Hi there,

Ive never swung a true golf club, though have gone to mini golf place a lot over the years. A buddy of mine is giving me 35 strokes over 18 and I get a caddy that has played golf for years and will tell me which clubs to use. We are trying to decide how much were betting between 100 to 500 on the match...I just know so little about the game I dont know if I am drawing dead. He said he shoots 85 to 90s on average at this course.

You're drawing to the DNF-nostiff parlay. This might be the worst prop I've ever seen somebody admit to taking. Maybe if you have a ton of time to spend on the driving range in the meantime, but if you're going out there raw, GFG.

How many strokes do you think is fair if I am 100% raw and he plays 3x a week though is from what others have said very prone to blow up holes?

3 per hole minimum so i wouldnt take anything under 54 strokes but even then you will probly lose

Not much of a friend if he can shoot an 85 and wants to play $100-$500/match against a complete golf noob.

This won't end well. No reasonable amount of strokes is going to cover you.

You will have 18 blowup holes, so plan accordingly

What would an unreasonable amount be to make this bet somewhat fair? He is getting to pick his best course as well...were a group of buddies who all have some money to play with so 100 to 500 doesnt really matter but id like to at least not be drawing dead as soon as I tee up.

100 strokes? I mean if you have some relatively dull/short course where you can chip/putt the whole way and the greens are all easy/slow, you might be a favorite to cover that. You have no idea how much you're going to spray/chunk shots off the tee, and when you miss, you don't wind up just off the fairway like they do on TV, you start it 15 degrees off target and watch it tail even further off, or smack it right into the ground and wonder why you didn't just putt it instead.

The course/tees are gonna big as mentioned. He could pick somewhere with a huge carry over a hazard from the back tees or something that could take you 15 tries to get over. There goes your 35 shots on one hole.

As mentioned, depends heavily on course imo. If the course is fairly hazard free (no water, very few bunkers, not a lot of oob spots), I think 35-50 shots is doable, if you have any experience in other sports such as tennis or cricket where hand eye co-ordination is used, this would help. I'm a 7 marker and have played with half a dozen noob friends that would have broken 120 at their first attempt and have got me with 35 shots if i had an off day, but most of these fellas have decent sporting backgrounds.

It is good to see golf hustling is alive and well. As the previous poster mentioned, you will lose unless you have a natural predisposition for athletics or lots of experience playing somewhat related sports. Or maybe that mini putt putt experience has you 2 putting every hole?

You are drawing to a one outer, actually you are closer to drawing dead.

Kim Jong Il wins that bet.

lol I remember golfing with a guy that had never golfed before

we were gonna play 18 but after the first hole that was never happening

we played at a short semi-private track and he shot 89 for 9 - that didn't count any penalty strokes or missed swings or gimme putts

you'd need at least 4 a hole

At least 4 a hole depending on water, carry, etc.

I'd be surprised if you shoot under 150 on a legitimate course, so 35 strokes is pure robbery. IMO 70 strokes would be a decent line.

like someone else said, good to see golf hustling live and well!

Id get at the very least 50, and you might want to actually use your putter on a lot of shots. Or maybe a 3 iron and just try to roll the ball on the ground as far as possible on the fairways. Wouldnt even take the driver outta the bag.

i'd probably play someone who has never played (ever? i mean, ever?) before with just my 7 iron and still give him 35 shots. and lay 3:1

i'm a 10 handicap fwiw

this would be my thought process if I was the caddy and this fella really wanted to win the bet. Knock half swing, 3-7 irons down the middle, putting from anywhere inside 50 yards, hoping to be on the green for 3-4 and 3 putt max, once again depends heavily on the course layout if this can be done.

....................and he'd still lose.

Maybe this particular fella would, but saying it can't be done, as some have itt, is beyond ridiculous. Like I said in an earlier post, i've played with half a dozen, thinking about it a little more now, probably only three or four fellas in their first rounds ever and they've broke 120 playing properly and would of got me with 35 shots if I had a bad day using all my clubs and i'm a 7 handicap. I reckon I could pick another 2-3 sporty type of mates of mine, with the right head on their shoulders, that i'd snap take the 3/1 a 10 marker using only a 7 iron giving them 35 shots on a easy course.

yeah, that's not a good bet.

even someone who is half decent often doesn't realize how many more strokes counting by the official rules of golf represents.

i have played in one tournament in my adult life. putts up to 4 feet are complete torture in tournaments. even 12 inch putts are a pain.. beyond 4 feet aren't that easy during casual rounds so the difference isn't that big.

and playing the true rules of golf as a newbie and scoring accordingly you can easily put 3 or 4 in the woods off the tee. now you're hitting your 7th or 9th shot and still on a tough tee box

so because i'm now playing by the rules i'm gonna forget how to golf? i feel like having a significant amount of money on the match is more stressful than 'rules'.

unless you're saying that the new guy is ****ed, in which case i agree.

The thing is that 99.9% of truly new golfers (never having played, swung a club, etc) cannot hit a knock down 3-7 iron in the fairway. If they truly haven't played they will most likely be whiffing a few times, and shanking the ball alot. I'm not talking about a slice or hook. I'm talking about a complete shank that goes straight right into the trees.

If the "new golfer" could hit knockdown shots into the fairway then obviously they would have a shot at winning. But I would definitely take my chances betting they wouldn't be able to do that consistently. For example, on a 430 yard par 4, you are expecting a new player to hit 3-4 solid knockdown shots, a decent chip, and then 3 putt without having a major mess up? Sign me up for that bet.

I would take the bet even on a course without water, OB, etc. But if the course had water and OB on several holes, it would be a disaster for the new player. He literally may not be able to get over the water on a few holes without playing around it (which would take him a few shots to realize). Just one terrible hole like that could cost him 5-10 shots over the pace he will be needing to shoot.