BGC Match Play

 

The Basics

Match play was actually the original form of golf as it started in Scotland many centuries past. It is highly different from Stroke Play in that rather than you against the course, or you against a fellow competitor somewhere on the course that you may never even see, it is you one-on-one against your opponent, battling it out hole by hole.

In Stroke Play, no matter how well you are doing, it isn't until everyone is finished and scores are tallied do you know if you won or lost. The strategy is simple – play your best game. In Match Play, you win or lose or tie a hole against your opponent and it is done. Move to the next one. Playing strategies are all important, and you don't have an individual score for the day. In this way, Match Play is a more highly competitive game.

Match Play continues to be a fun part of the Beijing Golfers Club experience, and this year we welcome Tian An as a sponsor. The winner will receive a one year membership at Tian An golf course for the 2011 season.

Match Play for 2010 begins on May 8th, and the first rounds are to be completed by June 6th. Click Match Play Ladder to see how the players are paired. Read on to find valuable information about Match Play, registration and rules.

 

Registration

Any member of the Beijing Golfers Club can register for Match Play. Registration is free, and all you need to do join is send an email to golf@beijing-golfers-club.org . We can take up to 128 players for Match Play.

 

Player Seeding

The Match Play players are placed on a ladder in a single-elimination tournament. In other words, if you win a match you move to play the winner of another match, and if you lose then you are out of the tournament. The ladder is seeded with 16 players that performed well in the previous year. It is based on a combination of their standings in the previous year's Match Play competition, Order of Merit points won in the previous year, and their current handicap. It is designed to assure that these players to not compete directly in the early rounds. All other matching of players is done by computer random selection. In other words, whether you are seeded or not, who you play in the first round is completely at random. If the ladder is not completely filled (meaning less than 64 players), then the lowest seeded players will not play the first round.

The seeding of players is as follows:

1-4	Top 1-4 players from last year's Match Play
5-8	Top 1-4 players from last year's Order of Merit
9-12	Lowest 4 handicaps
13-16	Top 5-8 players from last year's Order of Merit

 

If a player qualifies for seeding by multiple criteria, then the better seeding position is used. If a player from the BGC Order-of-Merit rank of 1-8 is not participating in the 2010 Match Play, then the place will move down the Order-of-Merit ranking list, to a maximum of 30. In the unlikely event that this does not fill the seeding, the vacant seeding will be filled based on the lowest handicap criteria until all 16 seed positions are filled.

Choosing the course and the time

You and your opponent must agree to a time and place to play the match, and you should begin trying to arrange a date as soon as you know who your opponent is. As long as you can reach an agreement then there is no restriction as to where or when you play, as long as you complete the match prior to the dates set forth in the tournament schedule. The time and place is generally based on what is convenient for the players, but familiarity with courses can often give an advantage to one player or the other. Considering that most of the BGC members are working folks, you should be fair that when discussing possible dates to compete, weekend play should be offered if one player can only play during weekdays.

Although you may do so, because of the differences between how Match Play and Stroke play tournaments are played (including rules, penalties and strategies) it is a bit difficult to play Match Play rounds during regular BGC events while also competing in the BGC tournament. It is up to you if you want to keep 2 scorecards and post you Match Play result and file your score for the BGC competition on the day, so we recommend that if you do play Match Play on a BGC Sunday that it is all you do. Please note that using conceded puts for your Match Play will invalidate the score for the BGC normal event because for tournament play there are no “gimmies”. If you plan to play your match at a regular weekend event, please kindly inform BGC of that upon registration, so that we can help you with a suitable tee-time and pairing with others.

The player named first in the starting list has the principal responsibility to contact the Committee in case of any questions or disagreements.

What if you cannot agree?

The Committee will not get involved in arranging dates, so it is up to the players to work it out. If despite reasonable attempts to find an agreeable date and time you are unable to find one that works for both players, then you have two options:

• One player wins by default. In this case you have decided a winner without playing the match. This option is generally used when one player is able to offer several dates for playing the match but the other player cannot accommodate any of the playing dates suggested. Otherwise a player offers to withdraw. Write the Committee stating the winner.

• If you both made an earnest effort to find an agreeable date but just can't make it work, inform the Committee stating that you are both unable to play the match. The winner of the match will be determined by “Lucky Draw”.

 

Tees

While you can agree to play from any tee, we recommend that all matches are played from the Club Tees . That is the red tee for all lady players, and for the men it depends on the course. Here is a list of the Club Tees for some of the courses often played by the BGC:

TianAn	Blue Tees
Beijing Country Club	White Tees
Beijing Golf Club	White Tees
Beijing International Golf Club	White Tees
Huatang International	White Tees
Jinghua Golf Club	Blue Tees
Grand Canal	Blue Tees
Win River	White or Blue Tees
Orient Tianxing	Blue Tees
Orient Pearl	Blue Tees

 

Handicaps

This year we follow USGA Rules of Golf, which require that you use your Course Handicap, rounded off, as it is on the day of the match. Your course handicap is calculated by multiplying your Handicap Index times the Slope Index, divided by 113 and rounded. Click this link for a handy MatchPlayCalculator that automatically does this for you, but here is how it works:

 

Assume your handicap index is 12.2, and you are playing at Orient Pearl from the Blue tees. Your opponent handicap index is 18.6, a lady playing from the Red tees. Calculate your course handicaps as follows (click here to see a list of partner courses and the Slope Indexes):

 

Orient Pearl Blue index          =118

Orient Pearl Red index           =113

 

Your course handicap                         = (12.2*123)/113 = 13

Your opponent course handicap         = (18.6*114)/113 = 19

 

You would give your opponent six strokes, those being on holes with index 1~6.

 

You can confirm yours and your opponents' handicap index by going to www.ehandicap.net and entering the club name “bgc”, and the member number or name. If there is any dispute about handicaps, they must be resolved prior to the match being played. Your full handicap index applies in Match Play.

 

Reporting and moving up the ladder

At the end of each match, report the results by email to golf@beijing-golfers-club.org so that the ladder can be updated. If you do not play the match, or do not report the results prior to the day following the last tournament date, then the winner will be determined by random draw.

 

Gimmes? Concessions?

Unlike Stroke Play where each hole must be played out completely, putts can be “conceded” in Match Play. While gimmies are illegal in the Rules of Golf, in match Play if you wish to let the putt go (whether 3 inches or 30 feet), you can “concede” the putt. In the end, it is effectively a gimmie, but they can only be offered – they should never be asked for. Once you offer a concession, you cannot take it back, even if your opponent plays anyway. So if it is really a short putt and you want to concede it to keep the game moving along, go ahead. But it is your choice always.

You can also concede a hole. If you know there is no way to win or tie the hole, you can concede the hole and proceed to the next tee box. Concessions are not required and you can hole out, but if you already lost the hole anyway, just concede, pick up and move on. Remember, total strokes are irrelevant. You win, lose or tie each hole and nothing else carries on to the next one so there is no advantage to playing on if you already lost the hole.

 

Rules and Penalties

Although the basic rules of golf apply equally to Stroke Play and Match Play, some rules and penalty assessments are different. Where in Stroke Play most infractions result in 1-stroke penalties, in Match Play they result in your opponent requiring you to replay the shot (hit it again) or the loss of the hole. Here are some common examples of differences in the rules:

• In Stroke Play competitions you forfeit the match if you do not show up and miss your tee-time. In Match Play, you can be a little late, but you are penalized. If you do not show up at the designated tee-off time, you will forfeit the first hole, but you can pick up at the second hole. If you miss the second hole then you forfeit the match.

• While we promote “Ready Golf”, in Stroke Play it is a matter of etiquette not to play out of order, but in Match Play your opponent can require you to replay a shot if you hit out of order. This is because the strategy of play is determined by where the balls lie at the moment. If you hit well, but out of order, you can bet your opponent will enforce the rule it and you will be hitting again. (This happened to Annika Sorenstam during the 2003 Solheim Cup. She drained a chip from the short side of the flag and since her American competitor was further, on the green, she required Annika to replay and of course she missed that one.)

• Too many clubs (more than 14) in Stroke Play is 1-stroke per hole where the breach occurred - up to 4 maximum. In Match Play it is loss of hole for each hole where the breach occurred, up to 2 holes.

• Grounding a club in a hazard is a 1-stroke penalty in Stroke Play, but loss of hole in Match Play

• Hitting an unattended flag stick in Stroke Play is a 1-stroke penalty, playing the ball where it lies. In Match Play it is loss of hole.

• In stroke play, teeing off from outside the teeing ground (the teeing ground is between the tee markers and up to two club lengths behind the tee markers) results in a 1-stroke penalty. In Match Play, there is no stroke penalty, but your opponent can cancel your shot and require you to replay it.

• Hitting an opponent (or his equipment) is never a good thing, but it happens. In stroke play, if your ball hits a fellow-competitor or his equipment (if it is accidentally stopped or deflected by the same), it is rub of the green. In Match Play, you have the option to replay the shot.

• Hitting a ball at rest on the green is also different: In stroke play, if your putt strikes another ball on the green, you get a 1-stroke penalty. In Match Play there is no penalty.

In Stroke Play there is a penalty if a player fails to be forthcoming of an infraction when aware of it, whether made by him or witnessed made by another. In Match Play, however, a player is free to overlook an unintentional breach made by his opponent. Be aware that an inadvertent breach in Match Play cannot be contested once play starts at the next hole.

A key element of Match Play is that you may not play two balls and choose one based on a later ruling. So whereby in Stroke Play if there is a ruling question you can play two balls and settle it afterwards, Match Play the opponent's strategy can only be based on a single ball in play. Therefore play must continue with that same ball and if a ruling cannot be made at the time, then the status of the hole (win/loss) will be determined afterwards when a ruling determination can be made.

 

Scoring

In Match Play, you keep track only of how many holes you have won or lost more than your opponent. For example, if you have won 4 holes, your opponent has won 2, and you tied all others (tied holes are not counted), then you are up-2 and your opponent is down-2. When a Match Play round is finished, there is no tally of the total number of holes won, lost or tied – just how many the winner is “up” over his opponent. In fact, a Match Play round does not need to go a full 18 holes. For example, if you have won 4 more holes than your opponent and there are only 3 holes left, you have already won since even if your opponent wins every other hole you cannot lose. The match is over with you winning 4-3 (up-4 with 3 holes left).

So how can someone win 4-2? This is often confusing, since it seems that a win should be when a player is up one more than the number of holes left, but consider what happens when one player is up by exactly the number of holes remaining. In this case the leader is said to have taken the match “dormie”, which is the point where the match can be tied but not lost. Here is an example: Say you are 3-up with 3 holes to go, you took the dormie because while it is possible to tie if your opponent wins each remaining hole, you cannot lose. If you win the next hole, you win 4-2, meaning you are 4 up with 2 holes left to play.

 

 

Strategy

Strokes are meaningless in match play beyond the net strokes for the hole being played. It does not matter how many strokes it takes to hole out in order to win the hole. You win the hole if you hole out with less net strokes than your opponent. Therefore, your strategy on the hole depends on what your opponent is doing. If your opponent is in trouble on a particular hole, you can play that hole conservatively. If your opponent is doing well on a particular hole then you may need to be more aggressive. If it is all or nothing, it may be necessary to try that “Tiger Woods, out of the bunker, under the shrubs, hook around the tree try to hit the green 1 in a 1,000 chance” because otherwise you will lose the hole anyway. In Stroke Play you would never make such a move – well, let's say you probably shouldn't.

It is not you against the course but you against your opponent, head-to-head, hole by hole. If you set out to play your “best game”, you will likely lose in Match Play. The worst that can happen from a bad shot is that you lose a single hole. There are 17 others. On a given hole, your bad shot on the fairway can just as easily be offset by your opponent's bad shot out of a green-side bunker, at which point you are squared again. Play the hole, not the course, and you have a chance.

Higher handicappers also have reasonable chances against low handicappers in Match Play. When a player with a 20 handicap plays against one with a 9, on holes with indexes 1-11 if the 20-handicapper double-bogies the holes, the 9-handicapper must par to win. The 20-handicapper can play conservatively, only trying for double-bogie while the 9-handicapper must play aggressively for par. Understanding this can give the higher handicappers a real advantage when playing against a low handicap payer that plays a less consistent game.

 

COURSE SLOPE INDEXES