A Perfect Blend Of Strategy And Skill... The Winter Golf Competition Format Every Amateur Will Love

Modified yellow ball format.

I don’t get to play many fun or novelty formats these days other than the occasional Texas Scramble or three-club challenge. The bulk of my golf is good old medal, Stableford or simply friendly play. It’s not that I’m averse to other formats, but rather just the way my golf calendar has evolved.

So, when editor Neil Tappin decreed that last year’s team Christmas gathering at the London Club would be a modified yellow-ball format on the club’s excellent International course, I was struggling to remember what a ‘standard’ yellow-ball format looked like.

Thankfully, there was a Golf Monthly article on the very subject, and I remembered I’d played it once or twice, with the Stableford score of the player using the team’s yellow ball (in rotation) being doubled. It’s a perfect double-edged sword – a chance for big scores offset by added pressure when it is your turn with the yellow ball.

Neil had decided on a fourball better-ball format. Each pair had to then designate one front-nine and one back-nine hole on which both players must play their yellow ball, with both Stableford scores on the selected holes then counting for the team score.

However, losing just one of the yellow balls would lead to a team score of zero for that hole. This added a key strategic element to each team’s decisions on a course ideally suited to the nuances of this modified format.

There was much to ponder when choosing the two yellow-ball holes (Image credit: Future)

Clearly, where people were getting shots was a major deciding factor, as was the direction of a strong, cold wind. But perhaps above all these was the fact that the International course, which has hosted big events including the 2014 Volvo World Match Play won by Mikko Ilonen, brings water prominently into play four times on the par-5 1^st and 13^th holes, and the par-3 8^th and 12^th holes.

The 12th is one of four holes on the International course where water comes prominently into play (Image credit: The London Club)

I was paired with colleague Rob Smith and we got 7 and 17 shots respectively. Having decided to focus on holes where I also got a shot, we discounted the par-3 8^th with its sizable carry over water and the already tough 9^th playing straight into the wind

The strong, cold wind was another factor in any yellow-ball decision (Image credit: Future)

Much to ponder

Our front-nine decision came down to the tough par 4s at the 3^rd and 5^th. We worked out that the 3^rd would be downwind and the 5^th into it, so selected the former hole... then proceeded to muck it up completely.

Both pairs in our group went for the SI-1 3rd hole as it was playing strongly downwind

Rob topped his drive and I then hit a bit of a low squirter on my approach, which took one bounce and plopped straight into a gorse bush. Thankfully, its vibrant yellow coat meant that we found it, but after dropping, I then had to make a good two-putt just to secure a solitary point.

After further issues, Rob holed a five-footer to also save a point, but a team score of two on a yellow-ball hole was not what the doctor ordered and probably meant our race was realistically run as neither of us had our best stuff.

I found my ball in the bush but having to take a penalty drop is not conducive to a good yellow-ball score (Image credit: Nick Bonfield)

Our playing companions, Baz Plummer and Nick Bonfield, had also chosen the 3^rd, and when Nick made a regulation par and Baz a bogey with two shots, they’d beaten us by four there, having already bagged three-pointers on the opening three holes.

For the back nine, we rejected the SI-2 par-5 13^th as it would be straight into the wind with water a major threat. Instead, we went for the short par-4 15^th, also straight into the wind but not much over 300 yards, as I got a shot there.

We discounted the 13th despite getting shots there because of that stretch of water and the wind direction (Image credit: Azalea)

Seizing the moment

This time, I made a three-point par despite knocking my slippery 15-foot birdie putt four feet past. But Rob, normally a very reliable putter, chose this hole to three-putt for double from 20 feet. Four yellow-ball points this time, but still not really what we were looking for.

Our ‘opponents’ had saved their back-nine yellow ball for the difficult par-3 17^th, where Baz again got two shots. Despite playing just 185 yards, it was uphill into a three- or four-club wind and three of us, including me and Baz, decided driver was the only option.

Not only did Baz knock it on, but he also then rolled his 25ft right-to-lefter home for a net zero and five points. Even though Nick bagged just one point, that meant another six-point yellow-ball haul for their team.

Baz and Nick scoring twice as much as us on the yellow-ball holes was one reason why they amassed 48 points to win the event, while we languished in mid-table, mid-30s mediocrity. But they scored well elsewhere, too, especially on the front nine and were never really troubled at the top of the leaderboard.

Solid yellow-ball decisions contributed to Nick and Baz walking off with the chocolates and tiny token trophy! (Image credit: Future)

The modified yellow-ball format had worked a treat on a course ideally suited to its strategic demands, highlighting that correct decisions counted for nothing if you couldn’t then execute.

I know the International course at the London Club well having played it many times over the years and would say this format better suits a course you know well rather than an unknown quantity, which might be a bit more ‘finger in the air’ when making those crucial yellow-ball decisions.