Golf Prop Bet...

[Dinovirus]

Browsing a gambling forum and this prop bet came up:

  None said:

I have a friend who is a cousin to a golf pro at an area course and he offered me the following bet: He is a 6 handicap. He says he can walk 18-holes at this course (71.5/121/6575 yds from the whites)... and Shoot under 100.... In the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT... in get this.... UNDER FOUR HOURS! He wants to me to bet him $500 straight up that he can accomplish this. He wants a clear night with atleast a half-moon. Standard white ball, no goofy bright yellow colored ball. No flashlights or any other artificial lighting. Snap call?

What do you all think? Should he take the bet or pass?

[deronsizemore]

I'd say it's possible, but more often than not, he won't accomplish it.

[James_Black]

his eyes will adjust.
I'd say he has a good chance.

I played 4 holes in deep fog before, even with a yellow ball I could only see 15-20 yards in front of me.

He'll start off bad but he'll play better towards the end.

[TheGeekGolfer]

Let's see... he's not trying to shoot PAR, he's trying to shoot under 100. So, on the average 350 yd hole, punch 7 (150 yds easy), punch 7, chip, 2 putt and he averages a bogey on those holes. Bogey golf is 90, so that gives him 9 more shots to play with. Heck, I'm a 9-handicap, I have very good eyesite and I think I could do it. I'd probably want to do it on a full-moon night on a course I've played ALOT. I may not bet $500 on it, but I could probably do it.

[golfro]

I think he can do it. I've played golf at sunset when it was very dark and I still managed, as long as you can see where the pin is, you have a general direction you're hitting at.

[mcfc_nick]

no chance, if the course he plays on has any rough at all then anything slightly missed would result in a lost ball most of the time seeing as he wont be able to see where it went, id snap his hand off with that bet

[saevel25]

6500 yards, if he's a 6.6, than he's pretty good with his irons, and probably knows his misses. He can pace off the yardage and just turn in the direction to find the ball. I suspect he will average a two putt on every green, thats means he needs to hit 64 shots over those 6500 yards, thats about 105-110 yards per shot. So all he needs to do is hit wedge to 9-iron except for par threes. At a 6.6 the margin on the miss for a low iron isn't that high, i think he can easily do it, especially if he picks a clear night. But i think he could probably break 90.

[jamo]

If he was guaranteed to find every ball he hit then yes, no doubt. But it will be very hard to find the ball at night, so I say no.

[Mattplusness]

I'd take that bet any day. He is walking.. during the night. Takes twice as long to find your ball, especially if you lose sight after impact

[Michigolf]

I live on a nine hole course and almost every night in the summer I jump the fence at 930 and hit till 11 when its dark i can still hit anything from a 5 iron (180) down and know for certain where the ball is going. after 30 mins of being in the dark i can see the ball landing on the green and checking up from 150 in. I'm a 14.4 so not that great, and dont have super human vision, so i would definitely not go anywhere near this bet for two reasons
(1) good chance hes played at night before to make the bet
and (2) if I can mess around at night and not lose more than one ball every week or so can he at a 6 handicap

[Andy_Mac]

With a good moon, no clouds and if he's out in the sticks (no streetlights, etc to be seen) he can probably do it. There is a lot more light outside at night than you would think and the human eye is more than capable of picking it up if there isnt artificial light overpowering the moon's light. I wouldnt hit anything other than an iron just to keep the ball in good visual range but if you are only trying to break 100 that should matter that much. Just keep the ball under control and close to the fairway and you can see just fine.

[2bGood]

I think he can do it. I just came in from playing 3 holes in the dark, I played 4 balls on each hole and only lost 1 ball. I actually find I can hit the ball better in the dark and feel my shots better.

[iPutt]

I would think putting would be a major problem though. At least from my experiences trying to finish a round after sunset, reading the greens in bad light is really tough. Yea you could punch an iron a bunch of times and find it, but I think that putting and reading the greens would result in a lot of 3 putts and piddle away strokes.

[JetFan1983]

Total sucker bet. Easy $500 for the guy proposing this. He'd finish with plenty of time to spare. Pass.

[Dinovirus]

  iPutt said:

I would think putting would be a major problem though. At least from my experiences trying to finish a round after sunset, reading the greens in bad light is really tough. Yea you could punch an iron a bunch of times and find it, but I think that putting and reading the greens would result in a lot of 3 putts and piddle away strokes.

Yeah but I think the combination of the greens not being mowed (happens in the early morning) plus the dew will make them play quite a bit slower. When you also factor in that it's the guy's home course then I feel like the putting might be less of an issue than you think.

Judging by the varied replies, this is a very interesting proposition though.

[SpoiledRotten]

If your kids aren't going hungry, take the bet and report back to us.