There were some changes to my team due to dropouts. My team ended being me a 14, a 5, a scratch, and a 7. They started us at +5 to make it fair. It was $35 per person to play, $5 per person for 3 mulligans, and $5 per team for 4 feet of string. Every team had a scorer with them. We ended up at -19, -14 after our 5 strokes were added, and still won by 4. 1 par, 2 eagles, rest birdies. We each got $20 for winning, the 2nd place team got $10 each, and the last place team got $5 each. I got another $20 for closest to the pin. 156yd par 3, knocked my 7 iron to 2' 7". My buddy won the long drive with a 315 yd drive with the wind at his back. The 2 biggest factors were the 5 hdcp, who can bomb it off the tee, and the scratch, who would hit the green just about everytime. After that, we had 4 chances at the same putt. We used the string to clean up the short misses.

Who would you rather have on your scramble team?
 

It's time for our annual scramble tourney at work, and people are trying to break up my team! I have a scratch player, myself a 14 hdcp, and 2 players who only play once or twice a year, one of those times being this tourney. The team complaining the most is a team made up of all 12-15 hdcps. We have two scratch and a couple of single digit guys playing and they want them teamed up with D players to "make it fair". I told that they have 4 decent chances to get a good shot off each time, where we only really have 2. The rules:

Must use at least one drive and one putt from each player
Optional $5 per player for 3 mulligans
Optional $5 per team for string, unnown length at this time, to finish off shots, ie 2 inches short on birdie putt, cut off 2 inches and write down birdie

Everyone usually takes both options So, what team would you rather have?

obviously the team with the better players. But if its just for fun, the team with the better attitude.

Is it handicapped or not? If so, a couple low and a couple high caps should have an advantage. If not, then I'd think it depends on the couple times a year guys. If they can putt at all, even if just to provide a decent read to the other two, I'd take the team with the scratch. The team of 12-15s should take it, though. If your team was 2 scratches and 2 occasional players, I'd take that in a heartbeat.

Does anyone take a scramble seriously??? They are usually for donating to a cause and having fun, no serious golf involved.

Pretty common around here now to let players play with whatever team they want and draw for prizes.

I've never played a scramble I didn't intend on winning, and thus, take seriously.

That said, I've also never cried about someone else's team being too this or that...

I've never heard of not playing with who you want in a scramble.

More less what I think as well. Scrambles are just something that resembles golf. I would rather just write a check and skip the on course stuff. I stopped doing scrambles a long time ago.

I'm curious where you work that you have a handful of scratch golfers...

Any good scramble team need someone that can put in the fairway someone that is strong with their irons and at least two good putters. These can come from various hdcps. Scrambles are fun but still require skill and a little brain power.

not handicapped.

We used to do that until the scratch players would team up and wipe the floor with everyone.

It's with my old military unit. I retired from the Air Force last year, but they still invite us prior guys to play every year.

Find the best putter in the office, and put him on your team. Let everything else sort itself out.

I would prefer to have a scratch player with a 14 and two occasional players over a foursome of 12-15's. It's not too uncommon to have a group of 12-15's in serious trouble off the tee or missing a 1/2 dozen 8 footers in a row. The scratch golfer makes up for a lot of sins.

+1
Amen

There is no cause here, all money after prizes goes back to the unit to pay for other stuff like BBQs and holiday parties. There is usually a small cash prize for the top 3 teams. It's mostly about bragging right which is why most people want the teams to be "fair" for lack of a better term.

I don't see what the problem with your team would be scratch a mid and two high cappers seems balanced to me. I wouldn't want a team of mid cappers. I find the high cappers always sink a long putt or chip in or do something strange that only happens once for them and it's during a scramble.

I have always found scrambles to be an excellent marketing opportunity, and usually a chance to play on a nice course. That's about it.

In my opinion, if you want to compete in a scramble, just look for a singles amateur event instead. I have rarely seen a scramble where the winning score wasn't sub-60 (gross), which always seems questionable. Sure, you could have a group of four scratch golfers, and they all could be making putts that day. But, it seems nearly impossible for that situation to arise at every scramble.

Scrambles also remind me of a tournament that I would play in college. One of the sororities sponsored it, and each fraternity would have a four-man team (sometimes two) playing a typical scramble. Of course, the scores were low 60s at worst, and of course teams were "liberal" with the scoring. One year, the tournament decided to have two four-person teams play together (so that one team could track the other team's score). I think only one team broke par that year...

At the end of the day, hit some long drives, make some putts, and have a good time. If you luck into a good score, even better.

People are pretty honest in this one. The winning score is somewhere between -12 and -16.

well, i just got done with a scramble last week and we had myself (current 4.3 index), my dad (around a 15), and two hackers, i mean, HACKERS (20+)...we had no limits on drives/putts or whatnot however, we used only 2 of our 5 mulligans shooting a -13 score. want to know where we made the most money? APPROACH shots...we always had at least one of us in or right near the fairway...it was the approach shots that set up 4 chances to putt from inside 20 feet. get someone on your team who will get you on the green...longest off the tee doesn't mean much if you guys can't get it on. 4 chances at the same putt are great odds (regardless of how great/poor putters you guys are). that's just my .02.

Yea, I'd rather take the better players, except for two situations. One, if they feel the need to cheat because they're having a bad day. Two, if they spend all their time being too worked up. I play a scramble every week after league, its a 3 man team vs a 2 man team. The two best league scores are on one team and get 3 strokes in the 9 hole scramble. The two man team has won once, and needed 2 strokes to do it. So I don't think having a 4 person team of 14 handicappers is a huge disadvantage.

I've always said, give me two good putters, two big hitters, and one person who is just 'safe' with every single shot. Ovbiously, at least one person will have to be in two of those categories.

~Rock