Thought I would throw this at board and see if it sticks. Currently in 24th position in this week's Clash, 40 of us.
How to play in a Clash
A funny thing happened on the way to the golf course yesterday.
Somebody asked if playing H2H during Clashes help the Clashes. Another
asked what was a Blue Pass. Another asked how do clashes work.
I
get it. The big country clubs that are at Level 19 have be doing this
for a long time. To them. it is all about how big a trophy room you got.
As a Director of an unorganized CC without an active Owner, I had
access to the Super Passes. I just used them, because I could. Then the
Knuckheads are born and I got schooled about Clashes the hard way. Not
getting it right has cost the Club at least 4 serious Clash players.
Clashes are about keeping the Club tight, and calculating our victories
with organized and strategic plans.
This is what I know. This is
why our Club is now ranked better than 30th in Clashes. At this time, we
are a Top Rated Club and the big boys know who we are. That's what
happens when we get IN THEIR FACE!
Clashes happen every two weeks religiously. They last for two days, and each Match in a Clash lasts 4 hours. With good time management, we can get 11 matches into the Point Total. They start at midnight PST, and run Thursday/Friday.
PRACTICE
During
Clash week, we try to predict which course will be used in Clash and
set up tournaments, then throw winds and tournament greens onto the
deal. Usually we set up CTTH (Closest to the Hole) tourneys and just a
plain jane tough as nails 9 hole. We do that for practice, to get ready,
to figure out new tricks to better your game if that green ever shows
up again.
Words of Advice: CTTH Club Tourneys are good practice
for Tie Breakers in H2H. All about the Tie Breakers, and how important
your wedges are to you.
Clash Matches
The Clashes
are won and lost by Point Total. When you win a Match, you get points
for winning and points for individual hot shots like longest putt and
longest holed shot (in the hole from outside of green). As a Team, there
are points for best % sand saves (get a par or better after landing in
bunker), total putting distance (add up all the putting distances for
each round played by Team members), % birdie made, and % green in
regulation.
There are Points for Top 10 Scores, and they are
factored for bonuses. So, if you get the top round, or #1 spot, you get
your points multiplied by 6. #2 is 5, #3 is 4, #4 is 3, and the rest are
2x.
Points are given for every result, you do not get points
deducted. A quadruple bogey still gets you 1 point. That 1 point goes to
the Team total. And that helps the Team.
You get 5 points for a
par, 12 points for a birdie, and 25 points for an eagle. You get 2
points for a bogey, and 1 point for everything else.
If your round is in the Top 10, then multiply your point total by the position multiplier.
You need to use a Club Pass to record your results for the Team.
Super (Blue) Passes
Every
Club gets 12 Super Passes to start the Clash. The Club gets an
additional 1 Free Super Pass every time we win a Turf War. Winning Turf
Wars is important, and so is getting to the next Turf War as fast as
possible. We have an active Club, nearly everybody plays every day, and
more than once. That means we can grind out nearly 90 H2H wins in less
than 24 hours. That translates to more than 2 wins for every member of
the Club. We need to keep that rate going, as a good stretch of Turf War
wins might get us 6 extra Super Passes. It does not matter what room
you play in, a win is a win, we just need wins.
We also get 2 more Super Passes at the beginning of each Match.
Super
Passes are used by the best players in the Club. The Super Passes will
DOUBLE the point total for the round. The Top #1 spot would therefore
multiply by a factor of 12 if a Super Pass is used. We have 8 Veterans
and 5 Directors that have this privilege. We have been adding Veterans
if the Member shows a dedication to play as a Team member. We remove
Veterans if they do not play as a Team member. Worse things can happen
if you do not play as a Team member. (yes, that is a veiled threat)
Now
for the background on how the Club plans to play the Super Passes.
Every Clash Match is different. Sometimes we play really Big Clubs, and
most of the time we don't. The Law of Averages kicks in, when we are in
Top 50. When you add up all the Super Passes, we can budget 3 or 4 SPs
per Match, or 1 per hour. The timing to use a Pass can be critical.
Never play all the Passes at once near the beginning. You have to test
the waters first. The stuff hits the fan if all the big hitters show up
at the end of the Match and you have nothing left to throw at them. In
the very rarest case, a 5th SP can be used if a victory is at hand. This
is not a gamble, it has to be a sure thing. Sometimes life sucks and
you do a bad round. So be it, you tried. Best discuss this with other
Veterans when that moment arises and a call shot needs to be made.
Club (Grey) Passes
Success
is measured by the quantity of members that will play rounds in the
Clash. People complain that the results of a Clash will screw up their
average. We know that. That's why we have practice tourneys for the
Clash, to help us move up the ladder of 'better golfers'. In the
meantime, lower Tier players might struggle. The simple rules of golf
apply here. Keep it simple. Keep your ball on the fairway (play safe, lay up if you have to, do not try new things). Reach the green in regulation (do not try to get fancy and end up in the rough or the bunker, play for a safe land).
More
importantly, do not get all wound up because you just played your worst
rounds in months. It is a competition, and the best Team wins. Playing
well during a Clash is just good timing, a bit of luck, and a will to
win. The rest of it is pure hard work. For 48 hours, our Team gets to
work as a Team. The closer our Team members are to each other, the
better we can make our victories feel like we own the Podium. The Club
is going through an important phase right now. We need to continue down
this path that we have started to build.
If you want to be a hard core Club member, all Tiers included, you need to join us in Telegram.
We want to help you get better as golfers. As friends, we can cheer you
through bad games, joke about how bad things could get, and, most
importantly, provide life advice if you want it. Lots of grey hairs in
the Club, there is a rumour that there might be some wisdom to be found.
Knuckheads CC