I need to preface this with multiple disclaimers.
Any form of golf is a positive. Any form of golf alongside family and friends is positive.
And if we’re all coming together to play in a tournament where the primary objective is to raise money for charity while having some fun along the way, that is even more of a positive.
What I’m about to describe is a first-world problem inception. It’s a first-world problem nesting doll, and I’m doubtful there is any real “solution” to the “problem” I have. The fact I’m complaining about it is ridiculous.
Even so, I have to say it:
Scrambles have gotten out of control.
If you’ve participated in a golf outing, you know the drill of being on a four-person team. Everyone hits, you select the best of the bunch and then repeat the process until the ball is holed.
The scramble (or captain’s choice or whatever other name you want to call it) is designed to be friendly for all levels. Even four 20-handicaps can scrape together a decent score in a scramble. Even the worst golfer can accidentally contribute now and then. It keeps everyone involved. There is usually no need to look for stray golf balls. Nobody is taking a snowman as they stick-handle back and forth across the green.
A scramble, on the surface, is fun—until organizers and participants make a friendly competition into an event where no shot matters.
See, the joy of a scramble is that it’s unserious competition. The result doesn’t matter, but you still get to go through the process of competing as if it does.
You sit around with your teammates the night before, drinking a few beers and wondering what you will need to shoot for a chance to win. You discuss strategy—choosing the batting order, reading greens and debating which shots to take—as a unit. You look up where your group stands in the live scoring.
If everyone was playing by the rules, that would be exciting. It’s like a pseudo tournament for people who will, in all likelihood, never play a real golf tournament.
But two things have happened to ruin (I’m being dramatic but stay with me) that experience.
Organizers started implementing more and more ridiculous paths to get people to donate. Unlimited mulligans. Asking for $20 so a player can shoot a cannon on a par-4 and automatically write down an ace on your scorecard—but only if everyone in the group pays. Asking for $30 a pop to give groups a 10-foot string so any putt inside of that string counts as a made putt.
If it’s something that is reasonable and even among all teams—like each person gets one mulligan—then that is fine. But organizers started going well beyond your typical raffle donation, trying to lure golfers into buying a lower score.
And those golfers are the true culprits of why scrambles have been sullied. Those golfers are cheating their faces off and doing so with no shame.
Last week, I got a text from a friend: “Just finished a scramble I play in every year. The lowest score ever shot in 20 years of the tournament is a 55. A foursome of guys wearing cargo shorts just came in with a 46.”
That’s 26-under! And according to my friend, there were no “gimmick holes” throughout the round to artificially lower their score.
A week prior, I played in a four-man scramble. Our group played fairly well and shot 11-under 61 on a difficult course. We left a couple shots out there but also made a couple of birdies on difficult holes.
That put us in a logjam near the top—except for one group, which strolled in with a 52. When the foursome was presented with the trophy, the tournament organizer made a point to say that the team had never finished in the top 10 of this event but had substituted one of their guys for a “real golfer” who supposedly helped them shoot 20-under.
There were no mulligans, no other gimmicks. Two of the par-3s were beyond 190 yards. Shooting that score requires almost perfect golf.
Apparently these kind of experiences are commonplace, because social media is brimming with examples of teams clearly “naming their number” to get pro shop credit and 10 seconds of applause.
Recently, the X (Twitter) account @svcigar posted the leaderboard of the Greater Salem Contractors Scramble in New England. The winning team came in with a 28-under 44 to win by 10 shots.
And then I saw another video where a foursome, which apparently had three scratch golfers, was beaten by 11 strokes when this team showed up with a 48.
A few hours later, I spotted a Reddit post by the user rainbow_rave, which featured a photo of a scramble leaderboard where a group shot 40 with two aces. That is a 40 for 18 holes. That is two holes-in-one.
Am I taking crazy pills here?
But what really warmed my heart was a moment of sweet justice. Or maybe it was staged—who really knows at this point with the Internet.
Another Reddit user, creepy_panic6793, posted a video of an outing where multiple scramble teams had to compete in a playoff. Teams that tied at 10-under had to go out to the course in front of everyone, where they proved they clearly could not have shot that score.
I could go on for another 2,000 words citing examples, but I think you get the point. Scrambles are teeming with blatant cheaters, and it’s ruining the experience for everyone else.
Here’s what should happen: Every scramble should take the top three teams and make them all hit in front of the whole outing. Just play one hole. If it’s still tied, go to a chipping contest and then get on with the raffle, lunch and award ceremony.
We need to really shame these people. You want to write down 46 on your scorecard? You are now entered into a three-group playoff with everyone watching. All 12 players have to hit. Go prove you are capable of shooting the score you shot.
Organizers can help, too. If you want to raise more money, get more raffle items. Or—and I know this is a radical idea—just ask everyone to donate without tying it to a tournament-related gimmick.
I’m also waiting for the day when scramble formats are modified into a Chapman. That’s where the best tee shot is selected and then it’s alternate shot from that point. If player A hits a tee shot that gets selected, player B hits the next shot, then player C, then player D.
Personally, I think this would be way more interesting. Everyone gets to hit meaningful shots, and one player can’t do all of the work.
Here’s what will happen: Nothing. Cheaters will continue to win scrambles until the end of time. Pretty soon we will be seeing Kim Jong Il-esque scores in the 30s win scrambles.
Does any of this really matter in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely not. It’s beyond a privilege to put up a protest because charity golf outings are unfair.
I’m just hoping we can level the playing field so we all enjoy it.
Golf is supposed to be fun, and that includes getting to play in charity tournaments without people cheating.
