For my 40th birthday, me and 7 of my buddies played Sweetens Cove for the first time. Leading up that experience, myself and a few of the guys going on the trip tried to come up with ways for all 8 people to play together. Our first thoughts were to playing each hole as a Par 3, or play alternate shot. Either option would be quicker than 8 people playing their own ball, but each wasn't exactly what we wanted. The Par 3 would've been fun but it seemed like you're missing out on a majority of the course, and our alternate shot pairings weren't exactly even. I came up with a game that blended alternate shot with a scramble format. Apologies if this game exists widely, and I'm sure we're not the first ones to play it.
We had pretty clearly defined A, B, C and D players among the group, which made it easy to structure the two teams. The game might lose some competitiveness without those matchups aligning.
Pair the A and the D together, and then the B and the C within each team. A and D would tee off on the 1st hole, and each hit a drive. The team will choose the best drive and then B and C will each play an approach from there. Select the best approach and continue to alternate the A/D - B/C sequence until the hole is completed.
We chose to designate odd or even tees for each pairing to add a little more strategy to the format. The game lends itself to your standard match play format. We threw in circles, because that's how most of our games are setup, and we also included a close up. That allowed for some sort of action on every hole.
Sweetens would be a blast playing any format, but the game only added to the fun. Having the entire group together, playing for a few dollars was ideal. Throw in a bluetooth playing some tunes, a cold beverage or two, and a late afternoon in the Sequachee Valley, and it's perfection.
