Sweeps games are back at TPWGC

That’s right ladies, the ‘fun” sweeps games you all love are back for 2021!  OK, so many not everyone loves and misses sweeps games but  you must admit that the do add a fun twist to our Tuesday rounds at Torrey Pines.

Now the that all of us are more familiar with USGA TM and it’s capabilities, it’s time for more variety in our rounds. So here we go!

The club calendar has been updated to reflect 5 sweeps game dates that took the place of “regular” stroke play. These are NOT additional dates, just format changes for the type of round being played.

  • July 20th - Stableford
  • August 10th- Par 4's
  • September 14th- Play The Middle
  • September 21st- If Only
  • November 23rd- Forget Three

You can head to our Sweeps Games page for a short description of the games.

For those of you playing on July 20th or those that want to know more, this article will cover a more extensive description of the Stableford format.

Stableford scoring

This method of scoring has been around for over 100 years!  It was created back in the late 1800’s by Dr. Frank Barney Gorton Stableford who wanted to find a way to keep golfers from giving up too quickly when they had disastrous scores on a few holes.

In stableford scoring, each player is given points based on the player’s actual score in comparison to par. The better your score compared to par, the more points you get. Unlike with traditional scoring, the goal is to accumulate as many points as possible.

The number of points received are pre-determined by each club, here is how TPWGC will be scoring this format:

  • Hole in One or Triple Eagle= 6 points
  • Double Eagle= 5 points
  • Eagle= 4 points
  • Birdie= 3 points
  • Par= 2 points
  • Bogey= 1 point
  • Double Bogey or more= 0 points

I know what you are thinking: “Seriously, birdies and eagles?” 

Most of us higher handicap players might not ever see an eagle but, remember that we are playing both net and gross by flights.

How does Stableford save the day?

Well, it might not save the day but it will keep a blowout hole from taking you completely out of the competition. 

We're going to use #13 and#14 as an example

Let's say you are a 32 handicap at Torrey South and one of ladies in your group is a 29.
You have 3 decent shots that get you down to the bottom, you know, the usual layup area for us shorter hitters that put us short of those dreaded bunkers. Today you are feeling good, those bunkers have no affect on you. You hit your 4th shot, get on the green and 2 putt for a bogey.

On the 14th horrible, horrible things happen and you end up with a 9.  Player B (the lady with a 29 handicap) has bogey on 13 and a double bogey on 14.

NOTE:  I’m showing you how the scoring would work out just as an example. Player DO NOT need to calculate their own points. The system will calculate them for you based on the GROSS score entered.

stableford scoring example

This is what the scores for those 2 holes would look like.

You have 2 pops for both 13 and 14. Player B has 2 pops on #13 and 1 pop on #14 - more about pops coming up!
With traditional scoring your gross total of 15 would put you 3 shots behind the other player's gross of 12.
For net you would be 2 shots behind the other player.

However, using the stableford scoring model, you are tied with that player for gross points and only 1 point behind in net points.

So you see, holes where disaster hits might not take you out of the competition.

Let's talk about pace of play and pops

Pace of play is an issue that seems to plague every club and golf course. As a player, it is our responsibility to do what we can to maintain good pace of play.  

Remember: A group’s correct position is directly behind the group in FRONT regardless of how far ahead you are from the group behind. 

Picking up once you have reached net double bogey (max score), can help speed up pace of play without compromising the integrity of you handicap index. 

There will be instances when a tournament or format specifies that picking up will lead to disqualification.  In those instances you have no choice but to continue until you hole out.

For this stableford round, picking up once you have reached net double bogey is allowed.  This is where pops come in.

Calculating net double bogey

Net double bogey is calculated like this:

Par for the hole + 2 strokes + pops.

Figuring out your pops

The USGA TM app will calculate your pops automatically based on your current index.  Since only one person in the group is going to be doing the scoring, it might not be practical to rely on her to tell you when you have reached net double bogey. Here are your options to figure out your pops. 

1- You can look at your scorecard in the USGA TM app before the round and write down you pops

2- Figure out your course handicap and manually calculate your pops.  Here is how that would work. 

Pops, or strokes per hole, are based on a player’s course handicap. The player’s course handicap is distributed over the 18 holes based on a hole’s difficulty aka handicap rating.

The picture below shows the hole handicaps for Torrey south for female golfers. These are the accurate ratings as of July 2021. It is possible that the scorecards on the course might show something different if they are older score cards. 

TP south hole rating

So for example, a player with a 5 course handicap would get one pop on holes 6, 7, 9, 12, and 18. Those are the 5 highest rated holes.  She would not have any pops on the other holes. 

A player with an 18 course handicap gets one pop on every hole.

What if your course handicap is over 18? Then you take your course handicap and subtract 18 to determine where you get additional pops.

A 23 course handicap would get you 1 pop on every hole and one additional pop for the 5 highest rated holes. 23-18=5
A 32 course handicap gets 1 pop on every hole and one additional pop for the 14 highest rated holes. 32-18=14

What's my course handicap?

The easiest way to find out your course handicap, on any course, is to use the GHIN app. Once you are in the app:
1. click on "MORE" on the lower right side
2. choose handicap calculator
3.on the next screen you can search for a course or pick from those recently played.
4. select the tees you will be playing from

The app will give show your course handicap.

Those of you playing on 7/20/2021 will be receiving an email containing scorecards with the pops marked on them.

PLEASE READ!

We are providing you with scorecards to assist you in figuring out your pops for that round.  These cards are not “OFFICIAL” scorecards. They DO NOT need to be printed. You DO NOT need to bring you card to the course.  Scoring will still be done on the USGA TM app.

The email you will be receiving will contain a 10 page PDF that includes marked cards for EVERYONE playing. You can scroll through the pages to find your group.

Again, you DO NOT need to bring the scorecards with you. These are being provided as a courtesy.