“From a competitive standpoint, to me, it is the hardest game to play. I can always respond to an opponent, a defensive guy, an offensive guy, whatever, but in golf, it’s like playing in a mirror.” – Michael Jordan
Stableford is a chambered nautilus. There are games within games. Where do you want to press? Where do you want to ease off? The discrete scoring of Stableford means more opportunities to test the opponent in the mirror.
For the average golfer, the format amplifies the pursuit of excellence, it doesn’t dampen it.
If we’re into the depths of handicap management, Stableford isn’t all that different from ESC–or whatever replaced ESC in the global standard calculator. That means Stableford scores can still translate to a conforming index. Stableford games still identify the better skilled golfer, on the day. It still rewards excellence.
But it does all of the above in less time. I don’t run into many people at the ninteenth hole who complained their arrival was too soon in coming.