10 Saturday mornings before Xmas and 10 after.
Turn up and pairs are drawn out of a hat, mixed-up comp ladies & gents. Usually around 32 people.
Main event format is 4BBB stableford off 3/4 handicap
Best pairs' stableford score earns 10 points each, second best 7, third gets 5, 4th gets 4 etc. These points accumulate all winter to give the overall winner, but only your best 5 scores before New Year and your best 5 scores after New Year count. This is important as it means you don't really lose out if you are away or sick for a few weeks.
Each week there is a £2 entry/sweep fee per person, and you play for that against the other pair in your fourball - so win and your day is free, lose and it costs you £4. Monies go to prizes (50% on the day, 50% overall)
Guests are encouraged so you can bring a friend along for a game (if they don't have an official handicap they partner you and you can't score points that week, but can still have a nice game. )
Towards the end of the season when only a small number can conceivably win the overall comp we fix the draw so they can't get drawn as partners with each others but they do go out in head to head groups with the other contenders. This makes for exciting matches and ramps up the tension!
Upsides of this scheme are that:
(a) doing the live draw is always good fun with lots of booing , hackling and banter.
(b) you get different partners every week
(c) misery guts who don't want to be sociable tend to stay at home :thup:.
(d) you can decide on the day if you want to play - some people even stay home when it is pouring !
(e) New members admitted in January can join in and meet lots of folk and still compete for the post New Year Prize.
Downside (and it is biggie) - since you have to be there for the draw, if you are last out you have a long wait to go out and if you want to wait for the results and a first out you have a long wait for the last pair to come in. So it eats up a lot of your day.
At the end of the winter we have a nice dinner to which other halfs are invited and a Prize-giving.
The above might sound complicated but once you have a simple spreadsheet to keep a tally of the weekly points won it is pretty easy.
To be honest, I always feel a little sad when Spring comes and it finishes as it is the most fun golf of the year.
Starts this Saturday and I can't wait!:whoo:
PS If anyone is wondering what happens if the number turning up is not a multiple of 4 - we construct a series of three-balls and some ingenious scoring gymnastics which works very well too.
