scramble strategy

[mtsalmela80]

I am playing in a benefit scramble this weekend, haven't done one in a long time. I'm playing with a decent enough team, everyone averages in the 80s by themselves. 

 

Does anyone have any good strategies that could help a team get a lower score. 

[jsgolfer]

  On 9/26/2017 at 3:03 AM, mtsalmela80 said:

I am playing in a benefit scramble this weekend, haven't done one in a long time. I'm playing with a decent enough team, everyone averages in the 80s by themselves. 

 

Does anyone have any good strategies that could help a team get a lower score. 

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Have a strong mental game. J/K

I run 2 and play in a couple other scrambles every year.  Unfortunately unless you are playing in a weird format (step aside scramble) you just have to hit it as close as you can in regulation and make putts. It's really that simple in a straight scramble.  You might have the longest driver go last or the best player go last but even with that you have to hit the ball close to the hole and make a few long-ish putts.

[WUTiger]

Uhh, it's hard to have a scramble strategy if it's a thrown-together team.

A week ago, my scramble team lost a scorecard playoff. We had a former golf pro, a low HDCP amateur, and a pair of inconsistent senior players (me included) who had flashes of brilliance every couple of holes.

Assess what you have on your team, and plan accordingly. If your A player has a 15 HDCP, it may be a long day. A few things to consider:

• On holes where a gambling drive might pay off, have the short hitters put a ball in the fairway so the long hitters can "go for it."
• Give some thought to the 15-foot putts, even with 2-putt limit. Have everyone watch the putts to try to get a read if the first one misses.
• Use mulligans purposefully. Redo a 10-foot putt that all missed 1" left, but not a 30-foot putt where everyone went all over the place. Or, redo an approach shot where the group went chunk, airmail, chunk, airmail in regulation shots.
• From near the green, the shortest shot is not always the best one. Let's say you have two options:
  • A 20-foot pitch shot over the edge of a bunker into a downhill lie.
  • A 40-foot slightly uphill pitch that leads to a flat spot around the cup.
      The 40-foot shot might be better!
• And, try to figure out a way to have fun. (It's allowed...)

Your chances improve, however, if you organize a semi-pro scramble team of the idle rich and recently retired. These are groups of five or six who select the game-day foursome based upon skill mix and familiarity with the target course. These are the teams that shoot -19 and -17 when the next closest team is -12.

[David in FL]

It's a scramble.  Cheat better than everyone else.    

[saevel25]

  On 9/26/2017 at 3:03 AM, mtsalmela80 said:

Does anyone have any good strategies that could help a team get a lower score. 

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Depending on the hole, have 2 to all of you go at the pin with your approach shots. Lets say the pin is guarded by water, then try to get one ball on the green or just off the green in a safe spot. Then you have free reign to try to pin seek. You need birdie opportunities. In most cases you should be able to get up and down from most places around the green.

[iacas]

Go from worst to best on every shot, and only attempt to improve a bit on the previous shot.

[NM Golf]

  On 9/26/2017 at 11:42 AM, David in FL said:

It's a scramble.  Cheat better than everyone else.    

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^^^^Exactly, the best wood you hit all day better be a pencil!

[dzclarkcpa]

  On 9/26/2017 at 11:42 AM, David in FL said:

It's a scramble.  Cheat better than everyone else.    

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My advice, be the last one in. It never fails that every scramble I have ever played in, it seems the last group in wins more times than not.....usually by a single stroke, so I guess grinding over that last putt is worth it.

[bones75]

  On 9/26/2017 at 12:53 PM, iacas said:

Go from worst to best on every shot, and only attempt to improve a bit on the previous shot.

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This is correct imo too

[mtsalmela80]

Nice advice. We all know each other, and I've played the majority of my golf with two of the other guys, I know their game inside and out. The third guy I might have played with once, either way its going to be a lot of fun. Just hope the rain holds off, 40% chance as of today for Saturday.

[Buckeyebowman]

  On 9/26/2017 at 12:53 PM, iacas said:

Go from worst to best on every shot, and only attempt to improve a bit on the previous shot.

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BINGO! We have a winner! Establish your "batting order". If it's a chancy shot, you might consider a "safety shot" in case your top gun doesn't pull through. The last thing you want to do is make a bogey!

Same thing on the green. The first putter is there only to show everybody else the line!

[mtsalmela80]

Well it was a good time. We finished -13, for a 57. Got beat by a 53 and a 56. Everyone contributed to the scoring, and not a bogey on the card, so all in all a success. We kind of just went randomly, because we were fairly equally skilled and no one was a blatant weak point.

[RandallT]

  On 10/1/2017 at 12:08 AM, mtsalmela80 said:

Well it was a good time. We finished -13, for a 57. Got beat by a 53 and a 56. Everyone contributed to the scoring, and not a bogey on the card, so all in all a success. We kind of just went randomly, because we were fairly equally skilled and no one was a blatant weak point.

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That's some pretty good scoring! 

If you don't mind my asking, what strategies did you guys use that led to such good scoring? 

Or was it not so much any strategy as it was you guys just hitting the shots you needed?

[mtsalmela80]

  On 10/1/2017 at 11:16 AM, RandallT said:

That's some pretty good scoring! 

If you don't mind my asking, what strategies did you guys use that led to such good scoring? 

Or was it not so much any strategy as it was you guys just hitting the shots you needed?

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As far as driving, two of us were shorter and more fairway bound, and the two others (myself included) were a bit longer. So the two shorter guys drove and gave us a solid option, and we just tried to murder the ball. It worked out, we played our two drives (longer guys), probably north of 90% of the time.

Again, others here mentioned go worst to best, but we didn't really have that order laid out, so with driving we did what I said above. Approach shots, we just basically went randomly. I had a number of decent approaches, and a couple other guys did as well. Basically we always had an option. Someone was always inside 10 feet for the bird.

We had mulligans, but blew em all except for one! Three mulligans a piece. Twice we each used a mulligan on a short putt, probably 8 feet or so, and didn't make any attempts! I used my last mulligan on a tee, and it actually paid off. Four of us hit terrible drives on the longest par 5 on the course, I said I'm going to use a mulligan, and I fired off a good one. I had a solid three wood next which gave us 50 or so yards to the green. We ended up with a birdie on that one.

[David in FL]

And that, boys and girls, is why I don't play scrambles...

...ever!  

[Buckeyebowman]

  On 10/1/2017 at 12:07 PM, mtsalmela80 said:

 

As far as driving, two of us were shorter and more fairway bound, and the two others (myself included) were a bit longer. So the two shorter guys drove and gave us a solid option, and we just tried to murder the ball. It worked out, we played our two drives (longer guys), probably north of 90% of the time.

Again, others here mentioned go worst to best, but we didn't really have that order laid out, so with driving we did what I said above. Approach shots, we just basically went randomly. I had a number of decent approaches, and a couple other guys did as well. Basically we always had an option. Someone was always inside 10 feet for the bird.

We had mulligans, but blew em all except for one! Three mulligans a piece. Twice we each used a mulligan on a short putt, probably 8 feet or so, and didn't make any attempts! I used my last mulligan on a tee, and it actually paid off. Four of us hit terrible drives on the longest par 5 on the course, I said I'm going to use a mulligan, and I fired off a good one. I had a solid three wood next which gave us 50 or so yards to the green. We ended up with a birdie on that one.

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Kind of amazing how those " mulligans " go, isn't it? Makes you wonder if it's worth the money!

[shortstop20]

  On 9/26/2017 at 12:53 PM, iacas said:

Go from worst to best on every shot, and only attempt to improve a bit on the previous shot.

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Yep, this is it in a nutshell.

It really does help too if you keep it light and everyone has fun! No "I'm sorry" for bad shots, everyone will hit bad shots so no need for apologies. 

Lots of talk on the putting green is helpful to get the read. 

If it's a windy day be sure to talk about club selection but talk about it in terms of yards since everyone has different club distances. "Hey, it's playing at least 150, I hit my 8 iron good and came up short". That sort of stuff. 

Edited October 2, 2017 by shortstop20