|
So what is a Texas Scramble?
Members of the Seniors' Section West Wilts Golf Club might well have been asking themselves the same question as they peered through the mist in the early hours of Monday 14th November.
The origins of the format are steeped in history but it originated across the pond in America, maybe even in Texas, back in the early 1950s. A total of 18 teams consisting of 3 players each teed off simultaneously at West Wilts GC in what is called a shotgun start with a nominated team captain. Each player must contribute at least 5 drives and one par 3 in order to balance ability. Each team will range from high to low handicaps with 10% of combined total handicap deducted from the gross score at completion to produce a result; clear as mud so far? Once a drive has been chosen it becomes the ball in play and the remaining team members play from that marked point until the ball reaches the flag on the green. As you can imagine some low scores are easily achievable as reflected in the final result:
- Winners with a gross 65 nett 59: Mike Oram, Dave Morgan and Brian Martin
- Runners Up with nett 61: John Walpole, Bill Powell and Stephen Adams
- 3rd Position with nett 61.9: Dave Turner, David Oakley and Derek Pike
John Walpole as our Competitions Secretary is to be congratulated for herding all players in the right direction and dealing with any dissension. In conclusion and just to lighten the spirits on these long winter evenings, a couple of amusing quotes from the annals of golfing history, "Golf is the Esperanto of sport. All over the world golfers talk the same language - much of it nonsense and much unprintable - endure the same frustrations, discover the same infallible secrets of putting, share the same illusory joys." Henry Longhurst, Round of 68 in 1953. "Real golfers, whatever the provocation, never strike a caddie with the driver. The sand wedge is far more effective!"
[Return]
|
