Let It Ride golf game

Let It Ride is a twist on the idea of the Stableford game.

As with Stableford, points are awarded for the hole score. However the points are different from those in Stableford, in that a bogey gets 5pts, par 15pts, birdie 30pts and an eagle is awarded 60pts.

In Stableford, the points are merely accumulated over the 18 holes and then aggregated at the end, but in Let It Ride is more complicated.

At the end of the hole each player has the option of banking the points he has won on that hole, or letting them ride.

If he lets them ride then any points he earns on the next hole will be doubled, thus a bogey now becomes 10pts, par 30pts and so on. The points total doubles every time the points are let to ride.

But if he lets the points ride and then does not score points on the next hole, he loses all the points that have been left riding. Thus if he makes double bogey he loses them all.

An alternative, to safeguard the points he already won, is to bank them. This way they cannot be lost. But the player loses out on the chance of double points on the next hole.

The way to make a large number of points is to let it ride as often as possible. The downside is that you could lose everything riding on the next hole. Frequently banking your points earned will at least ensure you have a points score, but it will never get that large.

Thus part of the strategy of the game is to work out when it’s best to let it ride, and when banking could be the best option. Keeping track of your opponents’ points is important - if they have let it ride for a few holes and then banked, you know you’ll need a lot of points to overcome them, so you will need to let it ride. If they have let it ride and then double bogeyed, you know that a conservative banking strategy could win the game for you.

But there is a theory that you should always let an initial bogey birdie as it is worth so little in itself; it’s worth is that its gives you the chance to earn some big points of the next hole.