So, I had this Shamble golf thing the other day. Never really played in this format before, but it sounded pretty chill, so I figured, why not give it a shot?
We got to the course, and the first thing we did was team up. I ended up with three other guys, and right off the bat, we all stepped up to the tee box. Now, in a Shamble, everyone on the team tees off. That’s the first step. We all whacked our drives, and some were pretty good, some… not so much.
- We looked at all four shots and picked the best one. That was kind of nice, to be honest. No pressure to have the perfect drive since you’ve got backups.
- Once we settled on the best tee shot, we all moved our balls to that spot. From there, it’s like regular golf.
- Each of us played our own ball from that second shot until we holed out.
Hitting the Fairway
So, we’re walking down the fairway, each playing our own ball after that first tee shot. I shanked my second shot into the rough on the right. But my buddy, he nailed his approach, and his ball landed like two feet from the pin. Another guy was in a bunker, so that was fun to watch.
Putting for Glory
We got to the green. I managed to two-putt for a bogey, which wasn’t great, but hey, it could’ve been worse. My buddy with that sweet approach shot? He sinks the birdie. Easy peasy. We each marked our own scores on the card. There was also some talk of handicaps, and how they would adjust the scores later, but to be honest I just focused on my game.
We did this for all 18 holes. The whole thing is a bit of a blur now, a mix of some good shots, some bad ones, a lot of laughs, and some serious groans. At the end of the round, we added up the scores, but not for individual scores. In a Shamble, they usually take the two best scores from the team on each hole and add those up for the team score.
I think we did alright, didn’t win or anything, but we weren’t in last place either. All in all, it was a good day out. The Shamble format is a nice change of pace. It’s a bit more relaxed since you’re not relying solely on your own shots the whole way. Plus, playing with a team adds a fun dynamic to it.
