My First Scramble Victory!!

[Bravo]

Yesterday I played in a charity Scramble event to raise funds for families who are affected by ALS...which is disease that slowly paralyzes and kills its victims...my friend's mother-in-law died of this.

I get there late and my group had already teed off. I arrive on the first hole with my golf shoelaces untied and cramming a sandwich down my mouth. My buddy (Sam) had another friend with him (David) who I meet for the first time. Sam explained that the fourth player he invited cancelled at the last minute and the tourney organizers put another player with us (Ray). I quickly found out that Ray was a non-golfer and was at the event because he bought a team. Each team cost $2000 USD - which Sam had paid. Pretty darn expensive as it is common around here for events like this to run about $500 per team...

We finished the first hole with a birdie and off we went...Sam, David and I playing with Ray tagging along - an individual who talked non-stop about himself. During the round, he contributed one six foot putt. The remaining shots were all contributed by the three of us.

Well we played awesome. David could murder the ball - the classic key to a great Scramble team...he hit several about 290 with a great draw...We eagled three of the par 5's... I knocked in 5-6 putts including one from 50 feet or so. We finished 16 under par. (We had several Mulligans that the guys had bought before they teed off on the first hole).

So now we go into the clubhouse. Once they figured in our handicaps - our team net score was 48. We stood around and watched the pro calculate the scores and we could tell we were the winners.

In 25 years of playing in fundraising Scrambles for everything from cancer to political campaigns - I had never won a dime...so I can't wait to see how much $$ we are going to put in our wallets!! I call the wife and tell her I think we have won it....

So the host goes up in front of the group and says..."The winners, at a net score of 48 is the Sharp group. Come up and get your prizes".

We walk up and each of us is handed a small, cheap plastic trophy. (I am thinking that this is for the photo). Sure enough, we group together and they take photos of our group holding our trophies.

I am awaiting the announcement of how much we have won...

And the host says, "Now let's say a prayer for all of these families and the heavy burden they carry on a daily basis"

A nice prayer is delivered.

And then he says, "Thanks to everyone for coming and see you next year!!"

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

[DaveE]

WTF? That sucks.

I haven't played in tons of these but I've never seen one without prizes. Even the small ones we have at our club has small cash awards. For $2000.00 they could have least given you some equipment you didn't want.

[Andy_79]

Okay, yes, it is for charity, but geez - that really does suck, lad !! The amount of dough they must have raised, albeit for a seemingly great prize must have been astronomical, but I'm sure you thought you were in for a pretty good prize !! Very poor showing, to be honest.

You bought Mulligans >?!? That was pretty unfair to the rest of the competitors, eh !? lol. Do Mulligans come into play in social games only, yeah >? Americans visiting our course often call them a "breakfast ball". ha ha.

Without sounding boistrous, I am a Scramble King. We have won every one at our club for the past 4 years or so, bar one last year. Our best was 17-under on our second course; a par 68 which measures just short of 6,000 yards. I also remember eagleing one hole and shooting the rest birdies when we came back in 26 blows one time, too. Ripped it to bits !!!!
How does your format work, is it 1/10 of combined h/cap and each player must use a minimum of 4 drives ? That is the trickier part, but having 4 low-men is the key to winning 'em. Great, great craic.....

[Bravo]

Scrambles have a variety of rules...so you have to check before you start to understand the way each tourney is run...

1) Buying Mulligans. This is extremely common and is simply another way of raising more money for the cause. Before you tee off, the tourney organizers will sell mulligans for $5 to $10 each. I usually buy 5 or so, but did not buy any yesterday because I was running late. I found out that my playing partners had bought 9 and we used them all.

2) Most Scrambles require that you use a certain number of drives from each player. This one did not.

3) This event had a rule I had never heard of called SuperDrives. SuperDrives - like Mulligans - were bought before teeing off for $10 each. The group bought six of these. A SuperDrive allowed you to tee off from the Red/Ladies tee. We used four of them on the Par 5's and reached each Par 5 easily in two, often with a driver and 5 iron...

[Rockford35]

Good playing, B. Maybe it was the sandwich...

Too bad about the non-prize, but I guess the winners really are the people suffering from ALS.

Hey, it could have been worse. Some one could have stolen your car and you would have needed a ride home from Ray and he could have talked about himself more...

"Thanks dude, I'll walk."

R35

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by Rockford35

Good playing, B. Maybe it was the sandwich...

Too bad about the non-prize, but I guess the winners really are the people suffering from ALS.

Hey, it could have been worse. Some one could have stolen your car and you would have needed a ride home from Ray and he could have talked about himself more...

"Thanks dude, I'll walk."

R35

LOL!!! Oh Gawd a fate worse than death.....

[P_102]

Played in one a couple months ago.... winners were -17 and the wind was howling 30+ with gusts up to 40.... I'm not sure all was kosher on this one.

One hole, par 5, was dead into the wind but they offered a 250yd. drive for $20. Obviously we took it and drove up to the circle they had in the fairway....had 185 to get over a water hazard and, even using 2 mulligans, coulnd't get over it against that wind!!

Had some good pizes though! It was a fundraiser but the people putting it on did a good job of getting prizes donated, that's key.

All in all I really like scrambles, glad you had a good time in yours.

P_102

[Silver]

well B, suddenly I feel better about the crappy prizes I won at my tourneys this year...then again...mine weren't for charity, but still

Hopefully your next big victory yields better results

[Regents Girl]

Sounds like you had a good time, but at least some prizes would have been nice. A couple months ago, my fiance and I joined a midnight scramble. We had only been golfing for a couple weeks, but decided since there would be 4 of us golfing, and it was for a good cause, it would be fun. We actually had a very good time, even considering some teams had to fib on their scores a bit. We played the first 9 holes during the day, took a break, ate dinner, chatted, had fun, then when it got dark, finished the last night holes with glow in the dark balls. It was actually easier at night because you couldn't see any hazards, therefore no fear. Even a small scramble like that had prizes given away after dinner and not sure how much the winners received, but they did get prize money.
Linda

[Wheelerm]

should of kept the sandwich and enjoyed it then