Playing Better Golf

Broken Joe
Feb 23, 2022
3 min read

The expression “play better golf” at BJG started as more of a sarcastic expression. The other sarcastic statement that was often heard around the golf course was “that’s unfortunate”. This was usually heard after you duffed a shot or sent a ball deep into the woods.

The truth of the matter is that half of me doesn't want you to “play better golf”. I just want you to have the opportunity to be competitive. If you play better golf than I just have to adjust your handicap anyway. For each of us to be competitive, I must give you a plus or minus handicap.

Cody is, by far, our best golfer, and as our best golfer, his BJG handicap is Plus 15. That means whatever score Cody shoots on Sunday, he must add 15 strokes so that we can compete against him.

EJ on the other hand, who has never played golf before the 2021 season, received a Minus 29 handicap. The reason EJ received the Minus 29 handicap was that Jon had a Minus 28 handicap and I had to start EJ somewhere. And of course, the rest of the BJG golfers were somewhere between that Plus 15 and Minus 29 handicap.

Here is the problem… Is it easier for EJ (or any minus golfer) to get better or for Cody to get better?

At the beginning of the 2021 BJG season, I gave Matty Ice and Jon handicaps of Minus 25 and Minus 28 because they had sucked over the last 3 years, and I wanted them to be competitive. Who knew that they would both do things that would allow them to “play better golf”?

Right off the bat, Jon wins the Misters with a handicap score of 83 (score 111), and Matty Ice shoots a handicap score of 87 (score 112).

Meanwhile, during the 2021 BJG season, Cody has an average score of 82 and with his Plus 15 handicap, his average handicap score was 97.

For Cody to shoot a handicap score of 83, he would need to shoot a score of 68. Hell, if Cody could do that, he would be on the PGA tour.

With all of that said, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the BJG National Golf League where “playing better golf” is not just a saying, it is a requirement, if you want to make it to the playoffs.

Yes, this is the idea that EJ came up with and that we have been working on for a few months.

Yes, it is a different way to look at, and play golf.

The main idea is that, like the NFL, you play for points but, only within your division, which will force you to “play better golf”. This also does away with high minus handicaps and any penalty for shooting in the 80s.

Four Divisions: Each Division has four golfers except the last division (highest handicappers), they have 5.

Regular Round Points: 4 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd place, 2 points for 3rd place, and 1 point for 4th place.

Special Round Points (Pretenders & COTW): 4.5 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd place, 2 points for 3rd place, and 1 point for 4th place. The Champion of the World will also get an additional point.

Major Points: 5 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd place, 2 points for 3rd place, and 1 point for 4th place.

Sorry, but no points for 5th Place.

During the regular season, we will always have 4 divisional winners. Those 4 divisional winners will have a putt off to see who earns the trophy.

After the regular season of 11 weeks, the 4 Division Champions will get a first-round bye and move right to the 2nd Round of the Playoffs.

Note – The golfer with the highest points will win the Race to Big Y (Dubai). In this example, Cody and Matty Ice would have tied with 33 points and would require a playoff (Putt Off).

First Round – Wild Card Playoffs

The first round playoffs will be the next two best scores (Wild Cards) from each Division and they would play against each other (8). Only one Wild Card from each Divisional will move on to the 2nd round (4).

2nd Round Championship

4 Divisional Champions will play the 4 Divisional Wild Card winners. At this point, we will institute new BJG handicaps based on the regular-season scores.

The top 4 lowest scores move on to the Tour Championship.

Tour Championship

As has always been the way at BJG, the final four will battle with the lowest BJG handicap score Golfer being named the Tour Champion.

As an example, this is what the 2021 NGL season would have looked like: