, regardless if we shoot 75 or 92

I'll take stroke or match play any day over a scramble. I've found scrambles to be painfully slow and attrack lots of high hc'ers. Thats okay until there are 8 foursomes or more of high hc'ers play'n. At that point I'll find somewhere else or something else. But that is just me.

[goblue107501]

There is a group I play with and some of the guys like to play shambles for those that want to. I usually just play my own ball anyway, but these guys like doing it so they don't have to rely on their own drive all the time. I guess when you play all the time at the same course it can be good to mix it up a bit to keep it fun.

I love playing in scrambles, as long as it is in a tournament setting. I wouldn't want to do it on a regular Saturday playing with friends.

[jetsknicks1]

I've never gone out with my buddies & just played a scramble for the heck of it, that seems silly to me. I do however, enjoy playing in a few scramble tourneys a year. Sometimes it's nice to just go out and just blast balls without worrying about an individual score.

[dbuck]

My scramble strategy is not that different from my regular strategy-on tight holes i will often hit 1 iron off the tee especially if one or more of my partners can hit longer than me. A good bit of the times though, my 1 iron in the fairway is the one we wind up playing.

[talismand]

I had never played a scramble in my life until yesterday. Me and a few buddies were playing a par 3 course and two of us were just not on our iron game and it was getting pretty frustrating. So on the back 9 we decided to switch to scramble, with one good player and one struggling player for each team. I have to admit, it was a blast. Completely salvaged the round, we all were just having fun and enjoying golf. In fact, I played so much better on the back 9 (I was one of the strugglers), mostly because I knew I had my partner to back me up. I can see how some might not like it as it's not "pure" golf, but when you're having an off day, I would suggest to anyone to just try it out

[jaragon126]

Not a fan of scrambles either, I feel like I play a different game than when I'm playing stroke play. In stroke play, certain holes are better played conservatively, and when in the rough sometimes it's best to punch out rather than try the "hero" shot. But in scrambles, it's like everyone is just trying to hit it as far as possible ... no course management, when in the trees, try to get up/go around/or go under the tree to hit some miraculous shot that you know you'll never pull off but your scramble partners insist you try.

But as talismand brought up, if your golf day is off and you feel like you'd rather throw your clubs in the lake than to continue playing your round ... a scramble might be fun to lift some spirits!

[walk18]

They're fun, only a few times a year though, then it's back to regular golf. And yes, cheating seems to be rampant.