An amateur golfer has won a Stableford competition by a huge 21 points despite shooting a round of 100.
Colin Campbell was playing in the event at Ipswich Golf Club in his native Australia off a generous handicap of 53.28.
The player carded a mixed bag on the par-72 course, to say the least. He achieved four pars in his round, but also suffered two quadruple bogeys, two triple bogeys, four double bogeys and six bogeys which saw him complete his round in 100. However, thanks to his handicap, he cruised home by 21 points, after going out in 27 points and back in 34, to amass a total of 61 points in the Stableford system.
The system offers an alternative to strokeplay, and is widely used by amateurs because its method of scoring allows players who have a bad hole to stay in the game rather than it hugely impacting their overall round.
The scoring system offers a certain number of points per hole based on a player’s handicap-adjusted score, with the player with the highest number of points at the end of the tournament declared the winner.
In Campbell’s case, because of his handicap, four pars bagged him a healthy five points each, setting him well on his way, while he claimed points on each of the other holes, too, including the two quadruple bogeys.
In a strokeplay event, those two efforts in particular would have been hugely damaging, but in the Stableford tournament they added to his chance of victory by handing him another point for each - including a nine on the par-5 second - as he went on to claim victory.
Not surprisingly, the scorecard, which was posted on Australian Golf Digest's Facebook page, drew plenty of reaction, with around 1,500 comments at the time of writing.
While the anomaly will leave some questioning whether the handicap system is flawed, Campbell's round offers an example of how the game is accessible to everyone, and he can work on bringing more consistency to his game while enjoying his surprise win.
