This past Saturday, the MGA here in Angel Fire closed out the competitive season with their club championship. It was a three day event and the format was match play.
I really enjoy match play. It’s the format where you can take a 12 on a hole and still remain competitive, provided you stay in the present and put the bad score behind you. Hopefully, on your way to a 12, you’ll concede the hole to your opponent and get on with it. In stroke play, that 12 would have been adjusted by your ESC (equitable stroke control) but you’d still have to make up 3 or more shots lost to par.
What struck me about the club championship was how competitive and evenly matched each pairing was. Most matches went 17 holes before a winner was decided and that speaks well for the accuracy of the handicaps here in AF. In order to qualify to play in the club championship you needed to post a minimum of 3 tournament scores this season. While the season is short, (mid May to mid Oct) there were perhaps 10 or 12 opportunities to post a tournament score. If there were any objections on qualifying criteria, it would have been that tournament scores remain in the handicap computation much longer than the normal past 20 rounds.
I think I like that – if you are going to play in the weekly MGA money games, you’ll play to win. If you score well and take home the money, your score should count more than a regular daily round.
We’re headed back to the flatlands at weeks end. I think I’ll bring it up at our next MGA meeting. I wonder if my ‘peeps’ at the ranch will embrace the change?
btw, I played pretty well - was 2 and 1 and came in 2nd in the 2nd flight.
