22 replies to this topic

[jportz]

If 2 players tie and they go to a scorecard playoff why does the player with the better back 9 win?  What makes the back 9 more important than the front 9?

Scorecard playoffs should be banished...a tie is a tie....they should go out and play for the outcome.  That's the only way to be fair.

Somebody please explain this to me because I lost a qualifying spot in a tournament because the guy shot 40 / 36 and I shot 38 / 38.....

[nikemike]

I agree, it sucks.  We came in 2nd at a tourney b/c of a scorecard playoff.  We wanted to play sudden death for the win but they didn't agree.  We took our trophies and t-shirts (and a free case of beer) and left!

[tanj]

I think you are referring to a 'countback' whihc is what we call it here in Australia. I know how your feeling. Everytime I seem to shot a good score, I always get beaten on countabck. However, I do see the logic and practicality of a countback.

Number one, it is usually too difficult to organise a playoff in club competitions because there are morning and afternoon fields playing in the same competitions.

Number two, the person with the better back nine wins befcause it is assumed that if it were to go to a sudden-death playoff, the person with the better back nine would be playing better because he/she would conitnue the form at the end of regulation play.

Josh

[Siwash23]

Sometimes playoffs are not possible or practical. . . . but I do agree that scorecard playoffs suck!!!  I have seen them where they randomly pick a hole (not necessarily 18) to start on and go forward from there, and I do not like those either.  I would rather see a tie than some arbitrary method like a scorecard playoff.

[taylormadefan]

Siwash23, on Jul 21 2006, 04:40 PM, said:

Sometimes playoffs are not possible or practical. . . . but I do agree that scorecard playoffs suck!!!  I have seen them where they randomly pick a hole (not necessarily 18) to start on and go forward from there, and I do not like those either.  I would rather see a tie than some arbitrary method like a scorecard playoff.

How about just flip a coin?  That seems more fair.  

Sorry you had to go through this portz, but at least you put yourself in that situation!  

Edited by taylormadefan, 21 July 2006 - 04:43 PM.

[Road Warrior]

Whenever I have dealt with scorecard playoffs, they involve going hole by hole back from 18, where the player with the first better hole wins.  Never ever have I ever seen a competition take back nine vs. back nine.

[jportz]

First they went with the 18th hole score, then they went with the total of the 16th - 18th hole, then they went with the back 9 score.

I made double bogie on the 11th hole (tee shot OB) and played even par the rest of the way in but the other guy made a bogie on 11 and a birdie on 13 to shoot even on the back.

We both shot the same score, I'm just trying to figure out how they figure his 76 was better than my 76???

I would have preferred they flip a coin....at least then I'd have a fair chance.

I don't see what's so hard about a sudden death playoff.  You tell em which tee to show up on and go for it.  Then nobody can say it wasn't fair.

Oh well....I'm the first alternate....maybe I'll still get a spot in the Championship.

[ScottWS33]

Well count backs are my least favourite thing just now. We had our 5 day Open this week and I was balloted out of the matchplay on countback on the back 9. Okay so I played awful and have to accept it but after shooting the same score as guys who qualified - one got to the final! - it seems a bit unfair. I have seen a lot of clubs use playoffs and I believe it's the best system.

[dan360]

Our scorecard playoffs are settled by starting at the #1 hdcp hole and going backwards to #18....

At least that way if you're beat, you know you got beat because the other player scored lower on a harder hole than you did---a little less painful than the other ways.

[nunee]

DL5treez, on Jul 22 2006, 05:55 AM, said:

Our scorecard playoffs are settled by starting at the #1 hdcp hole and going backwards to #18....

At least that way if you're beat, you know you got beat because the other player scored lower on a harder hole than you did---a little less painful than the other ways.

That is always the way I have heard of it being done.....

[housey]

it's the same for everybody, I win some I lose some.

[kfulbright]

The USGA suggested method is to use the back nine score, if still tied, the last six holes, then the last three, then 18.  If still tied go to the hardest handicap holes.  Its not great but sometimes a playoff can't happen

[RJC59]

I think it would be better if they just have a putting contest on that practice green...


seriously wtf is the point of retrogression... just let the players decide it on the golf course.

[emc]

I don't mind this method because i invariably play better on the back 9!

[ultra45]

I've always known retrogression to be the highest on the last hole wins and you start from 18 and go backwards until someone has a higher score on a hole.  I've also been to other tournaments where they start at 18 and the lowest score wins... having said that, a lot of tournaments will have a playoffs to decided the overall winner... all other ties will be determined by "countback"... it's also the easiest/quickest way to determine a picking order for prizes... doesn't mean i like it either but not much else you can do...

[jportz]

I guess it's great if you're the winner of the countback but sucks if you're the loser.

I just know from experience that when I lose a countback I feel cheated but if I lose in a playoff (which I've done) I feel as if the decision was justified....I was outplayed and the other guy deserved the medal.

In a countback you feel as if it has less to do with skill and more to do with chance.

If we both shoot 1 over and he makes his bogie on the 9th hole and I make my bogie on the 10th hole he wins....?????  I'm just having a hard time understanding how his bogie was "better" than mine.

Oh well...I guess it'll never change so I might as well get over it.  Thanks for letting me &itch about it.

[augiep38]

Our team got 2nd place due to a scorecard playoff and it was total BS.  They went back to the #1 Handicap hole.  We parred it and the other team birdied it.  i would be cool with it, but they had a woman on their team and she was teeing off from the ladies tees which gave them a 125 yard advantage on that hole.  It essentially took the dog leg out.  How is that considered fair?  All she had to do was put one in the middle at a reasonable distance.

This is why I no longer play in mixed gender tournaments that do not share the same tee grounds.

[GehenHerzog]

jportz, on Jul 21 2006, 09:19 AM, said:

If 2 players tie and they go to a scorecard playoff why does the player with the better back 9 win?  What makes the back 9 more important than the front 9?

Scorecard playoffs should be banished...a tie is a tie....they should go out and play for the outcome.  That's the only way to be fair.

Somebody please explain this to me because I lost a qualifying spot in a tournament because the guy shot 40 / 36 and I shot 38 / 38.....

The USGA recommended way of breaking ties by scorecard is to take the last 9 hole score, if those are the same you take the last 6 hole score, if those are the same last 3 holes, if those are the same the last hole, and if a winner is still undetermined, the tournament committee decides how to break the tie (but it had to determined before the tournament, and should have been stated on the rule sheet)

[j_wil_06]

It seems like they should go hole by hole according to handicap. (example- look at individual hole scores starting with the #1 handicap hole, then the #2, etc...)

[Angenend]

j_wil_06, on Jul 29 2006, 02:18 PM, said:

It seems like they should go hole by hole according to handicap. (example- look at individual hole scores starting with the #1 handicap hole, then the #2, etc...)

That is how they do it in a lot of the tournaments I am in. I've gotten kicked out of many top 5's that way...I've brought in the 3rd best score, and taken a playoff hole to the 11th handicap with several other guys,and ended up in 6th place!

[MAJYk]

I got jipped $200 at our mens invite last year. i birdied the 18th to miss the playoff by a shot and due to retrogression was given 5th place money for a 3rd place score.

[Tyler_fitzgerald]

With ties, at our club it use to be the highest on the last hole of play wins and you start from 18 and go backwards until someone has a higher score on a hole. Retrogression sucks, but there's not really another practical way because play-off's aren't always an option.

Also, at the begining of any tournament they should inform the players of what type of tie-breaker method they will be using so that everyone will know what to expect.

Edited by Tyler_fitzgerald, 29 August 2006 - 01:25 AM.