It's a Knockout format

[Mwh65]

I'm taking this all in guys because I like the idea of a Random 3 tourney.

So can we create a 3-hole It's a Knockout tourney as follows ...

Mode : Practice
Holes : Random 3
Tees : White (Medium)
Wind : High

Rules : Starter clubs only, against lower tiered players. Same Tier players use your standard equipment.

I can easily add the Tier for each player onto the Grid.

[gaoerfuqiu]

That sounds great, Mark ... here's another idea: what about allowing Tour Starter clubs too? The only reason to possibly include this is that they are so similar to Starter clubs that the differences would be minimal. Pros are more likely to have a Tour Starter driver than an R9, because if a pro spent zero money, they would still have 100 credits to buy a Tour Starter driver. Just an idea, but it sounds good!

[Faterson]

Mark, that could be done, but I think your proposal still specifies too many things when it's not necessary.

Or would the tees & wind change every week for every Mini-Knockout tournament? That could be interesting. Like, one week, players would play from the hardest tees with toughest wind, and the next week, it could be "a birdie contest", playing from easiest tees with little wind... That could be fun.

Again, I don't like the idea of forcing everyone to play with the starter equipment (all clubs and even golf balls!) just because the tiers are different. Why not make this a rule for the driver and 3-wood club only? And why force the higher-tier player to downgrade to the starter driver, if he perhaps happens to have other, non-exclusive drivers available? Playing with the starter set once a year, for fun, as an exception (Coolswing's tourney in September), is OK, but doing this every week For example, I could never fully employ my knowledge of back-spin / top-spin against a Master player, because we'd be playing with the starter equipment all the time, week after week after week?

Sorry, I don't like this.

PS: Gao, the Tour Starter set is one of the first things I sold away, with the exception of the sand wedge. (But now that we have the new 64-degree Ping wedge with fixed distances, I don't really need that sand wedge either.) So, I don't support your suggestion. In fact, Coolswing had to change the rules for his tourney; he had planned for it to be the "Tour Starter tournament", but had to change it to "Starter tournament" only, because so many players had already got rid of their Tour Starter equipment.

[hbthree]

I'm taking this all in guys because I like the idea of a Random 3 tourney.

So can we create a 3-hole It's a Knockout tourney as follows ...

Mode : Practice
Holes : Random 3
Tees : White (Medium)
Wind : High

Rules : Starter clubs only, against lower tiered players. Same Tier players use your standard equipment.

I can easily add the Tier for each player onto the Grid.

Sounds just fine Mark...thanks....HB3

[Mwh65]

Or would the tees & wind change every week for every Mini-Knockout tournament?

Yes they will change everytime.

That sounds great, Mark ... here's another idea: what about allowing Tour Starter clubs too?

I think we will stick to the Starter clubs.

This is really only going to be a fun tourney and very quick to play as well. I will implement this for the tourney due on 8th November 09 21:00:00. If it flops then at least I tried

[Faterson]

Mark, another argument against forcing people to play with starter equipment is that it takes a really long time to switch from your customary equipment to all-starter equipment, and back again. It takes many, many clicks and mouse operations to do so. You need to transfer individually your driver, 3-wood, rescue club, irons, putter, 2 wedges, balls. This can be quite tedious, irritating and time-consuming! And now we're supposed to do this (possibly) every 20 minutes, after every 3-hole game? For what?

I fail to see the logic behind forcing players to use starter equipment only. This is actually more complicated than enforcing only the starter driver & 3-wood.

Please consider enforcing only the starter driver & 3-wood for games between players of unequal tiers. These clubs can quickly be exchanged in your bag with 2 clicks of the mouse. After all, this measure is supposed to compensate the equal tees for players of unequal tiers. Equal or unequal tees are all about distance. The only clubs relevant in terms of distance are the driver and 3-wood. All the other clubs have their equivalents (in terms of distance) for players of all tiers.

Thank you for considering this, Mark.

[Mwh65]

This can be quite tedious, irritating and time-consuming! And now we're supposed to do this (possibly) every 20 minutes, after every 3-hole game? For what?

Are you saying that once you select the correct clubs for the tourney, they won't be the same when you come to play the next tourney match ?

I fail to see the logic behind forcing players to use starter equipment only

Only for players of a different Tier.

[Faterson]

Are you saying that once you select the correct clubs for the tourney, they won't be the same when you come to play the next tourney match ?

I'm saying that there are no "correct clubs" for the tourney. The draw may require you to play your first-round game against a Pro, the second-round game against a Master, and the third-round game against a Pro again. That is a very realistic scenario. And if this happens, you'll have to change your entire club sets pretty much every 20 minutes. This can definitely be irritating.

I fail to see the logic behind forcing players to use starter equipment only

Only for players of a different Tier.

Yes, that's what I mean. Why force me (a Pro) to use the starter set when playing against a Master I'm totally unused to playing with the starter clubs & balls. Especially the starter putter plays totally differently from the Redwood / Spyder putters I use normally. (Its smallest scale is 30 feet, something that is unheard of for advanced putters.)

Why make the rules (and play) more difficult for the players in this tourney, instead of making them easier? Isn't this measure, Mark, meant to compensate for the equal tees for players of unequal tiers?

If yes, then the proper compensation would be to enforce only the driver and 3-wood club, and not the entire equipment. All the other clubs have nothing to do with distance considerations.

[Mwh65]

If yes, then the proper compensation would be to enforce only the driver and 3-wood club, and not the entire equipment. All the other clubs have nothing to do with distance considerations.

These would be the Starter driver and 3-wood I take it ?

[Faterson]

These would be the Starter driver and 3-wood I take it ?

Yes. (Or any other non-tier-exclusive drivers/3-woods, if no player objects to that.) Starter drivers/3-woods are easy to handle, because I'd say the main difference between how they and the advanced drivers/3-woods operate is simply the diminished distance. No one worries too much about their driver's spin rating, for example. It's relatively easy to re-adjust to playing with the starter driver/3-wood for a couple of games.

But, if someone has been playing for months with putters/golf balls whose characteristics are very different from the basic putter/ball, starter equipment would throw such players off their game. Yes, it would throw both players off their game, but why should it? The issue here, as I understand it, is to offset the distance discrepancy, not to throw everyone off their game. That would turn the It's a Knockout into the type of off-beat tournament that Coolswing ably organized back in September (and it was lots of fun!), but I don't think it's a suitable arrangement for a regular weekly tournament.