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Introducing LPC GOLF!!! A new and exciting way to add fun to Geocaching with LPC's. -- By Amish Hacker


AmishHacker

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I am so excited to release my creation LPC Golf League to the WORLD. So if you know the "Amish Hacker"... I hated LPC's. I thought they were ruining the game. One day I figured out a way to make them interesting and fun. LPC Golf was created. I sat down and wrote a very short handbook on how to play. I have been playing it for about a month and have just released it to my local group. Now I want everyone to give it a shot. I have pasted the handbook below but have the full PDF with printable scorecards as a link from my Google Drive.
 
THE LPC GOLF HANDBOOK
Version 1.02
Created by Amish Hacker
 
Welcome to LPC Golf. LPC stands for Lamp Post Cache. This is a particular placement of a Geocache in the hobby of Geocaching. To find out more about Geocaching you can visit www.geocaching.com. The rest of the handbook will assume you have a basic knowledge of the hobby.
 
Preface by AmishHacker
LPC’s are a divisive topic in the world of Geocaching. Some people like them and others hate them. One thing that cannot be argued is that it can get repetitive. Personally, I believed they were ruining the hobby and was always disappointed when pulling up to one. One day while out caching I pulled up to an LPC (GC52K7Z). I wondered if I could make it a little more fun if I could guess what side of the lamp post the cache would be under before lifting the skirt. I numbered each side 1-4 with number one being where I thought I would find it first. I found the cache under the side I numbered 2. I thought it would be fun to keep score and try and get the lowest number, like in golf. Two caches later I was at another LPC. This time I scored a 3 and called it a par. The connection with golfing stuck and I started keeping score. I now look forward to LPCs and playing LPC Golf. I hope you enjoy this fun addition to Geocaching.
 
General Play
Before lifting the cover or skirt to reveal a Geocache at an LPC, the Geocacher will assign a number to each side of the cover 1-4. Number 1 being the most likely side you believe the Geocache is hidden and number 4 being the least likely side you believe the Geocache is hidden. You must make your number selection by saying each number out loud and pointing to the side you are assigning the number to.
 
If you are in a group, have each Geocacher follow the above protocol. Once each Geocacher has assigned each side of the cover a number, the cover can be lifted to reveal the Geocache. Keep a scorecard or small notepad with you to keep track of your score. There are 9 holes (LPCs) in the front 9 and 9 more holes for the back 9 (just like golf). Eighteen total holes (LPCs) complete a round of LPC Golf.
 
When replacing the Geocache, you may place it back on any side of the LPC. This helps keep the location more random.
When logging the find online, start your log with “LPC Golf = ________” and log either a Hole in One, Birdie, Par, or Bogie. (I personally like to put a golf emoji in the log. Example in downloadable handbook)
 
LPC Golf can be played all in one day or over multiple days, weeks, months, or even years.
 
Scoring
Position 1 = Hole in One - 1 stroke
Position 2 = Birdie - 2 strokes
Position 3 = Par - 3 strokes
Position 4 = Bogie - 4 strokes
 
BONUS Scoring
If you complete either the front 9 or back 9 holes in a 24-hour period you may deduct 2 strokes from the total 9-hole score. If you complete all 18 holes in a 24-hour period you may also take any one score and turn it into a hole-in-one (mulligan). The mulligan can be applied to any score from the front or back 9. If the LPC is new and you are the first to find the Geocache, you may deduct 1 stroke from your score.
 
If you are approached by a muggle (a person not playing the game) and they inquire what you are doing, or if you have to explain to a muggle what you are doing in order to retrieve the cache, you will incur a one-stroke penalty for that hole. Penalty strokes cannot be taken off by the mulligan scoring bonus.
 
Rules
  1. You cannot touch the skirt/cover before or during the numbering of sides
  2. Numbering must be made out loud even if Geocaching alone
  3. You must point to each side as you are numbering it.
  4. Some LPCs cannot be played on.
    1. Lamp posts that do not have covers
    2. Lamp post with round covers
    3. Lamp posts that are damaged in a way that the cache may be seen
    4. When the cache or swag lifts the cover up to where it is obvious where the cache is located
  5. LPC Golf is built on the honor system. Do not cheat your fellow Geocachers or yourself.
 
Conclusion
LPC Golf is intended to make Geocaching even more fun. Keep your score and compare it to your other Geocaching friends online and at events. I am up for any suggestions to clarify the handbook or additions to the game. You can reach me at AmishHacker@gmail.com
HAVE FUN!
 
The full PDF with printable scorecards can be downloaded here
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3 minutes ago, Jayeffel said:

How about making one particular side for each spot#1; for example the northern most side is #1, then go clockwise or counterclockwise for 2, 3 ,4.

Well, the point of the game is to guess where it was placed.  Those caching with you can pick different locations making it a competition.  You could use that as your own strategy but I have a different guess everytime I visit a place.  Also when placing it back, you may place it on any side thus mixing up the game.

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1 hour ago, mustakorppi said:

Lamp posts are generally round around here, yes. The ”problem” is that they generally don’t contain caches. But search a random fir tree and chances are you’ll find a preform tube.

I'm thinking of taking out the "no round" and having you divide it into 4 segments before lifting.

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1 hour ago, fuzziebear3 said:

If approaching a parking area, choose the pole as you enter the lot.  Of course, if you pick wrong, that would be penalty strokes.

 

I think in general if you lift the wrong skirt you should lose a stroke but they seem so far apart that if you are doing that it's probably a problem with the chords.

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On 10/10/2022 at 10:08 PM, AmishHacker said:

I'm thinking of taking out the "no round" and having you divide it into 4 segments before lifting.

Actually I think square or rectangular lamp post covers that you can lift and place a cache under may be a strictly US thing. That's at least the only country I've seen them in. Over here not only are the lamp posts round but the cover is plastic, hard to lift and doesn't really fit a cache. As mustakorppi said, you are much more likely to find a PIG (PET In Gran (fir)). So there may never be a world championship in LPC Golf, I'm afraid.

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4 minutes ago, ChriBli said:

Actually I think square or rectangular lamp post covers that you can lift and place a cache under may be a strictly US thing. That's at least the only country I've seen them in. Over here not only are the lamp posts round but the cover is plastic, hard to lift and doesn't really fit a cache.

 

In Australia the lamp posts don't have covered bases at all, their nuts are just exposed for everyone to see.


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The first ever LPC that I found back around 2004 was kinda cool. After that one, NOT!  Like Amish Hacker, I don't like them and feel they don't do much to help our hobby along. While I appreciate the effort to make them more interesting, my dislike for LPCs is just too strong for it to make me want to play. :(

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We've got all types in Canada. I think that may be case in most every country. It really depends who manufactures and sells the poles, their weight and structure, and for what purpose they're placed. We've got round, metal, plastic, bolted, open top, broken, naked, 6' diameter... seen'em all. :P

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5 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

The first ever LPC that I found back around 2004 was kinda cool. After that one, NOT!  Like Amish Hacker, I don't like them and feel they don't do much to help our hobby along. While I appreciate the effort to make them more interesting, my dislike for LPCs is just too strong for it to make me want to play. :(

Awwwwww  Give it a try :)   I was like you... believe me

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If they are going to ruin the game than I shall change the GAME!
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5 hours ago, AmishHacker said:

If they are going to ruin the game than I shall change the GAME!

 

The thing that "ruined" the game for me wasn't bad caches, it was extraordinary geocaches.  My top two game ruining geocaches are

  1. The Bridges and Arches of Central Park (GC17MX1)
  2. Into The Abyss (GC3RFQR)

Both geocaches were so amazing that finding "regular" geocaches isn't as much fun.  You can see by my numbers (I find less than 100 annually) that I've gone to being more selective in my geocaching instead of just finding every cache around me.  I'm also into more hobbies these days than just geocaching.

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On 10/10/2022 at 8:46 PM, mustakorppi said:

I’ve only ever found one LPC, and it was round  :signalviolin:

Same here! LPCs are just not a thing in Europe. The real LPC was in Calgary. But I did play snow golf at a continental divide monument in the Rockies. Aim was to find info on a plaque on the ground. So dug hole into knee-deep snow. Nope. Next side: still nope. Third side: NOPE! Fourth side: yay! Guess that counts as a bogie.

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On 10/10/2022 at 11:28 AM, AmishHacker said:

When replacing the Geocache, you may place it back on any side of the LPC. This helps keep the location more random.

Is this supposed to be a joke. Caches should always be returned as found. You think LPCs are mindless, but the CO may have a reason for the cache being on that specific side.

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19 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

The first ever LPC that I found back around 2004 was kinda cool. After that one, NOT!  Like Amish Hacker, I don't like them and feel they don't do much to help our hobby along. While I appreciate the effort to make them more interesting, my dislike for LPCs is just too strong for it to make me want to play. :(

 

Yep, I agree.  Driving into a parking lot never got me too thrilled with the "language of location".  

Besides "permission" and that, "why is security heading this way?" thing, it's just not fun (to me).  

"Caching" in full view of the public, when your other 2/3rds is a rushing FTF monster didn't help either...

My one solo lpc turned out to be on a new landowner's property (the old one long gone...) with no permission.  NA...

I look for green on the map and start my searches there, T2 and up. 

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I am so happy to know I am not alone in hating LPCs (or LPAs as some say)... oh my. It isn't the dirt that bothers me so much (though I almost always get filthy hands), but the NOISE! I have yet to meet one that doesn't squeak loudly no matter how careful I am! I have started skipping them... I will take a GR cache over LPC any day:lol:

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18 hours ago, CCFwasG said:

I am so happy to know I am not alone in hating LPCs (or LPAs as some say)... oh my. It isn't the dirt that bothers me so much (though I almost always get filthy hands), but the NOISE! I have yet to meet one that doesn't squeak loudly no matter how careful I am! I have started skipping them... I will take a GR cache over LPC any day:lol:

LOL. I could have written that! Skirt lifters are noisy and hateful. Guardrail caches are often in nice locations, usually don't require much stealth and are not NOISY. I've never understood why people lump them together. 

The last skirt lifter I found was during covid in a deserted office building parking lot. I lifted the skirt, grabbed the container, turned around and here comes the security guard. "What are you doing?" Me, "geocaching". Him, "this is private property." It was a strange conversation. He knew about caching, I think he even knew the cache was there. He let me sign the log and when I asked if I should take it with me or put it back, he let me put it back, but his last words as I left were, "this is private property."  FWIW the cache had been placed by someone that worked in the building and at least claimed permission.

 

On 10/11/2022 at 10:15 PM, AmishHacker said:

Awwwwww  Give it a try :)   I was like you... believe me

 

If they are going to ruin the game than I shall change the GAME!

When I first saw this thread I assumed it was all, "tongue in cheek" joking.  When I saw the post above I was like, really? So I checked your profile to see how many you've placed and how it was working out.  ;) (nice try though)

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