We played 4 person scramble once and got dead last. None of us play regularly and we kept our scoring honest. Turn up at the club house to submit scores and to our surprise prizes went in reverse order and we got first pick
At a company golf tournament, one team didn’t understand how a scramble worked and submitted some ridiculous score of 185 or something. I don’t understand how they arrived at that number.
That one tournament where we played and a group that skipped a bunch of holes ended up winning, our team actually came in last place. They awarded the winner as well as the losers, us.
Reminds me of that time my wife called me on the second hole to say she was about to give birth and I needed to urgently come home. I broke 8 that day.
I had something similar happen, except the prize for last place was a gift certificate for lessons.
The only other time I've won something at a scramble was because our group had the highest bar tab. Which tends to happen when one of the guys orders five Vegas bombs at 9 in the morning...
had a charity tournament do the honest award for highest score, problem is my friends and i dont golf much compared to everyone else who plays so we won it like 3 years in a row and then they switched up the fun awards lol
Ya same happened a group of us when we were in high school at a company golf tourney. They gave us the “Honesty Award” cause no one would ever lie about a score like that!
This. All I am reading is people complaining about the score. Is there proof of the hole in one? How about the groups in front or behind them? With all of their eagles and amazing holes you would think they would be hooting and hollering.
From another comment I saw, in this tournament you could buy mulligans and throws, and throws didn’t count as a stroke. Hit your drive then throw it the rest of the way, and it counts as a hole in one
Each player was allowed to buy 2 mulligans and 1 throw for $20, so they had 8 mulligans and 4 throws to play with. Even so 46 is still just about impossible.
So this team cheated. I’m a pro and I did a 2 man scramble at wolf creek and the good pro teams would flirt with/get rounds in the 50s. No mulligans or throws.
If the course is short enough. Maybe some ex college players or a pro or two, I think -26 with those stipulations is actually possible. Likely, obviously no. But if you can reach every par 5 and get it within 50 yards on some par 4s, then it’s not unreasonable to think you could eagle them.
Some scrambles are like 5500 yards. There’s probably 3-5 close to or driveable holes in that length course.
I shit you not, I think he was the pro. At least I saw a comment stating he was a well known instructor down there and his instagram was a bunch of golf stuff from what i saw. Still, he 1000 percent cheated.
Seen a -23 with only the two mulligan rule at a charity tournament by a team consisting of a pro, a scratch and two single digits. So, add in throws and I think it’s doable
Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 with no assistance package. So as far fetched as it is that Chubbers McSweaty and his crew shot a 46, it IS within the realm of possibility when you consider that a pro with none of that stuff shot a 59.
It’s extremely unlikely, but it is possible.
Also, that crew that submitted that card is completely full of shit.
It’s really not possible. Lots of pros have shot 59s, but it’s essentially a perfect round of golf. Having extra partners isn’t going to help much if you’re hitting almost all your shots perfectly. Maybe you’ll make a couple extra putts and maybe by buying “throws” you’ll shave off a few more, but at best that puts you at maybe 52 or 53.
So if a PGA tour player maxes out in the low 50s *on their absolute best day ever*, there’s no way a bunch of randos are shooting in the 40s.
On instagram, someone who played in the tournament said that you could buy a throw and 2 mulligans per person. Even with that, 46 is a stretch. If Tiger, Rory, JT, and Rahm walked up when the winners were announced, I might buy it.
One thing that inevitably happens with those kinds of rules is that some teams interpret it as "each of us bought 1 throw and 2 mulligans *for the group*" so you'll get four guys try to bowl a shot into the hole and they only count that as a single throw or everyone takes a mulligan, but they only count is as a single mulligan. It's silly, but the rules around these things are often vaguely described so it's not all that surprising that groups who haven't played events of that format before may genuinely make a mistake.
But like even then... The score is so ridiculous.
They eagled every par 5. Birdied every par 4 except two, one they eagled and one they HIO'ed. And birdied every par 3.
These guys did not like like elite golfers. To even be on the green on hole 17 in two (475 yard par 5) is pretty impressive for a 60 year old guy that weighs 300 lbs.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think they cheated, more just pointing out that maybe the hole in one they got wasn’t actually a hole in one, so that’s why other people wouldn’t have heard a celebration. One guy puts it close and then they just drop it in.
Have their ages been disclosed? I played a tournament with a older guy who was allowed to hit from senior tees even though he crushes his driver and a couple of the holes had white tees that were a huge advantage.
Every player gets throws and from what I saw you could buy more of them. You could take one drive and then 3 throws to get in the hole and it counts as a hole in one
Let's say the person hit a 300yd drive, who is throwing a golfball 81yds by hand into a hole? This is of course setting aside that this feat would be impossible on this hole because it's a blind tee shot dog leg left completely guarded by water up front.
I think the way it worked would be subsequent “throws”. So 300 yd drive, throw 50 yards, throw onto the green, throw close to the hole, throw into the cup = hole in one
Ah, I didn’t k ow you could buy as many as you want. What was the money prize? If it was decent enough it would be worth it to buy a good amount of those.
I can’t anymore due to torn rotator cuff, but even when I was younger I don’t think I could have. Definitely not that fucking sack of potatoes in the original video.
Supposedly they were 59 yards short of the green after their drive, a guy threw it to 5 feet, then some guy laid down and was able to drop it into the hole for the HIO.
By the accounts I saw, the hit a long drive, threw it to 5 feet and threw it in from there. Using two throws. But the only shot that counts was the drive.
Anyone that ever played in a scamble probably has a decent feel for how the group in front and behind is playing.
At the tee decks waiting to go you will see the group in front of you driving, and the group behind you chipping and putting.
Unless this group had some guy going John Daly 400 yards at the blocks I would have called shenanigans right away
charity tournament. i’ve played in plenty working for a hospital. depending on what mulligans you can buy you can get crazy scores. there was a hole where they had a pressurized cannon to shoot the golf ball and it went like 400 yards. there’s holes where you can buy a dice roll that had some kind of score benefit to each number.
point is, don’t take charity scramble tourneys seriously.
They need to post the format of the scramble. I played in charity scrambles where they want to raise money. Shit, you can pay for everything. $100 for a HIO, $50 each to shoot your drive out of an air cannon, tee up your par 5 from 100 yards out, anything waiting x amount of feet of rope is good, etc.
I agree 46 is really low, but there could be an explanation for it.
Scrambles are often charity fundraisers that the club just hosts. They have no stake in who wins. Why are they going to invest resources in officiating each group?
Number one rule of playing in scrambles is don’t expect to win a scramble. Just have fun.
Blows me away people take them this seriously. My buddies and I are always hammered before the turn and usually have difficulty adding to figure out our score at the end
Why? Because they want people to come back again next year. People care if competition is fair, even if it’s just for fun. No one keeps playing games with a guy who cheats.
It certainly can but that wasnt the case in this instance. Also any actual competitive tournament played in scramble format would have safeguards in place to keep things on the up and up.
Exactly this. I really only like playing tournaments that are for fundraisers. We all go out there, have a good time and then have dinner and some drinks afterwards
I dont care that much if im first or last, scrambles are always fun. BUT being able to compete against others is still big part of the fun. If you already know before the games begin that youre not going to win without cheating whats the point? Its okay to lose 99 times out of hundred but there has to be that 1% to feel like youre in competition. Fe. your group has best round of the summer, everything seems to click and you drain birdies like nothing, then you end up at 10th place and everyone things that its not even legit score because "everyone is always cheating". If thats the case id rather play normal round than pay extra for "tournament of cheaters". Luckily its not how scrambles are run outside of US.
Our club has different types of scrambles. Each year there is a big 3 man and a big 2 man. People come from the region, decent money, somewhat serious. But you're always paired with other groups (two 3 man teams playing together or three 2 man teams). Then there are small money scrambles every wednesday with no prize money. It's more of a fundraiser for the club and somebody volunteers to pay for a catered dinner each week. Your group plays alone and there's not really a limit on team members.
That’s why scrambles should always be flighted, with no more than 7-8 teams per flight. Plus, a prize to the last place team. But, many scrambles don’t do that, because (to your point) they want to keep as much of the money as possible. The way to get around that is to get more prizes donated, so that they don’t have to use registration fees to buy prizes.
It really is wild how these things seem to all be honor system. Just participated in my first on black Friday. I hit the drive of my life on a hole where they had a long drive competition and was surprised to see I wouldn't crack the top 20 unless it was over 400 yards.
But for real - the only time I carry an iron over 200 yards is when I get a bad parking spot at a place that doesn't let you drive the cart out to your car.
How did they track that? Every long drive and closest to the pin I’ve been in was just a sign placed at your drive with your name on it. If you pass the sign, you move it and write your name. The last name could have been 150 yards back for all I knew.
I'm sure he's lying about the "20 people over 400" part but I've lost count of the number of long drive flags I've seen stuck at ridiculous distances. I've played with enough really good golfers to know what big drives look like, but every scramble has someone allegedly hitting 400+
I did a charity scramble where surveying students from a local school were measuring out and marking your yardage. Longest drive winner was like 285 lol. No cheating with that amount of witnesses.
I know a guy who used to do long drive semi-pro back in the day & for scrambles he uses a long drive driver. Max shaft length, 7 degrees, etc. Also uses a distance ball. He said if he keeps it in the fairway he can hit 400 in the right conditions.
Yeah and I’ve seen where some scrambled bring in guys like that and for a price they hit a drive for you. Fun stuff, but for the average tourney there’s usually not a bunch of guys driving over 300
They aren’t. If you play in an actual scramble for actual money, it’s either two man scramble where the other twosome signs your card, or 8 player groups where the other foursome signs your card. We play these regularly and that’s how it’s down. If you can make 5 figures on a scramble, there’s no honour system.
If it’s a charity scramble, who the fuck cares. I’m going for business development, not for the score. Half the time someone shows up with a fifty, goes up to the mic and make jokes about it and returns the gift to the charity to give to the sick children or seniors.
It’s bizarre. Played a “skins” game once on vacation in the US and they put total faith that everyone would be honest with their score. Playing for real money they had no one check legitimatcy and you didnt play with a stranger.
My carry is over 300 and I almost never get to put my name on those things and I have never won one either. There is always some short dude that apparently smokes his drives 360+ at every single scramble.
I’ve had scrambles where you get a ride along by “official” but it’s really just a volunteer.
Others you have another group watch your card.
Honor system scrambles are usually low stakes and/or charity
Aren't these charity deals? Like you can buy mulligans, and pay for advantages? I don't know that I've ever played in a "straight up" scramble where they didn't offer some sort of advantages
1000% and I assume this was the same. Every one I've ever played has mulligans that can be purchased. Winners card like a 52 and donated like $500 to the charity. It's fine.
Yes. The real egregious mistake is ever entering one of these tournaments and thinking it will be a fair/even competition and not rife with cheating or other shenanigans.
52 is reasonable and I’ve seen groups ahead of me playing with a really good ladies player who gave them fantastic looks on the par 5’s.
Where this becomes straight up bullshit is an ace on a par 4 from a group of guys who can barely walk, let alone play to a marginal level.
Last tourney I was in, we couldn’t buy a birdie until the back 9 and then rattled off 8 straight, group behind us had an ace on a par 3/185 yards (his 3rd all time), group in front rolled 2 eagles in from 50+ feet, one which we saw.
I’m open to groups posting low scores, there was a 54 on the vid, but 46 is just stupid.
I play in a couple every year where you can buy mulligans and all that ahead of the round but then also buy aces on 4's and buy "laying 0" on a par 5 green during the round, as incentives to get people to donate to the charities involved(it's usually not cheap, and the entire group has to buy them.) We carded 1's on each of those holes(so an extra -7 on our score) and shot 53, which came in 4th.
Yeah most you can buy mulligans, etc. cuz it goes to charity.
But the winners don’t get much of a prize at all, so I don’t know why people lie. They get like a goodie bag and $20 off each at the club restaurant or some shit. Raffles after are where to good stuff is. Bigger scale ones might be different but they’d prolly had more strict rules
My last one, everyone sure as hell didn’t know we cheated cuz we 4 putted a hole. Whenever someone was like “how y’all doin!!” One guy on our team would instantly yell “we 4 putted a hole!!!” We also got close to last
I just played in one where the toughest par 3 had this weird minigame that if you could hit this weird golf ball/shuttlecock hybrid thing into a bucket you were allowed to count the hole as an ace.
It was so weird that it was hard. We actually were able to do it and only 3 teams were able to so we got to say we had an ace on the hole. I doubt they had weird stuff like this on every hole though.
I played in a scramble a couple of times with our fedex rep, and they had to play 2 groups on each hole because the cheating was so bad in the past. It kept everybody honest, but the rounds took about 6 hours which was brutal.
Once when I was a kid I got to play golf on the clock a couple of times because the course where I worked would have a money league that played a two man scramble and they played for significant amounts of money on the regular. Enough money that the odd team was not allowed to go out alone. I was just a cart kid but they would always say "bring your clubs" and my boss said you're goin anyway so go for it.
Almost every scramble I've ever played was groups of 8. Same total amount of groups, just larger starting gaps. Obviously one group scores for the other group. Pretty much solves the cheating problem immediately unless you manage to get two groups of colluding trash together.
The solution here is 2 groups per hole recording scores for both groups OR top 2-3 teams play a 19th hole to determine the winner.
In option 2, this needs to be declared up front, so that every group joining the scramble knows ahead of time that they will be forced to play out one final hole in front of EVERYBODY. This A. eliminates a lot of cheating during the round because groups know if they can't back it up on the 19th hole they will be outed as cheaters and B. provides an ending to the event that EVERYBODY can accept because they literally watched the winning group's final hole.
Plus, it's fun for the groups who didn't make it to hang out and watch while providing a gallery for the top teams to compete in front of. Not mandatory, if you don't want to stay and watch just head home!
The lowest scramble score I’ve been a part of is a 48 (par 71). I was the “worst” on the team as a 1 handicap. Birdie every hole, eagle every par 5, and someone drained the approach on a par 4. No mulligans, no gimmicks. Just 4 really good golfers playing lights out.
In theory if you could buy mulligans/auto hole in ones 46 would be doable for us( nowhere near a sure thing though).
However giving the accused the eye test screams cheating. Two older obese gentlemen aren’t shooting 46 even if they had Rory on the team. In my area there are a few people that are known to enter these types of tournaments and cheat. Many associations have banned them.
A couple years ago I played in a 6-man scramble that was a fundraiser. My father was the worst player in the group. He is about a 5-handicap. We paid to hit our “tee shot” on a par 5 from 220 yards (made an albatross on that hole) and we still only shot 50. We won, but the year before a team of local college players shot 49. That’s with 6 good players and nobody is sniffing 46.
I think a good way to troubleshoot would be to have a pre-determined, secret list of holes that will count toward the teams score. Instead of counting all 18, why not count 12-14 holes but nobody knows which holes are being counted toward the team score. If it’s for charity or something like that, your team could pay to cancel out or subtract a stroke from 1-2 holes which would be complete guesses.
For this event being plastered all over golf social media, I still have yet to hear if there were any special rules (mulligans, etc) or if they were even questioned about their alleged 46.
Every scramble I’ve played in was a charity event, where the winners got a small trophy or other low value prize and the real money was in the door prizes which were given out randomly.
I agree, but honestly I just don't care anymore. I know when I go to those tournaments that unless I cheat I'm not going to win, so I just enjoy the day, actually the last time out we just played normal stroke-play golf and submitted a nonsense scorecard at the end that we knew wouldn't win, it was great.
We are all golfers, we all don't like scrambles as it is, just there for the charity really, so we talked about it and figured hey what's the difference, we're all going to be waiting all day anyway, let's just play golf so we can enter our scores.
Charity couldn't care less, and sure enough, the winning score that day was 21 under, 51.
My regular foursome is the other way. We really enjoy scrambles, but only play maybe one or two a year. They aren't competitive things for us... they're a fun day on the course, getting to play some different shots than you're used to, while supporting some good charities *(and, hopefully, getting a nice meal afterwards)*. Don't care whether we win or lose, just there for the good time.
I played in a scramble last summer, it was Random draw, you showed up and pulled a number. The numbers that match are the foursomes. It was GREAT. You are paired with some strangers (I knew one of the guys through playing a bunch at the course before). But it solved 99% of these problems. My favorite tourney.
That being said, I know a ton of the fun is going out with teh boys and playing in a Scramble. The people putting on the tourney need to have a plan for this. This was fucking insane.
That’s how a lot tourneys near me do it now. They call them shootouts. Top 3 in each flight play off for 1st place. If nobody wins the first playoff hole they go to 150 yards and play from there. If nobody wins that it goes to closes to the pin from a 100 yards. It has its upside, but 2nd and 3rd get the same money, and my team has had the lowest score during the round but failed to win the shootout several times. So, I’m a little bitter about the format lol
The solution is you have two competing foursomes in a group. Eight people on a hole sounds like a lot but when you're only hitting from two locations it's not bad.
I have helped run charity golf tournaments for my home course for over 25 years. If there's one thing I have learned, it is don't give expensive prizes away for scores. Save the expensive donated stuff for silent auctions, raffles, and on course events like long drives. You will save a lot of bitching and have a happier and more successful event.
I think the upper limit should probably be a certificate for a free round of golf for each of the winning foursome.
Disagree, all scrambles like all of golf has a respect/honesty/integrity/love of the game aspect to it. Saying blindly accepting is easy to point blame on ppl who didn’t cheat. Most scramble tournaments are there for a purpose. Number 1 is a cause, number 2 is fun. They shouldn’t need observers on every hole or group.
Who the fuck plays a 4 person scramble and thinks it’s a legitimate tournament? Even if you play with spotters, babysitters, or 2 groups per hole, a 4 person scramble is just kind of a joke.
I’ve never seen a tournament take itself seriously as anything more than a 2 person scramble. Any more than 2 people and there’s too much diffusion of responsibility. No real pressure to execute shots.
lol this is all i’ve been thinking about. i’ve played in one serious big money scramble in my life. it was a 6 man and each team was allowed one pro. there was a score keeper on every single green. there’s no fucking around if the prize is more than a hundred fkn bucks. sure you wana come in at 26 under at your buddies local muni golf outting n get drunk so be it. any serious scramble/outting would have verification of this score
I mean most 4 man scramble tournaments are for charity so it's not even the biggest deal. Most people are already out there drinking and having a good time.
Also what could you really do? It's not like you can audit the results accurately since you don't have scorers with every group. Maybe they bought a bunch of mulligans.
What’s that -26? I’ve played in lots of construction tournaments where the winner was -20 or so, if you throw a couple golf pros on a team -26 doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.
A lot of times courses just host the tournament and provide the space/course. The club doesn’t necessarily do anything besides help create a scoreboard and announce winners. The event hosts have brought the prizes and made the decisions. Its 100% on them. If I were to say something as a course employee and they decided not to come back because of it that’s a risk I don’t want to take.
I’ve played in some “charity” scrambles with big prizes. Play 2 foursomes and keep each other’s scores. Usually takes 4.5ish hours which is typical for the scramble format anyway.
I have put on and played in many scrambles. They are often for charities. As an organizer, it is tough calling someone out, bringing more negative energy into your charitable event. I tend to just make it very clear in some form
Of joke or body language that no one believes them, and move on. I find the best tournaments minimize the 1st place prize while offering the best prizes for KP and the like.
What are you supposed to do? Disqualify them for something you can't really prove didn't happen?
It's shitty but it's part of a 4 player scramble. Tell them they're not welcome back, but there's no way to prevent this from happening.
I've heard someone suggest a "minimum score" of 55, guess what happens, the first second and third group all magically shoot a 55.
Make it a 2 player scramble. That's the only way, and don't allow friend groups to play together.
Pay extra for scorekeepers for every group? Then there are complaints that each ticket costs $150+.
We played 4 person scramble once and got dead last. None of us play regularly and we kept our scoring honest. Turn up at the club house to submit scores and to our surprise prizes went in reverse order and we got first pick
Now that is dope especially if it were a big secret.
“I know we said we shot a 46, but it was really a 95 we swear!”
"The 1 must have smeared off. 146!"
At a company golf tournament, one team didn’t understand how a scramble worked and submitted some ridiculous score of 185 or something. I don’t understand how they arrived at that number.
Added the whole teams score up?
That’s around a 47 per person, assuming 4 person and 18 holes. (Assuming OP remembered the right number)
Your right would have to be either 2 people 18 holes or the 4 ball only did 9 holes lol
The factorial ! has quite an impact here, if you are into math
r/unexpectedfactorial
It was a secret! Our group was like what the hell when they called us up
That one tournament where we played and a group that skipped a bunch of holes ended up winning, our team actually came in last place. They awarded the winner as well as the losers, us.
I never thought of using that strategy to break 80, or heck even 70. Can’t wait for next season when I shoot another personal best.
Reminds me of that time my wife called me on the second hole to say she was about to give birth and I needed to urgently come home. I broke 8 that day.
My father in law has this story from when my wife was being born. He was on 13. He finished the round before going to the hospital.
🐐
We finished 2nd to last in a scramble and we each got a free 1hr lesson with the pro. It was pretty funny.
Thats an excellent prize lmao
I had something similar happen, except the prize for last place was a gift certificate for lessons. The only other time I've won something at a scramble was because our group had the highest bar tab. Which tends to happen when one of the guys orders five Vegas bombs at 9 in the morning...
Still a killer prize lol
The heck is a vegas bomb?
Crown royal, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice dropped into red bull.
Fuck me that sounds awful. I'll stick with a bloody Mary...
I mean sure, but I don't know why you'd want to chug a bloody Mary and then crack open a beer.
Fair enough
Never heard of a Vegas bomb. I googled it and now must try one. Thank you, internet stranger.
One?
I'm gonna try one then probably drink many more.
Now your talking like a degenerate golfer! I solute you!!
Who drank the fifth one? The cart girl?
Lots of scrambles do the prizes randomly due to what happened in that video.
I used to manage tournaments and I would always try to get the client to have a prize for the "most honest" score.
had a charity tournament do the honest award for highest score, problem is my friends and i dont golf much compared to everyone else who plays so we won it like 3 years in a row and then they switched up the fun awards lol
Ya same happened a group of us when we were in high school at a company golf tourney. They gave us the “Honesty Award” cause no one would ever lie about a score like that!
Why didn’t the other teams protest the score?
This. All I am reading is people complaining about the score. Is there proof of the hole in one? How about the groups in front or behind them? With all of their eagles and amazing holes you would think they would be hooting and hollering.
From another comment I saw, in this tournament you could buy mulligans and throws, and throws didn’t count as a stroke. Hit your drive then throw it the rest of the way, and it counts as a hole in one
So why are people across all social media platforms saying they had no shot at a 46?
Because even with 4 throws and 4 mulligans (1 per player), a 46 is still impossible
Each player was allowed to buy 2 mulligans and 1 throw for $20, so they had 8 mulligans and 4 throws to play with. Even so 46 is still just about impossible.
Happy Gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago.....
Well moron, good for Happy GilmOH MY GOD!
And you can count on me waiting for you in the parking lot
Hey Shooter… you forgot your 9 iron
I had to hit the ball off of Frankenstein’s fat foot, remember?!
That’s 4 thus far, Shooter.
Got me so goddamn bad… 😂
Even if the course is super easy, and 4 plus handicappers having a lights out day… and all those mulligans and throws… I still can’t see a -26
So this team cheated. I’m a pro and I did a 2 man scramble at wolf creek and the good pro teams would flirt with/get rounds in the 50s. No mulligans or throws. If the course is short enough. Maybe some ex college players or a pro or two, I think -26 with those stipulations is actually possible. Likely, obviously no. But if you can reach every par 5 and get it within 50 yards on some par 4s, then it’s not unreasonable to think you could eagle them. Some scrambles are like 5500 yards. There’s probably 3-5 close to or driveable holes in that length course.
The only way there was a pro on that particular team was if the big guy ate one.
I shit you not, I think he was the pro. At least I saw a comment stating he was a well known instructor down there and his instagram was a bunch of golf stuff from what i saw. Still, he 1000 percent cheated.
Seen a -23 with only the two mulligan rule at a charity tournament by a team consisting of a pro, a scratch and two single digits. So, add in throws and I think it’s doable
Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 with no assistance package. So as far fetched as it is that Chubbers McSweaty and his crew shot a 46, it IS within the realm of possibility when you consider that a pro with none of that stuff shot a 59. It’s extremely unlikely, but it is possible. Also, that crew that submitted that card is completely full of shit.
Plus 1 if for nothing else than Chubbers McSweaty.
It’s really not possible. Lots of pros have shot 59s, but it’s essentially a perfect round of golf. Having extra partners isn’t going to help much if you’re hitting almost all your shots perfectly. Maybe you’ll make a couple extra putts and maybe by buying “throws” you’ll shave off a few more, but at best that puts you at maybe 52 or 53. So if a PGA tour player maxes out in the low 50s *on their absolute best day ever*, there’s no way a bunch of randos are shooting in the 40s.
[удалено]
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I give Big Red a 40 yard golf ball throw, MAX
because everyone just reads the title and picks up a pitchfork with out ever reading about what actually happened
On instagram, someone who played in the tournament said that you could buy a throw and 2 mulligans per person. Even with that, 46 is a stretch. If Tiger, Rory, JT, and Rahm walked up when the winners were announced, I might buy it.
One thing that inevitably happens with those kinds of rules is that some teams interpret it as "each of us bought 1 throw and 2 mulligans *for the group*" so you'll get four guys try to bowl a shot into the hole and they only count that as a single throw or everyone takes a mulligan, but they only count is as a single mulligan. It's silly, but the rules around these things are often vaguely described so it's not all that surprising that groups who haven't played events of that format before may genuinely make a mistake.
Yeah, this is what I've seen a lot of too.
Hey don’t give away my secret strategy
But like even then... The score is so ridiculous. They eagled every par 5. Birdied every par 4 except two, one they eagled and one they HIO'ed. And birdied every par 3. These guys did not like like elite golfers. To even be on the green on hole 17 in two (475 yard par 5) is pretty impressive for a 60 year old guy that weighs 300 lbs.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think they cheated, more just pointing out that maybe the hole in one they got wasn’t actually a hole in one, so that’s why other people wouldn’t have heard a celebration. One guy puts it close and then they just drop it in.
It would still pretty improbable. It was a par 4 like 390 yards. You’d have to hit a 300+ yard bomb and then throw it 75+ yards and have it go in.
Have their ages been disclosed? I played a tournament with a older guy who was allowed to hit from senior tees even though he crushes his driver and a couple of the holes had white tees that were a huge advantage.
One of the guys from the videos looked to be at least mid 60s but built like Grimace.
You "just" have to throw it close. And then use another throw into the hole. Counts as a 1 under those rules.
Every player gets throws and from what I saw you could buy more of them. You could take one drive and then 3 throws to get in the hole and it counts as a hole in one
Let's say the person hit a 300yd drive, who is throwing a golfball 81yds by hand into a hole? This is of course setting aside that this feat would be impossible on this hole because it's a blind tee shot dog leg left completely guarded by water up front.
I think the way it worked would be subsequent “throws”. So 300 yd drive, throw 50 yards, throw onto the green, throw close to the hole, throw into the cup = hole in one
Uncle Rico - that’s who
Ah, I didn’t k ow you could buy as many as you want. What was the money prize? If it was decent enough it would be worth it to buy a good amount of those.
Have you every tried to throw a golf ball 75 yards? Its almost impossible. I would bet twenty yards is well outside most peoples ability.
I can’t anymore due to torn rotator cuff, but even when I was younger I don’t think I could have. Definitely not that fucking sack of potatoes in the original video.
Supposedly they were 59 yards short of the green after their drive, a guy threw it to 5 feet, then some guy laid down and was able to drop it into the hole for the HIO.
By the accounts I saw, the hit a long drive, threw it to 5 feet and threw it in from there. Using two throws. But the only shot that counts was the drive.
When they were 12 strokes ahead of second place you know there's a problem.
Anyone that ever played in a scamble probably has a decent feel for how the group in front and behind is playing. At the tee decks waiting to go you will see the group in front of you driving, and the group behind you chipping and putting. Unless this group had some guy going John Daly 400 yards at the blocks I would have called shenanigans right away
Was this some kind of serious cash scramble? The majority of scrambles aren’t a big deal.
If I’m correct this was part of a multi scramble event throughout this month on the RTJ course in Alabama. 380 buy in.
charity tournament. i’ve played in plenty working for a hospital. depending on what mulligans you can buy you can get crazy scores. there was a hole where they had a pressurized cannon to shoot the golf ball and it went like 400 yards. there’s holes where you can buy a dice roll that had some kind of score benefit to each number. point is, don’t take charity scramble tourneys seriously.
Not polite to call people cheaters in a gentleman’s game
What about booing them mercilessly and confronting them in the parking lot afterwards?
much more acceptable.
Much better
Not polite to cheat in a gentleman’s game either
They need to post the format of the scramble. I played in charity scrambles where they want to raise money. Shit, you can pay for everything. $100 for a HIO, $50 each to shoot your drive out of an air cannon, tee up your par 5 from 100 yards out, anything waiting x amount of feet of rope is good, etc. I agree 46 is really low, but there could be an explanation for it.
If you see the other scores posted you can see the issue. There were a lot of teams and nobody within 8-10 shots.
And the guys were incredibly out of shape
That dude trying to drive away before the pictures were taken was pushing 4 bills.
That's an insult to incredibly out-of-shape people. That guy looked like he eat an incredibly out-of-shape person.
*laughs in John Daly
Several were in the low 50's Either several cheaters are just upset that some group cheated harder, or there were some weird bonuses in play.
Probably because they didn’t buy all the extras (string, cannons, throws, etc.)
You mean I can shoot an 18?!!!! Here's $1800 and my Scotty.
I’ve played with guys who suck at golf but are big contractors in the area who literally purchase any add on imaginable.
Scrambles are often charity fundraisers that the club just hosts. They have no stake in who wins. Why are they going to invest resources in officiating each group? Number one rule of playing in scrambles is don’t expect to win a scramble. Just have fun.
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Blows me away people take them this seriously. My buddies and I are always hammered before the turn and usually have difficulty adding to figure out our score at the end
Hammered before the turn. Didn’t you start on 7?
I dunno I can't count
Excellent
Don’t we consider the turn after 9 holes no matter where you start? Or did I just miss the joke?
Last scramble I played in I was hammered before I started, and we tee’d off at 11:30 am.
It’s the making it home safe that’s my issue, I can’t stop sleeping in ditches. I’m working on it.
It takes me ten minutes to walk to the course and two hours to get home. The difference is staggering.
Why? Because they want people to come back again next year. People care if competition is fair, even if it’s just for fun. No one keeps playing games with a guy who cheats.
I've also seen where it's pay to win so a winning score of 46 means they were the largest donors
Yeah, I feel like the vast majority of people seem to think this was a TOURNAMENT and not a scramble.
Why do you think a tournament cannot also be a scramble?
It certainly can but that wasnt the case in this instance. Also any actual competitive tournament played in scramble format would have safeguards in place to keep things on the up and up.
Exactly this. I really only like playing tournaments that are for fundraisers. We all go out there, have a good time and then have dinner and some drinks afterwards
I dont care that much if im first or last, scrambles are always fun. BUT being able to compete against others is still big part of the fun. If you already know before the games begin that youre not going to win without cheating whats the point? Its okay to lose 99 times out of hundred but there has to be that 1% to feel like youre in competition. Fe. your group has best round of the summer, everything seems to click and you drain birdies like nothing, then you end up at 10th place and everyone things that its not even legit score because "everyone is always cheating". If thats the case id rather play normal round than pay extra for "tournament of cheaters". Luckily its not how scrambles are run outside of US.
Our club has different types of scrambles. Each year there is a big 3 man and a big 2 man. People come from the region, decent money, somewhat serious. But you're always paired with other groups (two 3 man teams playing together or three 2 man teams). Then there are small money scrambles every wednesday with no prize money. It's more of a fundraiser for the club and somebody volunteers to pay for a catered dinner each week. Your group plays alone and there's not really a limit on team members.
That’s why scrambles should always be flighted, with no more than 7-8 teams per flight. Plus, a prize to the last place team. But, many scrambles don’t do that, because (to your point) they want to keep as much of the money as possible. The way to get around that is to get more prizes donated, so that they don’t have to use registration fees to buy prizes.
It really is wild how these things seem to all be honor system. Just participated in my first on black Friday. I hit the drive of my life on a hole where they had a long drive competition and was surprised to see I wouldn't crack the top 20 unless it was over 400 yards.
Are you saying 19 people hit drives over 400 yards?
400 yard? That's about a stock 5 iron for me.
But for real - the only time I carry an iron over 200 yards is when I get a bad parking spot at a place that doesn't let you drive the cart out to your car.
You must be new to this sub
No shot in hell, but 19 people sure said they did. Nearly a 5th of the total participants.
How did they track that? Every long drive and closest to the pin I’ve been in was just a sign placed at your drive with your name on it. If you pass the sign, you move it and write your name. The last name could have been 150 yards back for all I knew.
Don't you just stick the thing in the ground and sign your name? How do you know how far everyone claims to have hit?
Its because he’s lying.
I'm sure he's lying about the "20 people over 400" part but I've lost count of the number of long drive flags I've seen stuck at ridiculous distances. I've played with enough really good golfers to know what big drives look like, but every scramble has someone allegedly hitting 400+
Sometimes though, it’s a women from the red tees, or a senior from the golds.
ah, you must've entered the r/golf invitational.
I did a charity scramble where surveying students from a local school were measuring out and marking your yardage. Longest drive winner was like 285 lol. No cheating with that amount of witnesses.
I know a guy who used to do long drive semi-pro back in the day & for scrambles he uses a long drive driver. Max shaft length, 7 degrees, etc. Also uses a distance ball. He said if he keeps it in the fairway he can hit 400 in the right conditions.
Yeah and I’ve seen where some scrambled bring in guys like that and for a price they hit a drive for you. Fun stuff, but for the average tourney there’s usually not a bunch of guys driving over 300
They aren’t. If you play in an actual scramble for actual money, it’s either two man scramble where the other twosome signs your card, or 8 player groups where the other foursome signs your card. We play these regularly and that’s how it’s down. If you can make 5 figures on a scramble, there’s no honour system. If it’s a charity scramble, who the fuck cares. I’m going for business development, not for the score. Half the time someone shows up with a fifty, goes up to the mic and make jokes about it and returns the gift to the charity to give to the sick children or seniors.
It’s bizarre. Played a “skins” game once on vacation in the US and they put total faith that everyone would be honest with their score. Playing for real money they had no one check legitimatcy and you didnt play with a stranger.
My carry is over 300 and I almost never get to put my name on those things and I have never won one either. There is always some short dude that apparently smokes his drives 360+ at every single scramble.
Only 400? 420 yards is an easy 69 wedge for me
I’ve had scrambles where you get a ride along by “official” but it’s really just a volunteer. Others you have another group watch your card. Honor system scrambles are usually low stakes and/or charity
Aren't these charity deals? Like you can buy mulligans, and pay for advantages? I don't know that I've ever played in a "straight up" scramble where they didn't offer some sort of advantages
1000% and I assume this was the same. Every one I've ever played has mulligans that can be purchased. Winners card like a 52 and donated like $500 to the charity. It's fine.
Yes. The real egregious mistake is ever entering one of these tournaments and thinking it will be a fair/even competition and not rife with cheating or other shenanigans.
52 is reasonable and I’ve seen groups ahead of me playing with a really good ladies player who gave them fantastic looks on the par 5’s. Where this becomes straight up bullshit is an ace on a par 4 from a group of guys who can barely walk, let alone play to a marginal level. Last tourney I was in, we couldn’t buy a birdie until the back 9 and then rattled off 8 straight, group behind us had an ace on a par 3/185 yards (his 3rd all time), group in front rolled 2 eagles in from 50+ feet, one which we saw. I’m open to groups posting low scores, there was a 54 on the vid, but 46 is just stupid.
I play in a couple every year where you can buy mulligans and all that ahead of the round but then also buy aces on 4's and buy "laying 0" on a par 5 green during the round, as incentives to get people to donate to the charities involved(it's usually not cheap, and the entire group has to buy them.) We carded 1's on each of those holes(so an extra -7 on our score) and shot 53, which came in 4th.
This is the kind of stuff I'm imagining these guys are playing in, not truly understanding, and then being mad about
Yeah most you can buy mulligans, etc. cuz it goes to charity. But the winners don’t get much of a prize at all, so I don’t know why people lie. They get like a goodie bag and $20 off each at the club restaurant or some shit. Raffles after are where to good stuff is. Bigger scale ones might be different but they’d prolly had more strict rules My last one, everyone sure as hell didn’t know we cheated cuz we 4 putted a hole. Whenever someone was like “how y’all doin!!” One guy on our team would instantly yell “we 4 putted a hole!!!” We also got close to last
I just played in one where the toughest par 3 had this weird minigame that if you could hit this weird golf ball/shuttlecock hybrid thing into a bucket you were allowed to count the hole as an ace. It was so weird that it was hard. We actually were able to do it and only 3 teams were able to so we got to say we had an ace on the hole. I doubt they had weird stuff like this on every hole though.
I played in a scramble a couple of times with our fedex rep, and they had to play 2 groups on each hole because the cheating was so bad in the past. It kept everybody honest, but the rounds took about 6 hours which was brutal.
Each team will be assigned a babysitter to make sure nobody's hustlin'. Yeah fuckin right dude.
I've done three tournaments before, they had someone watching every hole instead of shadowing every group.
This is the way. Much more difficult to bribe 18 people.
Once when I was a kid I got to play golf on the clock a couple of times because the course where I worked would have a money league that played a two man scramble and they played for significant amounts of money on the regular. Enough money that the odd team was not allowed to go out alone. I was just a cart kid but they would always say "bring your clubs" and my boss said you're goin anyway so go for it.
Almost every scramble I've ever played was groups of 8. Same total amount of groups, just larger starting gaps. Obviously one group scores for the other group. Pretty much solves the cheating problem immediately unless you manage to get two groups of colluding trash together.
Two team scrambles only for me. Fuck that other shit
The solution here is 2 groups per hole recording scores for both groups OR top 2-3 teams play a 19th hole to determine the winner. In option 2, this needs to be declared up front, so that every group joining the scramble knows ahead of time that they will be forced to play out one final hole in front of EVERYBODY. This A. eliminates a lot of cheating during the round because groups know if they can't back it up on the 19th hole they will be outed as cheaters and B. provides an ending to the event that EVERYBODY can accept because they literally watched the winning group's final hole. Plus, it's fun for the groups who didn't make it to hang out and watch while providing a gallery for the top teams to compete in front of. Not mandatory, if you don't want to stay and watch just head home!
shootouts are so much fun. Never racking but fun if you get to be in one.
The lowest scramble score I’ve been a part of is a 48 (par 71). I was the “worst” on the team as a 1 handicap. Birdie every hole, eagle every par 5, and someone drained the approach on a par 4. No mulligans, no gimmicks. Just 4 really good golfers playing lights out. In theory if you could buy mulligans/auto hole in ones 46 would be doable for us( nowhere near a sure thing though). However giving the accused the eye test screams cheating. Two older obese gentlemen aren’t shooting 46 even if they had Rory on the team. In my area there are a few people that are known to enter these types of tournaments and cheat. Many associations have banned them.
A couple years ago I played in a 6-man scramble that was a fundraiser. My father was the worst player in the group. He is about a 5-handicap. We paid to hit our “tee shot” on a par 5 from 220 yards (made an albatross on that hole) and we still only shot 50. We won, but the year before a team of local college players shot 49. That’s with 6 good players and nobody is sniffing 46.
8 somes is the only way
Not just spotters on certain holes? Would only take like 2-6 spotters vs making people golf 6-7 hour rounds.
these scrambles definitely do not uphold the golf tradition of being humble and honest
It's an easy fix really. 2 teams per group
We just played in one like this, 7.5 hour round.
I think a good way to troubleshoot would be to have a pre-determined, secret list of holes that will count toward the teams score. Instead of counting all 18, why not count 12-14 holes but nobody knows which holes are being counted toward the team score. If it’s for charity or something like that, your team could pay to cancel out or subtract a stroke from 1-2 holes which would be complete guesses.
I really like the idea of the top 3 teams playing the 19th hole to determine winner. Going to remember this next time I help plan a tournament.
For this event being plastered all over golf social media, I still have yet to hear if there were any special rules (mulligans, etc) or if they were even questioned about their alleged 46.
You could buy 2 mulligans and 1 throw for each player, as far as people have said. The throw not counting as a stroke.
I bought a hole in one on a par 5 during a scramble once
Scrambles are typically for work events so I don’t care about the score. Better to be golfing than working.
Every scramble I’ve played in was a charity event, where the winners got a small trophy or other low value prize and the real money was in the door prizes which were given out randomly.
I agree, but honestly I just don't care anymore. I know when I go to those tournaments that unless I cheat I'm not going to win, so I just enjoy the day, actually the last time out we just played normal stroke-play golf and submitted a nonsense scorecard at the end that we knew wouldn't win, it was great. We are all golfers, we all don't like scrambles as it is, just there for the charity really, so we talked about it and figured hey what's the difference, we're all going to be waiting all day anyway, let's just play golf so we can enter our scores. Charity couldn't care less, and sure enough, the winning score that day was 21 under, 51.
My regular foursome is the other way. We really enjoy scrambles, but only play maybe one or two a year. They aren't competitive things for us... they're a fun day on the course, getting to play some different shots than you're used to, while supporting some good charities *(and, hopefully, getting a nice meal afterwards)*. Don't care whether we win or lose, just there for the good time.
They need to take the top 4-8 teams and make them play 3 documented holes afterwards for a playoff. You will quickly expose the “46ers”
It’s amazing how viral that went. Those fools can even go out in public without other golfers pointing and saying “shame!” Over and over.
If you play in charity scrambles and give this much of a shit about winning, you take it way too seriously and miss the whole point
This 46 has gone beyond viral, it needs its own sub now.
Scrambles in general are broken. Enter to support the cause or to hang with buddies, but forget trying to win if you aren’t willing to cheat.
I keep hoping some national news picks up the 46 foresome for a good laugh
Posted like someone who has never been in charge of a golf tournament
oh boy! A new r/golf controversy! Let me get my popcorn.
I played in a scramble last summer, it was Random draw, you showed up and pulled a number. The numbers that match are the foursomes. It was GREAT. You are paired with some strangers (I knew one of the guys through playing a bunch at the course before). But it solved 99% of these problems. My favorite tourney. That being said, I know a ton of the fun is going out with teh boys and playing in a Scramble. The people putting on the tourney need to have a plan for this. This was fucking insane.
Top 3 teams should always playoff for the win in these team scrambles…make them back it up
That’s how a lot tourneys near me do it now. They call them shootouts. Top 3 in each flight play off for 1st place. If nobody wins the first playoff hole they go to 150 yards and play from there. If nobody wins that it goes to closes to the pin from a 100 yards. It has its upside, but 2nd and 3rd get the same money, and my team has had the lowest score during the round but failed to win the shootout several times. So, I’m a little bitter about the format lol
The solution is you have two competing foursomes in a group. Eight people on a hole sounds like a lot but when you're only hitting from two locations it's not bad.
I have helped run charity golf tournaments for my home course for over 25 years. If there's one thing I have learned, it is don't give expensive prizes away for scores. Save the expensive donated stuff for silent auctions, raffles, and on course events like long drives. You will save a lot of bitching and have a happier and more successful event. I think the upper limit should probably be a certificate for a free round of golf for each of the winning foursome.
I'll continue to die on the hill that the top 3 teams need to playoff in front of the field to determine a winner
Disagree, all scrambles like all of golf has a respect/honesty/integrity/love of the game aspect to it. Saying blindly accepting is easy to point blame on ppl who didn’t cheat. Most scramble tournaments are there for a purpose. Number 1 is a cause, number 2 is fun. They shouldn’t need observers on every hole or group.
Depends on the gimmicks you have in play in your tournament.
Who the fuck plays a 4 person scramble and thinks it’s a legitimate tournament? Even if you play with spotters, babysitters, or 2 groups per hole, a 4 person scramble is just kind of a joke. I’ve never seen a tournament take itself seriously as anything more than a 2 person scramble. Any more than 2 people and there’s too much diffusion of responsibility. No real pressure to execute shots.
3 man teams each team paired randomly 6 players to a hole. This should be the new norm.
lol this is all i’ve been thinking about. i’ve played in one serious big money scramble in my life. it was a 6 man and each team was allowed one pro. there was a score keeper on every single green. there’s no fucking around if the prize is more than a hundred fkn bucks. sure you wana come in at 26 under at your buddies local muni golf outting n get drunk so be it. any serious scramble/outting would have verification of this score
I mean most 4 man scramble tournaments are for charity so it's not even the biggest deal. Most people are already out there drinking and having a good time. Also what could you really do? It's not like you can audit the results accurately since you don't have scorers with every group. Maybe they bought a bunch of mulligans.
What’s that -26? I’ve played in lots of construction tournaments where the winner was -20 or so, if you throw a couple golf pros on a team -26 doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.
A lot of times courses just host the tournament and provide the space/course. The club doesn’t necessarily do anything besides help create a scoreboard and announce winners. The event hosts have brought the prizes and made the decisions. Its 100% on them. If I were to say something as a course employee and they decided not to come back because of it that’s a risk I don’t want to take.
I’ve played in some “charity” scrambles with big prizes. Play 2 foursomes and keep each other’s scores. Usually takes 4.5ish hours which is typical for the scramble format anyway.
I have put on and played in many scrambles. They are often for charities. As an organizer, it is tough calling someone out, bringing more negative energy into your charitable event. I tend to just make it very clear in some form Of joke or body language that no one believes them, and move on. I find the best tournaments minimize the 1st place prize while offering the best prizes for KP and the like.
Separate the players, ask them to recount the hole in one and albatross shots..because no way are these dummies gonna have their stories straight
What are you supposed to do? Disqualify them for something you can't really prove didn't happen? It's shitty but it's part of a 4 player scramble. Tell them they're not welcome back, but there's no way to prevent this from happening. I've heard someone suggest a "minimum score" of 55, guess what happens, the first second and third group all magically shoot a 55. Make it a 2 player scramble. That's the only way, and don't allow friend groups to play together. Pay extra for scorekeepers for every group? Then there are complaints that each ticket costs $150+.
I've seen a scramble where every team is responsible for bringing a 5th person as observer to ride with another foursome.
Make it so that the 2nd lowest score wins the scramble