The Sony Open | Nick Sahrmann
Introduction
In order to score well on the course, a golfer must understand their odds of hitting a successful shot. The same can be said at the card table. A player must be able to recognize the situation they are in, and how they can maximize each of their turns based on their odds.
You can play the odds in Card Golf Tour just like you can play the odds on the golf course. From week to week, we will share examples of pros playing the odds during the week’s professional golf tournament. Then we will review how you can play similar odds during your next round of Card Golf Tour.
Pro Example
This week’s edition of Playing The Odds highlights the 1st playoff hole of this past weekend’s Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The three-player playoff saw Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An find the right side of the fairway with their tee shots on the par 5 18th hole. Grayson Murray’s tee shot was short and between the two bunkers left of the fairway.
With extremely low odds of making it to the green with his 2nd shot, Murray laid up to the middle of the fairway. Bradley and An missed the green to the left and the right respectively with their 2nd shots. The odds of winning the hole now evened out with Murray in the fairway and Bradley and An in the greenside rough. The third shot for all three players were on the green.
The putt of the tournament was made by Murray – a nearly 39 foot birdie putt to put the pressure on Bradley and An to make their birdie putts. Both missed their putts, sealing the victory for Murray.
Below is a view of how the hole played out, courtesy of PGA TOURCAST.
Card Golf Tour Example
Now let's look at what this playoff hole would look like in Card Golf Tour.
The 18th hole at Waialae Country Club is a par 5 so eight cards are dealt to each player.
1. Tee shots for each player have Bradley and An with an advantage over Murray (remember lower points better in Card Golf Tour):
3. Card Golf Tour hands for each player look like this before birdie putts are attempted…Murray is furthest away from hole so his point total of 4 is worse than the point totals of Bradley and An.
4. Murray draws a black putter for minus 5 points – giving him negative 1 point overall for the hand and sinking the birdie putt.
5. Bradley and An, despite having better odds of making their putts since they are closer than Murray, draw higher point cards – a 6 iron and a pitching wedge respectively, resulting in missed birdie putts for both players and the win for Murray.
