Almost every golf society, including Golf the Costa, uses the Stableford scoring system which was designed to speed up play. This will become clearer as I explain how this scoring system works.
Unlike stroke play, Stableford scoring awards points on each hole according to how the player does against his or her handicap. The Stableford points are calculated on the nett score as follows:
Level Par = 2 points
1 under par = 3 points
2 under par = 4 points
3 under par = 5 points
1 over par = 1 point
2 over par = 0 points
So using the scorecards shown below I will explain how the points are calculated.
Player A. Jones has a handicap of 25, so on holes with HCP 1 to 7 he will get 2 extra shots and holes with HCP 8 to 18 he will get 1 extra shot.
If we look at the scorecard above, on hole number 1 he played 7 shots to complete the hole. The HCP or stroke index on that hole is 12 so Mr. Jones gets one extra shot giving him a nett score of 6 which is 2 over par. Therefore Mr. Jones scores 0 points on that hole as shown on the card.
On hole number 2 he plays 8 shots to complete the hole. The stroke index (HCP) on this hole is 2 so he receives 2 extra shots but this gives him a nett score of 6 which
scores him 0 points.
If Mr. Jones knew before he completed the holes that he would not be able to score any points he should have picked up his ball and not carried on until he had putted out. This way he could have helped speed up play because the other players in his group would not have to wait for him to finish the hole.
On hole number 3 the stroke index (HCP) is 6, which gives Mr Jones 2 extra shots.
On this hole he completes it in 5 shots which is nett 3 based on the stroke index. So this is 1 under par giving Mr Jones 3 points for this hole.
On the next hole, HCP 14, he receives 1 extra shot. Mr Jones takes 6 shots to complete the hole and so his nett score is 5 which is 1 over par so he scores 1 point.
Let us now move on to hole number 16 which is a par 5 with a stroke index of 15 so Mr Jones receives only 1 extra shot. However he is able to complete this hole in 4 shots which is a gross birdie but with his extra shot he has a nett score of 3 which is 2 under par. So on this hole he scores 4 Stableford points. The same applies to the next hole where he has a gross birdie but nett albatross (2 under par) so he again scores 4 Stableford points.
You can see on the scorecard above that Mr Jones scored a total 12 Stableford points on the front nine holes and a total of 22 Stableford points on the back nine holes giving him an overall total score of 34 Stableford points.
The last line on the card is noted as MARCADOR. The player marking the card must enter his or her gross score and Stableford points as shown on the sample card above.
This is the correct way of recording a score card.
We will now look at Miss B. Smith’s card, shown below. She has a handicap of 13 so receives only 1 extra shot on holes with a stroke index (HCP) 1 to 13. On holes with stroke index (HCP) 14 to 18 she does not receive any extra shots.
Using the same rules as explained above for Mr. Jones’s card you should be able to work out how Miss Smith’s Stableford score has been calculated.
I hope this will help ALL players participating in our events to complete the competition scorecards correctly. You must also remember that before you start your round you must exchange your score card with another player in your group and you will mark his or her card and he or she will mark your card.
When you have completed your round you should cross check the scores recorded on each others card so that any mistakes can be corrected, then both the player and marker MUST sign the card thus confirming the scores recorded are correct.
Finally, please remember, any scorecards submitted which are not properly completed will be excluded from the competition.