In Great Britain and Ireland, Stableford accounts for roughly 40% of handicap rounds, and is growing.

WSJ: Golf Journal: Does the Handicap System Need a Makeover?

Another aspect of golf culture in Europe, the U.K and Australia that promotes faster play is the widespread use of the Stableford format.

WSJ: Golf Journal: Does the Handicap System Need a Makeover?

In continental Europe, more than 90% of handicap rounds are played using Stableford, in which points are awarded for net eagles, birdies, pars and bogeys but not for net bogey or worse.

WSJ: Golf Journal: Does the Handicap System Need a Makeover?

According to Brian Stableford, writing in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the definitive reference on the genre, Camille Flammarion was the first author to present a popular fictional portrait of truly alien life-forms.

NEWYORKER: The Cosmic Menagerie

According to Stableford, early British science-fiction writers were more prone than the French to picture the encounter between humans and aliens as a brutal clash from which only the fittest would emerge alive.

NEWYORKER: The Cosmic Menagerie

Last week, Dylan Stableford (almost as cool as Jared Keller or Joy Engel) made the following chart, updating a Journalistics article from last October which looked at the Top 25 Newspapers on Twitter.

FORBES: The Top 25 Newspapers on Twitter

In Australia, 68% of competitions use Stableford and 10% use an even faster format called Par, in which a tally is kept of the number of holes played over net par, under net par or net par.

WSJ: Golf Journal: Does the Handicap System Need a Makeover?