[jlab-9hgl 00059] Re: 2010 Maximum scores you may record

[Mark M. Ito]

Leaguer's,

How about this for a rule for next year?

   Maximum score for a hole is twice par.

Let's go through a few examples, assume the hole is par 3. That would 
mean that the maximum score on the hole is 6. In each example, you do 
something, you write down something on your card, and you get a score in 
the official system.

1) You take five strokes, leaving your ball just on the lip of the cup. 
You pick up. You write down 6. You score 6.

2) You take five strokes, leaving your ball just on the lip of the cup. 
You walk up and tap it in. You write down X. You score 6.

3) You hit your tee shot into the water. It was a Pro V1. You walk to 
the next tee box in disgust. You write down an expletive. You score 6.

4) You loose count and hit 7 strokes and then hole out on the 8th 
stroke. You think really hard, then write down 9. You score 6.

5) You hit four strokes, and somehow have ended up behind the tee box 
farther away than when you started. You pick up. You write down X. You 
score 6.

All of these are consistent with the rule that the maximum score is, you 
guessed it, 6. Note that anything what you write down does not really 
matter as long as it is not an outright lie/attempt to cheat. And 
therein lies the beauty of this rule. To accomplish that it erases the 
distinction between a "natural" six and a "pick-up" 6. But so what; it's 
a lousy score and we are cutting things off. If those distinctions 
matter so much, we should not have maximum scores, so we can distinguish 
between natural 10's and natural 11's.

Other examples resulting in scores _other_ than 6 on the same hole.

6) You hit your tee shot on the green and hole out in two putts. You 
write down 3. You score 3 (this is also called par).

7) You hit your tee shot on the green and hole out in one putt. You 
write down 2. You score 2 (this is also called a birdie).

8) You tee shot lands on the green and rolls into the hole. You write 
down 1 and an appropriate comment. You score a 1 (this is also called a 
hole-in-one).

Any questions?

   -- Mark