Card of the course Click here to see a map of the course
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This card shows the distances from the competition tees for men and ladies (red tee markers for the first nine and yellow tee markers for the back nine). For all non competition games and for visitors the friendly tees should be used (white tee markers for the front nine, black tee markers for the back nine and blue tee markers for ladies). |
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About stableford scoring
Many club competitions use the stableford point-scoring system rather than the simple nett score (total shots taken minus the handicap strokes received) used in a medal competition. The biggest difference between the two is that in a stableford competition you can give up on a hole if you are not going to score any points, making the round theoretically faster, whereas in a medal you have to keep on ... and on ... and on .. until the ball has dropped down eighteen holes. Put another way: in a medal, you deduct your stroke allowance at the end of the round and could, if you needed to, use all your strokes on one hole; in a stableford competition, you get shots on specific holes.
Step one - calculate your stroke allowance
You know your playing handicap - if you don't, look on the notice-board. The competition will be played off 'full handicap' or 'three-quarter handicap' or, unluckily for the mathematically-challenged among us, 'seven-eighths'. Work out how many shots you will receive for a full 18-hole round, to the nearest whole number. So, three-quarters of 26 would be 20 (19.5 rounds up) while seven-eighths of 23 is also 20 (20.125 rounds down). And, in case you hadn't realised, a 20-handicapper playing a competition off 'full handicap' receives - yes, twenty shots. If you get this wrong, don't worry. Remember that it is only your playing handicap and the gross shots taken on each hole that you have to vouch for when you sign the card.
Step two - work out the holes where you receive handicap strokes
A zero-handicap (scratch) golfer receives no shots, a golfer with a stroke allowance of eighteen gets one shot per hole and a stroke allowance of thirty-six works out at two shots a hole. Easy. But what about the twelve or twenty-four handicapper? This is where the 'stroke index' or SI comes into play. From the card above, you can see that the stroke index one hole (supposedly the hardest hole on the course) is the fourth and the easiest (SI 18) is the sixth. A golfer with a stroke allowance of eight would receive shots on the holes with the lowest eight SI ratings. Players often circle or put a tick on their card against the holes where they get shots, to remind the marker.
A golfer receiving nineteen shots would get a shot on every hole and an extra one on the fourth (SI 1). A male (ladies use different SI numbers) twenty-seven handicapper getting the full allowance of 27 shots has to remember that he gets two shots on the 8th hole the second time round (i.e. the 17th), but only one shot on the first nine. People have been known to miss their putt for a five and pick up the ball, forgetting that they get the extra shot second time around.
This way of allocating shots at specific holes also applies to match-play competitions, by the way. A twenty-three handicapper getting three-quarters the handicap difference playing against an eighteen handicapper would receive 3/4 * (23 - 18) = 15/4 = 4 shots - at the third and fourth holes each time round.
Step three - working out your opponent's score on each hole
When everybody has completed the hole and you have moved your bags out of the way of the group playing behind you, it's time to mark the card. Begin by writing down the gross score for the hole for the player whose card you are marking (in column A - don't worry about pairs competitions just yet). Deduct the stroke allowance for the hole and write the nett score in the column headed 'nett'. Now compare the nett score against the par for the hole - a nett bogey (one over the par score) gets one point and the lower the number of shots taken, the more points scored. People normally write the points scored in the final column on the card. A nett par gets two points, a nett birdie gets three. Birdie a hole where you receive two shots and you have a nett albatross worth five points. A nett double bogey cannot score points and that is the time at which you pick up and move to the green to watch your opponent putt out.
Step four - how well did you do?
Count up the total points scored and let the player corroborate that by checking the scores for each hole - this is where you hear muttered conversations outside the club-house at the end of the round "six for two, four for two, five for one, four for one, no two" Put the total in the box at the bottom of the card and sign the card you marked as well as your own.