Jamberoo and its Challenges

Our course can certainly throw up difficult challenges to golfers.

Pat Travers, for instance, today found himself in an unusual dilemma on the third.

Nowhere to go! Impossible!!

Shane Townsend had a tricky moment on the 7th. Playing a lovely shot to the green a bird decides to intercept the ball mid-air and suffers a fall from grace.

I’m pleased to say the Rainbow Lorikeet recovered to rejoin its Avian friends. Shane suggests his ball was going in for an ace!

Bisque Par Rules

This Saturday we are playing a Bisque Par. It is intended as a fun day and scores will not be reported to Golflink.

In normal Par competitions, golfers (using full handicaps) try to beat par on each hole. Shots are allocated according to your handicap and the handicap index for each hole on the card.

If you score a nett birdie you mark the scorecard with a plus (+) sign; if you match par, you put a zero (0) on the card; if you score a net bogey or worse, you mark the scorecard with a minus (-) sign. At the end of the round, compare your pluses to your minuses; if you have six plus signs and four minus signs, you have beaten par by a 2-up score (+2).

In Bisque Par, it is up to the golfer to decide on which holes to use his or her handicap strokes. Even better, you don’t have to elect to use a stroke on a given hole until after you’ve completed that hole (but before teeing off on the next). You must inform your marker at the time. Once you tee off on the next hole you can’t change your mind.

Also, you can use as many strokes as you like on a given hole. So, let’s say you play the par-4 No. 2 hole and it’s a disaster, you score a 9. But you have 13 total handicap strokes to use. You can use six of those strokes on No. 2 (you must announce the decision before teeing off on the next hole) and, there you go, you’ve turned a 9 into a net birdie.

Once you’ve used all your available strokes, that’s it. You’re done using strokes for the round. So, you have to make wise decisions about where to use your strokes.

At the end of the round, golfers look over their scorecards and add up the pluses and minuses. The golfer with the best par score wins (e.g., a golfer with 10 pluses, 5 zeroes – zeroes represent halves – and 3 minuses has a 7-up, or +7, score).

Strategy For Bisque Par

Just like all golf games and formats there are always some strategic decision you can make to give yourself a better shot at winning. Here are some strategy tips for playing the Bisque Par Format.

1. Don’t Waste Strokes On Blow-up Holes

If you score higher than a bogey your score will still result in the minus that you would receive if you got a bogey. This means using any sort of handicap strokes to reduce a triple bogey to a double will not count for anything. The only time this makes sense is if it is late in the game. And only if you have a large number of strokes left to use. This may allow you to knock a triple bogey all the way down to a par or better.

2. Have A Lot Of Strokes Left – Play Conservatively

If you find you have a several strokes left and only a few holes to go it can makes sense to play conservatively. This means putting away the driver, making layup shots, and aiming at the centre of the green.

The reason for this is that when playing conservative you will likely score relatively low scores on most holes. This is because you will be avoiding most of the dangers on the course.

This will allow you to use these extra handicap strokes to bring these scores to pars and birdies. Remember if you have extra strokes to use you don’t have to score well you just have to not score poorly.

In Bisque Par competitions, players will determine their handicap stroke allocation for a hole after playing that hole (and mark that allocation on the score card at that time). The allocation of handicap strokes will obviously cease once the player’s full handicap has been used.

3. How do you allocate shots per hole?

Is it best for you to get a lot of pluses early and hang in after your allocation of shots is up, or to save them up for a big finish?

It is unfortunate if you finish your round with shots left ‘in the bank’, so plan ahead.

Scoring a Bisque Par

You must record the actual score taken, the number of shots used on that hole and your result.

So on the first, for instance, you score a 7 and decide to take 4 shots to give you a nett 3.

On your card your marker records 4, 7,+ next to 1.

On the 2nd you score a 4 but decide to take 0 shots.

On the card the marker records 0, 4, 0.

At the end of the round add up the total number of shots used and your result.