36 Holes @ US Amateur ?

[Mike_Sweeney]

Just curious if anyone knows the backround on why 36 holes for the final ?

[TEPaul]

A 36 hole match play final has been part of match play competitive golf for as long as anyone can remember.

I can even vaguely remember when some match play tournaments, I believe including the US Amateurs used to have qualifying draws of 128, not the 64 most of us are used to in tournaments such as the US Amateur. 128 field draws required winning seven matches to prevail. Essentialy those tournaments took close to a week to contest (including the qualifying rounds) which is obviously why we no longer have them. But the 36 hole final round has hung on from that time obviously as tradition and probably always will. It really doesn't matter anymore because the final round has basically a day allocated for it and 36 holes can easially be contested in a single day!

[peter_p]

I am laboring under the opinion that luck plays less of a factor in a 36 hole match, that the added holes makes a truer test of a champion.

[wsmorrison]

I agree, Peter.  Luck as a factor is certainly removed over 36 holes.  As Max Baer tells us, golf is a sport and it is far more demanding over 36 holes, a real test of a one's physical and mental skills over a long period of time.  My own skill set is better suited to 12 holes.

[TEPaul]

It's always been my sense that the reason of attempting to remove luck with 36 holes instead of 18 has probably been more the part of the 36 hole qualifying rounds (both regionally and on site) for a tournament of the prestige of the US Amateur. The 36 hole final is likely just more tradition, in my opinion. One could probably assume if a golfer had survived 5 or 6 matches (5 in the 64 field draw and 6 matches in the old 128 field draw US Amateur) to get to the finals he probalbly isn't any fluke so luck probably isn't such a consideration!!  

Actually, in C.B. Macdonald's book "Scotland's Gift Golf" he does briefly mention in the formative years of the USGA there was some discussion that all the matches should be 36 holes because that was basically the old traditional match play format but they decided time could just not accomodate that format. And we all know C.B Macdonald had some pretty strong opinions about the original US Amateurs!!  

PS;

The real truth of why C.B. may have proposed the 36 hole format for every match in the US Amateur (and why 36 holes had always been the real match play format) wasn't just to remove luck it was more likely to give him at least a morning 18 hole round to get over his hangovers so he could start playing some decent golf in the afternoon rounds!

Don't forget, golf in that time was a game for gentlemen or at least you were expected to act like one! Drinking and the nightly opportunity to tie one on was just part of the deal. Back in that day they figured if you couldn't really tie one on every night what the hell was the point of living?!

[blasbe1]

What about a 36-hole final played over 2 days?  Do people think that a 36-hole final would be enhanced or diminished if played 18 one day and 18 the next?  

At first thought, two days is much less physically demanding, however, sleeping on a lead could certainly be more mentally taxing.  In addition, it would seem to remove a weaker player going on a hot streak and thus would seem to play further into the better player's hand.  

I raise the issue b/c today is the second day of our 36-hole club championship that has historically been a two day match.  For years, I have found it odd that we play over two days.  With this year's final 18 still unplayed, I am convinced that we should play 36 in the same day.    

This year's finals is contested between a regionally and nationally accomplished player who is always about scratch (the "Favorite" who beat me 5&4 in the semi-finals last Sunday   and who ousted me 5&4 last year too   ) and a well seasoned (he's won cc's in four decades!!!) senior who is 3 or 4 index (the "Underdog").  Well yesterday the wind howled and the course played very difficult and since the Favorite is a high ball player the conditions favored the Underdog who was one up going into 15 but stumbled a bit and finished 1 down for the day.  That, however, was clearly a good start for the Underdog.  

Today is a much calmer day and the conditions will certainly play into the Favorite's hand (if  both play to their handicaps the match will end by 14 or 15, I'll post if there's an upset).  However, if all 36 holes were played yesterday I think the Underdog would have had a much better shot.  

When and if I become golf chairman someday I intend to have all 36 played in the same day, but until then, does anyone have thoughts either way to add some perspective on this issue?

Cheers.

[TEPaul]

Jason:

A 36 hole match on the same day is one of the enduring match play format traditions of golf, in my opinion. To think to format 36 holes over two days because the wind or lack of it might benefit or detract from the chances of one player or another is just too much to think about---it's unnecessary, in my opinion. Any good golfer should learn to compete in any condition as best as he can or suffer the competitive consequences. If he's a high ball hitter he should just learn to hit it lower in the wind--don't expect a tournament match to be spread out over more than a day in the hopes it may be calm again the next day!