People hear “bramble” and assume something casual. It is the opposite. The bramble is, to our minds, the most honest two-man format in the game, and it is the spine of the Invitational.
Off every tee, both partners hit. The better of the two drives is selected, and from that spot, each player plays his own ball into the hole. The team records the lower of the two scores. You get the comfort of a good drive to start the hole and the pressure of your own ball to finish it — the generosity of a scramble off the tee, the accountability of singles into the green.
Over thirty-six holes — the morning and the afternoon of a single day — that arithmetic finds out everything about a partnership. Who steadies whom. Who can be trusted with the eight-footer that halves the match. Who, late in the afternoon with the Calcutta money in the air, can still make a confident swing on the fourteenth.
A scramble hides your weaknesses. A bramble introduces them to everyone.
We considered the alternatives. Best ball is too forgiving; a true scramble lets one player carry a passenger to a trophy. The bramble sits in between, and that middle ground is exactly where character shows. It is harder than it looks, fairer than it sounds, and on the right day, the most fun two people can have with a wedge.
