Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with something called a “shamble” in golf. I’d heard the term tossed around at the course and figured, why not give it a shot? It’s not exactly a common format, but it sounded fun enough.
First things first, I rounded up some buddies. You need a group for this, otherwise, it’s just regular golf. Once I got the gang together, we headed out to the local course. The sun was shining, birds were chirping – you know, the whole nine yards. We were all pumped to try this shamble thing out.
Now, here’s how it works: We all tee off like normal. Each of us takes our best swing, hoping for that perfect drive. After everyone’s gone, we all huddle up and debate which drive was the best. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it leads to some good-natured ribbing. It took a little time to figure out.
After picking the best drive, that’s where things get a little different. Everyone moves their ball to that spot. From there, it’s every man for himself. We each play our own ball for the rest of the hole, just like regular stroke play. I flubbed a few shots, but hey, that’s golf. Made a couple of good putts to save face, though. At the end of the hole, everyone kept track of their own scores.
- Tee off together.
- Choose the best drive.
- Everyone plays their own ball from that spot.
- Keep your own score.
We played a full round like this. It was a blast! The shamble format adds a nice little twist to the game. You get that team aspect at the start of each hole, but you still have to earn your score the rest of the way. I ended up shooting a decent round, not my best, but not my worst either. It’s a totally different vibe from regular stroke play, which I prefer.
But the best part? The arguing, of course. Well, maybe not arguing but debating which drive was best. It really kept things interesting at the beginning of each hole. And it was funny seeing some of us hit a terrible drive and still try to convince others that it was a decent shot. Yeah, I’m talking about you, Dave.
By the end of the day, we were all tired but in good spirits. We grabbed some food at the clubhouse and rehashed the round. We laughed about the bad shots, celebrated the good ones, and generally had a great time. It’s safe to say we’ll be doing another shamble soon. Maybe next time I’ll even convince Dave that his slice isn’t a “strategic fade.”
