matchplay srokes

Question
hi ken thanx for your time, me and 3 mates are playing matchball one guy is on scratch he gives one  guy 2 strokes and the other 2 four strokes so0 the guy on 2 srokes gives guys on four strokes 2 on him, so what happens on 2 hardest holes where guys on 4 strokes are stroking against both & guy on 2 strokes on scratch guy????? its nearly causing fights ken!! help please.thanx

Answer
Hi John,

In most cases it's fairer for everyone to get their strokes according to their cap and hole difficulty on the scorecard. So, a scratch golfer gets no strokes, a 2 cap gets 2 strokes on 1st and 2nd most difficult holes, etc.

The 2 cap and 4 cap will have an advantage against the scratch on the most difficult holes because there's likely not a full stroke difference in their averages on those holes. But, the cap is a better player and will tend to win more of the other holes.

In most cases, any differences in outcomes in how strokes are taken would be attributed to emotional reaction of the players (feeling it's unfair and thus this emotion affecting play).

Try a little experiment. Take your last 10 matches and score them based on everyone taking strokes according to handicap and then taking stroke differences. See if there's a difference in the outcomes of the matches.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Ken Tannar
www.probablegolfinstruction.com