In the country in which I reside, and to be honest the continent in which i reside, in general only play stableford competitions.

This is something that having grown up playing match-play and medal tournaments seems very odd to me.

I do not believe that stableford competitions are a true reflection of a player´s ability or a true reflection of the standard across the board, in relationship to the difficulty of the golf course.

To a point I can understand the preference of courses running competitions in this format; better speed of play, more open for all handicap levels and perhaps less stressful for the player, but I just do not feel as though it is the way golf should be played.

As we are all aware the 2019 edition of the rules of golf will see some massive fundamental changes, one of which is the inclusion of the Maximum result for medal competitions, where the committee of the competition can, if they choose impose a maximum number of strokes allowed on a hole.

The idea is to try and speed up play, and although this may be true, I actually see it as an attempt to make the amateur game more transparent and also more self-adjudicating.

Much like stableford if a player has a bad hole, they would record the maximum permitted score on a hole, rather than recording a zero or the much loved “blob” they would actually have to enter a score.

This would, in my opinion encourage more low handicap golfers to enter Open competitions and mix with the higher handicapped golfer, improving the integration of golfers into both club life, whilst also improving the knowledge of the rules and a better understanding of the etiquette associated with the game.

 On a separate note, it will also help higher handicapped golfers to learn the importance of good shot choices and course management, something that in all honesty stableford does not really achieve.

With stableford there is always the “safety net” of the blob or no-score hole, mentally this is not a huge issue, but in a stroke play, medal round it has far more of an impact on the golfer.

And it is for this character building reason, I believe more of you should be playing stroke play competitions.

I mean after all, it is the purest form of golf, and is the preferred format of all professional tour meetings.

With the exception of the world match play, amateur championships and the Ryder Cup (and perhaps a couple of tournaments more) the professionals are all recording each and every single shot.

As amateurs you too should be playing the medal format with regularity.