Q. Is it fun to putt for eagle?
Q. Is it fun to putt for par?
Q. Is it fun to putt for a quad-bogie?
Stableford is a format alternative to stoke scoring, aka “medal” golf. Among other possible advantages it offers this tall cool refreshment to the parched mid-handicap golfer: when you play Stableford, you never hit a shot that’s not fun. You never hit a shot that doesn’t have some upside, some possibility of accounting success. Some possibility of progress. Stableford, for mere mortal players, is the humane alternative to the asymptotic abstruseness of medal golf.
Medal golf creates conditions wherein the worse you are at the sport, the more you are asked to do it. This runs counter to natural law, and it is rarely found in recreational sport. This case does not suggest that medal golf is not a fine way to identify superior skill among very good golfers, and under competition.
Q. Is it fun to putt for a quad-bogie? By axiom it cannot happen when you play Stableford.