Half-stroke handicap system?

[lchang]

Just a light-hearted thought exercise. What would happen if you distributed strokes in a net match-play match using half-strokes?  So instead of getting a shot on the 6 top-handicap holes, the higher-cap player got half-strokes on 12 holes. 

 

Would the lower-cap player benefit more from all the holes where he/she won the hole by a gross stroke?  Or would the high-capper benefit from all the holes where they tie for gross score?  Would it just come out about the same as the conventional system?

[Colin L]

Sorry. I haven't the mental energy to  exercise my mind with this exercise

[Mr. Bean]

3 hours ago, lchang said:

Just a light-hearted thought exercise. What would happen if you distributed strokes in a net match-play match using half-strokes?  So instead of getting a shot on the 6 top-handicap holes, the higher-cap player got half-strokes on 12 holes. 

 

 

I suggest you re-think your exercise...

[lchang]

1 hour ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

I suggest you re-think your exercise...

Not sure why you bolded the numbers. Doesn’t 6 equal 12 times one half?
 

Anyway, in general, is it that uninteresting a conversation?  I figured someone would come back with data or intuition or psychological effect or something re:  how often a handicap stroke on a hole in matchplay breaks a tie vs. resulting in a one. 

[Augster]

So you’re going to give a 6 cap 12 half strokes? Technically your giving him 12 strokes when he only deserves 6. 
 

Anytime the score the hole is tied, whether you give a 1/2 or a full stroke, the player getting strokes will win the hole. Before, with 6 strokes, this could only happen 6 times. Now, with 12 half strokes, this can happen 12 times. 
 

Losing a hole when I tie the score, IMO , will happen more often that beating the other player by 1 stroke on a stroke hole where I now win the hole instead of tying. 
 

If I’m giving 6 holes, and computers played the game, we would have 6 holes we tie because the other player shot 1-higher than I did on the stroke holes and we’d have 12 gross tied holes. And the match ends in a tie (halved). 
 

Extrapolate that, the 6 holes I beat him by 1 stroke, I win those holes instead of tying. The next six handicap holes we tie and he wins. So the match ends in a tie also. 
 

But computers don’t play the game. People do. As the handicap hole indexes increase, the likely hood of the worse player making a birdie increases. If he makes a birdie on handicap holes 6-12, where he shouldn’t be getting shots, I can’t catch him. 
 

You could do it and see how it works out, BUT, if I was giving strokes I’d never agree to this format. If I was GETTING strokes, I’d absolutely push for this format. 
 

Getting “help” on more holes makes winning easier. 

[davep043]

I suggest that you give it a try and report back.  Statistically, you'd really need hundreds of matches to draw any real conclusions, but if you played a dozen or so matches, you could compare the results using full strokes with the results using half strokes.  My first impression is to agree with @Augster that it would swing the odds towards the higher handicapper, but I have no way of backing that up.

[Mr. Bean]

2 hours ago, davep043 said:

I suggest that you give it a try and report back.  Statistically, you'd really need hundreds of matches to draw any real conclusions, but if you played a dozen or so matches, you could compare the results using full strokes with the results using half strokes.  My first impression is to agree with @Augster that it would swing the odds towards the higher handicapper, but I have no way of backing that up.

 

I agree, collecting some data would do the trick.

 

If you look at it in a very straightforward way assuming you would score (gross) one stroke more on holes 1-6 and score even on holes 7-12 it would not change anything whether you have 6 strokes or 12 half-strokes, the match would be tied after 12 holes. But does it happen that way all the time? And if it does, what would you gain with such a system? I do not get it.

[Sawgrass]

Untested by actual results, I know I would like to receive any strokes I get via a quarter of a stroke per hole.  If I must give strokes, I’ll be pleased to lump them all together on one hole. 

[lchang]

This just came up in a conversation last weekend.  There wasn't "anything to be gained" as Mr. Bean asked.  Just a thought exercise.  And it wasn't clear to me right away if it would generally benefit the higher or lower capper (or neither).  

 

I'm usually the higher capper when I play against my usual buddies.  And I do make bogey a lot on stroke holes where my opponent makes par.  And if I were to guess, tying (gross) on stroke holes somehow happens less often.  But, of course, this is a *feeling* with no data behind it.

 

We were also (just as unseriously) wondering what would happen if the higher capper could choose to distribute their strokes on any holes they wanted (before teeing off).  Including taking more than one on any hole.  🤷‍♂️  Could be some interesting strategies there....

[rogolf]

Seems to me that half strokes would definitely benefit the higher handicapper.  A higher handicapper is more likely to lose holes by more than one stroke, so the half strokes gives an advantage on more holes.

We used to give some players "bisques" in our four-ball match play games, and they could apply them (one at a time) at the end of a hole.

Bisque

A form of handicapping used in private match play games. The higher handicapped player is allowed to choose on which holes they receive their handicap allowance of "free shots". As this is a matter of negotiation between the players involved there are many variations in the number of shots allowed and when (before the start of the round, before playing a hole, during the play of a hole, after playing a hole) the claiming of "free shot" is allowed. Bisque matches are not recognized by the rules of golf.

[CaseyC]

An 18 handicap would still get a whole stroke a hole....

[Augster]

I’m interested enough to give this a try. A friend I play quite often I give 8 shots to. Nearly every 9 comes down to the last hole. Nearly every match comes down to the last hole. I can count on one hand how many times he, or I, won 3&2 or higher over our past 100+ matches. It’s always close. 
 

I’ll give it a try. I assume, giving him 16 half shots, I’ll get smoked. But we only play a $1 nassau so it’s not like I can’t afford it. 

[Augster]

Myself and my friend/opponent played both systems concurrently. I have to give him 6. So in the half system I gave him 12 half shots. 
 

We both played poorly, he worse than I, and I beat him all 3, front back overall, by the same amounts in both systems. 
 

We’ll play again tomorrow. 
 

Anecdotally, no difference. So far. 

[Colin L]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:19 AM, Augster said:

I’m interested enough to give this a try. A friend I play quite often I give 8 shots to. Nearly every 9 comes down to the last hole. Nearly every match comes down to the last hole. I can count on one hand how many times he, or I, won 3&2 or higher over our past 100+ matches. It’s always close. 
 

I’ll give it a try. I assume, giving him 16 half shots, I’ll get smoked. But we only play a $1 nassau so it’s not like I can’t afford it. 

I seem to be getting more and more bewildered the more I frequent threads in this mighty forum.🤪 

 

If it's always so close that your matches so frequently go to the last hole and are seldom won by a large margin, your handicaps are doing a great job.  Why change?      .................except of course in order to have a laugh.    Maybe I need to lighten up a bit, live a bit, wear outrageous John Daly type trousers, try out half stroke handicaps, whatever it takes.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Colin L

[Mr. Bean]

4 hours ago, Colin L said:

I seem to be getting more and more bewildered the more I frequent threads in this mighty forum.🤪 

 

If it's always so close that your matches so frequently go to the last hole and are seldom won by a large margin, your handicaps are doing a great job.  Why change?      .................except of course in order to have a laugh.    Maybe I need to lighten up a bit, live a bit, wear outrageous John Daly type trousers, try out half stroke handicaps, whatever it takes.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget a bottle of single malt when playing!