Golf has come a long way since it became a popular sport. Keeping the game interesting and enjoyable required adding new formats to the game. Although all of these formats are not available at the highest competitions of the game, they fit perfectly for charity events or other casual golfing events.
One of these formats is the shamble, which is often confused with the scramble format, is where each team plays their second shot from the best tee off a shot in their team. Other than that, other rules are like regular golf. If you’re a beginner or just a passionate fan, you will know everything about shamble from here.
The Shamble Tournament Format
Shamble in golf is just a format of the tournament. In this format, each team members play their second shot from a common position. That common position is the best shot that was played during the tee-off or the starting shot. The team decides the best shot combined. It is not up to any single player to decide.
Team Formation in Shamble Golf
Just like all other formats of golf, each team in a shamble format can have a maximum player of 4 and a minimum of 2. The number of players on the team, however, can vary and is not completely fixed. Teams are formed depending on the total participants on the tournament and the tournament authority.
The Necessity of the Team
A vital rule of the shamble format is that it must be played in a team. Unlike some formats, you cannot go solo in this format of the game. Because the position of the second shot is determined by one of the shots of the players in the team. Without a team, there will be no best shot to decide and carry the game forward.
Determining the Best Shot
After teeing off from a specific position, all the team members will then decide which shot has landed in the best position for the next shot. For example, the best shot could be very close to the target hole with slight obstacles in front. Or, it could be a bit far from the hole but not major obstacles to overcome.
Reaching the Target Hole
After deciding where to take the second shot from, each team member hits their ball towards the target. From there, they don’t have to team up to decide while taking the next shot. Each of them will play independently trying to take the ball into the hole. They will not interfere in anyone’s play after the second shot is taken.
Scores in a Shamble Golf
Since the shamble golf is team-based, the overall team score comes into consideration while deciding the winning team. Each golfer of a particular team is going to finish a hole with their score. Translating the players’ scores into the team score is done according to the rules set by the organizers.
Some organizers consider the lowest shots taken by each golfer in a team to be the final score of the team. Other tournament hosts combine two or three of the lowest shots required to finish and use that number to determine the winner.
Keeping away from the lowest scores, you may find that some events add up the lowest and the highest score among team members to set the winning score. A completely different method used by some organizing committee involves eliminating both the highest and the lowest score and combining the 2 middle scores to find the winner.
What Kind of Golf Course is Required for Shamble
The shamble format can be played on any of the 9 holes or 18 holes golf courses. The number of holes or the length of the course doesn’t matter. Although, in a course with 18 holes, there will be more players so lots of good shots are produced from those compared to the smaller courses with fewer players.
Conclusion
The shamble tournament in golf is one of the most fun and casual formats ever. It’s a great way to organize a charity match. It is different from a scramble in the sense that the scramble element occurs only after the tee off. The rest of the match is just regular golf. The flexibility of the scoring system is also a great feature of the shamble.
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