May 17, 2004
Multiplier Stableford
Golf can be an exacting and cruel game.
Saturday's weather was just too good for me to ignore the opportunity to play in the competition at the picturesque Wyong Golf Club. However, my partner and I couldn't quite get the hang of combining well in the Multiplier Stableford scoring system.
Briefly, the way it works is this. On each hole an individual scores a certain number of Stableford points, taking into account his or her handicap. A nett par results in two points. So a player with a handicap of 18 who has a bogey (one over par) gets two points for the hole. A par would give them three points and so on. In Multiplier Stableford, the points scored by you and your partner are multiplied together. Still with me?
Unfortunately, my partner and never actually succeeded in getting a multiplier of more than one. On one hole, he would score three points and I would score one. Then we would reverse roles on the next hole. Our playing partners, however, combined better. On two of the holes they scored three and four points respectively, giving them a combined score of 12! With combinations like that they were in with a chance of winning. But included in their round was an unfortunate and annoying result on one hole where one of them had a nett eagle: four points! Had his partner done the same, they would have won the competition.
This is where the cruelty of the Multiplier Stableford scoring system manifests itself. Four times zero equals ... zero.
Still, one aspect of golf is that, for me at least, it is a very pleasant way to spend several hours on a fine day. I'm not one of those people who subscribe to the opinion that golf spoils a good walk.
Posted to Golf, Personal by Keith PittyPLEASE NOTE: you have been placed on THE GLOBAL ANTI-GOLF MOVEMENT's black-list as an evil club swinger with no respect for the environment or the evil effects of golf. Please await further correspondence that will convince you of the evils of golf and suggest a program to wean you from your dependence on this evil game!
more info: http://utenti.lycos.it/dossierisarenas/manifest.htm
Posted by: GAGM at May 17, 2004 1:45 PMMmmm... I was tempted to remove the above comment as spam, but I think I'll leave it there. Everyone is entitled their opinion and, as it happens I consider myself as one who holds a deep respect for the environment. Is that incompatible with playing golf? I think not.
Whilst the manifesto referred to raises some valid points of concern, such an extreme approach only opens such movements to ridicule.
Like so many activities, golf can be argued to have both beneficial and harmful effects on society. To categorise a stranger as an "evil club swinger with no respect for the environment or the evil effects of golf" simply because they have written about playing golf is bizarre!
Posted by: Keith Pitty at May 17, 2004 2:21 PMAh, it seems that my sense of humour went missing earlier today. (I'll blame it on the stresses of commuting by train to and from Sydney!)
My friend Jed Wesley-Smith (that prolific commentator who still refrains from establishing his own blog) has owned up as the identity behind the GAGM comment above. Damn you, Jed! I should have detected the Pythonesque tone.
Must be time to get together for another beer or several...
Posted by: Keith Pitty at May 18, 2004 10:00 PMhehe, apologies ...
look forward to another Friday evening beer - http://squizlog.keithpitty.org/archives/000156.html
Posted by: Jed Wesley-Smith at May 19, 2004 2:07 PMI thought you might catch the comment poster's IP address, like some other well known entities have been caught lately ... http://jroller.com/page/fate/20040517#jboss_panties_around_ankles_again
Posted by: Jed Wesley-Smith at May 19, 2004 2:10 PMYep, I should have looked more closely Jed, you evil, evil man!
Posted by: Keith Pitty at May 19, 2004 2:22 PM