I recently played in a Par event, and for the first time in more than a year. While many golfers hate the format, I don’t. And it was a nice change from a steady diet of Stableford competitions that Australian golf clubs feast upon so heavily.
Perhaps too much.
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Last weekend, a post within a Facebook group of Australian golf industry people sparked a debate about the merits of Stableford – but initially from a handicapping perspective. Often forgotten is that Dr Frank Barney Gorton Stableford’s cherished format only allowed for 75 percent of a golfer’s handicap to be applied.
Yet the post quickly pivoted to instead discuss the overload of Stableford competitions at club level – thanks to Sandy Jamieson, the long-time PGA of Australia member, tour coach and advocate of beginner golfers. He pondered whether there’s trepidation on the part of golf clubs to move away from the accepted norm, because of perceived member reluctance.
“I think one of the issues is clubs are reliant on comp-fee income and members in general don’t like stroke or Par, so it’s become almost exclusively Stableford. Good luck getting members to accept this change,” Jamieson wrote while encouraging greater variety.
“I get that Stableford has its place, but just like a buffet breakfast when you’re on holidays, it gets boring after a few days.”
Fellow PGA of Australia member Peter Shaw, also the general manager (Asia-Pacific) of Golf Genius software, then chimed in from another perspective.
“Being around tournament software around the world for 10 years now, there are two clear factors,” Shaw wrote. “Stableford is the preferred event in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Other markets rarely play it. The way it’s delivered in comp really only satisfies all golfers if it [is] graded, as an all-handicap comp generally skews towards high handicaps winning.
“It’s also worth noting Australia is statistically the highest competition golf market. I personally feel this is driven through the revenue a golf shop makes on comp fees, which is not wrong and after many years [is] built into the fabric of club and contracted professional revenue budgets, so will never be removed.
“I honestly feel making any industry-wide change would be years in the making as boards would be hesitant and any board member in the high bracket likely against it. Another factor to think through is that Australia is the only mature golf market that rates hole indexes differently for 19-plus.”
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Yes, Stableford is almost certainly the superior format for rewarding good play without excessively punishing blow-up holes. But golf has myriad playing formats ideal at club level that not enough clubs experiment with.
Yet sometimes a little experimentation isn’t worth the risk. One club captain I spoke with last year said he’d “be lynched” if he attempted to add a Par event to the fixtures list. While at a club where I was formerly a member, the addition of a one-off Canadian Foursomes event one Saturday drew more grumbles than those times when the greens are cored. It never returned.
Club golfers are creatures of habit. Same tee-times, same playing companions, same routines – sometimes even the same clothes. Yet we’re currently in an era of evolution in club golf as the game caters for a new wave of golfers and an improving landscape overall. It took time, but the introduction of the Slope rating system in 2014 is now seeing clubs stage competitions simultaneously across multiple tees in a welcome and inclusive move.
More adventurous formats should be the next step.
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Here are a few that clubs (and their members) ought to at least try on for size:
• Tour Scramble. Common in pro-ams on the PGA Tour of Australia, this format allows the tee shot of anybody in the group to be taken (as with ambrose events), but thereafter each player plays their own ball. Handicaps are adjusted based on the size of the group.
• Aggregate strokeplay. The traditional stroke format has its detractors, but it’s still the ultimate test. Combining the score of a partner adds a twist while continuing to allow an individual event where holding concurrent comps are permitted.
• Worst-ball. Granted, this one does inspire defensive golf, as instead of recording the best score per hole from a duo (or a group), it’s the worst score that counts. So playing safe and nursing your ball away from trouble becomes the best strategy.
• Modified Stableford. If we must stick with Stableford, at least mix it up a bit by adopting the format used once a year at the Barracuda Championship on the PGA Tour that rewards aggressive play. Scores can always be returned to regular Stableford for handicapping purposes.
• Bisque. Perhaps the best format listed here. Usually held as a Par event, players choose where they take handicap strokes rather than relying on prescribed hole indexes. A birdie on a hole where a handicap stroke would normally apply, for instance, can remain a net birdie without the help (and that handicap stroke can then be used on another hole instead).
Combine some of these with forward tees and therefore adjusted handicaps, and you have a healthy dose of variety. Stableford has its place, of course, but there are plenty more playing formats for clubs to try.
