Which golfer would you prefer to play?

[Zekez]

Tonight is the last night of my League.  Next week the playoffs begin which are match play.  I will either be playing one of the better golfers and as such will be getting a stroke on 3 holes.  Or a higher handicap golfer and would be giving a stroke on 5 holes.

Which one would you prefer to play?

Thanks!

[Piz]

I'd rather play with an advantage on three holes instead of a disadvantage on five.  

[David in FL]

1 minute ago, Piz said:

I'd rather play with an advantage on three holes instead of a disadvantage on five.  

Yep.  Plus I tend to play better when playing against better players.  Combine better play, with a 3 stroke advantage, that's my choice.

Bottom line though, you gotta play who you gotta play.  Knuckle down and play your best regardless of the draw, and remember, in match play, it ain't over until it's over.

Good luck!  

[chilepepper]

I'd rather play the better player. 

[Midpack]

I've enjoyed playing with most everyone in my 60+ player league, though some more than others. Given the handicap differences aren't too large - I'd choose the player I enjoyed playing with more. If there's no difference, I'd also choose the better player.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Midpack

[WUTiger]

I would choose the player who would get 5 strokes. I'm a fairly erratic golfer, so I would have a couple of triple bogies and then get some pars and lots of bogies on other holes. So, after accounting for my two blow-up holes, he would basically have to play me even.

[David in FL]

13 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

I would choose the player who would get 5 strokes. I'm a fairly erratic golfer, so I would have a couple of triple bogies and then get some pars and lots of bogies on other holes. So, after accounting for my two blow-up holes, he would basically have to play me even.

It's match play.  After your 2 blow up holes, he's still getting strokes on 3 more holes. And that assumes that your blow up holes happen to coincide with his other 2 stroke holes.  If not, he has the equivalent of a 7 hole advantage....    

[Jack Watson]

Personally,  I'd rather play the worse golfer.  

[boogielicious]

14 hours ago, David in FL said:

Yep.  Plus I tend to play better when playing against better players.  Combine better play, with a 3 stroke advantage, that's my choice.

Bottom line though, you gotta play who you gotta play.  Knuckle down and play your best regardless of the draw, and remember, in match play, it ain't over until it's over.

Good luck!  

This!

[bkuehn1952]

Assuming the League handicap allotments are USGA, give me the higher handicapper.  The USGA handicap system is biased in favor of the better player (60 to 40) in a match.

[mcanadiens]

I'd have thought that I'd prefer to play the worse golfer, but my history tends to show that I play better golf when I play with better players. 

With the variance in how I score from day to day, worrying about the number of strokes received or given doesn't seem worthwhile.

[Zekez]

The last two years I have lost in the playoffs to higher handicappers.  I played the top 3 golfers this season and actually beat all of them 5-4 (1 up).  So there is that..

 

16 hours ago, David in FL said:

Yep.  Plus I tend to play better when playing against better players.  Combine better play, with a 3 stroke advantage, that's my choice.

Bottom line though, you gotta play who you gotta play.  Knuckle down and play your best regardless of the draw, and remember, in match play, it ain't over until it's over.

Good luck!  

Thanks.

My score doesn't fluctuate based on the skill level of my opponent, so I don't look at that as a factor.

I think i would rather play the higher handicapper even though it is tough to give a stroke on 5 holes.  I feel a bit more confident playing someone with a higher handicap.

 

[WUTiger]

10 hours ago, David in FL said:

 If not, he has the equivalent of a 7 hole advantage....    

David, you have a 6.1 HDCP - you're an excellent golfer , so you don't understand my universe.

I'm a 24 HDCP - it's trending down about a half stroke every two weeks - so that means I'm playing against a 29 HDCP. Someone at that level has a couple of real blow-up holes every round - like a 10 or a pick-up that gets busted down to 8 for Equitable Stroke adjustments.

Let's say our blow-up holes cancel each other out, I just have to get some pars to tie his bogies on stroke holes (this unnerves the higher HDCP golfer). Plus, if it's match play, I'll grit my teeth and play it safe more often than in a normal round.

I believe that people who are modestly delusional are happier than those who are coldly realistic. Am I letting optimism override logic?

[David in FL]

1 minute ago, WUTiger said:

 

I believe that people who are modestly delusional are happier than those who are coldly realistic. 

I'm gonna steal that!  

[pganapathy]

For me I would rather get strokes than give strokes.  I rarely play on courses where I can't reach the green in par (except for long par 3's or long par 4's) so I find that giving strokes tends to breed a more go for broke style of play in me just to cover the holes where the opponent gets a stroke.  On a good day, this works but too often it tends to wind up leading to bad shots.  A more conservative style of play lets me play better in general and I would rarely score more than a bogey these days .  Maybe half pars and half bogeys and I am good to win against most people.

[Patch]

It wouldn't matter to me who I played. One less thing to think about, or enter into mental game.

 I would just play my game, and let the final numbers decide the out come. I am not one to play against other golfers. The course, and playing conditions are my opponents. They are tough enough as it is without adding in more stuff to think about.  

[DaveP043]

The important thing is that you have no control over who you play, you have to be prepared to play either guy.  If you think to yourself "I'd rather play the low-handicap guy and get the strokes" and you end up playing the higher-handicap, you've put yourself in a mental hole before you get to the first tee.  

I've played a lot of match play, on both sides of the handicap edge, and I honestly don't think it matters.  Statistically, there's a small edge to the lower-handicap player.  There's a HUGE statistical edge to the player who plays closer to his best.  Go out and play your best, you'll do fine.  

Edited August 10, 2017 by DaveP043

[Zekez]

I drew the League's best golfer.  He has been in the Finals the last 4 years (won 3).  I am getting a stroke on 4 holes.  Going to be tough.  But the last 2 years I got beat by higher handicapped golfers that i gave strokes too, so at least this year it's different!