Bogey-Par competition - what's that all about?

Entered one of these at the weekend - seems to be a fun competition but the rules specify it as a "bogey-par" competition

Maybe this has other names but basically the scoring seems to be you against the course in a kind of matchplay - so net par is a half, net birdie (or better) is a win, net bogie (or worse) is a loss - and you end up with a score of so many "up" or "down"

Anyone played this (maybe under another name?) and what actually is the point? Doesn't seem a whole lot different to a stableford to me

It's a mixed comp so should be a bit of fun with full h.c for both men and ladies and ladies getting two equalization shots (what used to be called, in less enlightened days, "courtesy shots")

Yes I have played quite a lot of it over the years and I really enjoy it. It encourages attacking golf as the worst you are ever going to do on a hole is a minus (loss). I will take on shots that my normal course management would not allow if I was playing a strokeplay competition.

We play two bogey competitions a year at my club and we also use this format in the trials to assist team selection in scratch matchplay events. I accept that it is not universally popular, in fact some people can't stand it. One of the most common gripes is that if you get a gross birdie on a shot hole you still only get one plus! (win)

I've played it as Colonel Bogey. The Colonel always makes his par so as you say birdie or better beats him and bogey or worse loses to him.

It is a little similar to Stableford but you don't get bonus points for playing a hole exceptionally well. It can be a dispiriting game because you don't get to score many points. We played it as one of our Saturday morning games but it wasn't very popular because "you couldn't score points" or "the winning score wasn't high". Should have called it US Open then they wouldn't have whined about it like little girls

Cheers guys - I'm quite looking forward to it though I'm not sure it will suit my game as I'm more the steady type (on a good day). I'll give it a go though!

Won't be recording it for eclectic purposes though if it's going to encourage reckless play ;-)

"you don't get to score many points" Grumps?...thought you would have been well used to that after the Fantasy League

:Huff: You've taken that quote out of context Blue. That was from some whiny Yank not me.

But fair do's, it could very well apply to my fantasy league career. But I do feel I am doing a lot better these days; more challenging for Europe and mid table obscurity rather than basement battles and relegation fighting

I am very used to not scoring well, Fanatsy League shows that. This type of comp might suit me

So I played in this comp today - and a very enjoyable day it was too

Didn't play particularly well but not a shocker either - ended up 2 down against the course (estimated 32 pts Stableford) but the format was really interesting as I'd never played it before. Made me think a few times!

Some examples .. first hole is a two-shot par-4 for me - needs a really good tee shot (by my standards) to even leave a chance of reaching in regulation - I hit a good tee shot but still had a long shot left (into the wind) to reach the green - so I didn't bother. Hit a 7 iron and easy PW to about 12 feet and that left me an easy two putt for the win on the hole

Same happened on the 9th - though it was only a one-shotter for me I was only about 15 foot from the pin in 2 and should have had an easy two putt for the win (though I ran the first putt far too far past the hole and missed the one back so what should have been a simple win ended up a nasty half)

What I DIDN'T like about the format was that one wild tee shot (OB or into deep cabbage where you would normally hit a provisional and still have a chance of scrambling a stableford point if you played the rest of the hole well, just wasn't worth it. A couple of times when I hit a bad tee shot into a nasty spot, it just wasn't worth playing 3 off the tee

Good fun though - when I left the club, +4 was leading but my -2 wasn't a disgrace by any means (it was a 2-3 club wind with lots of nasty rough) - there were a lot of -6 or -7 scores in there and at least one -12 so I didn't feel so bad. I'd certainly play that format again

(PS to Grumps - glad I didn't nominate it as an eclectic round - don't think I had any improvements although I wasn't too disappointed with my game