Scramble starts at 9am. I think it would be tough to get a second round in in daylight, but I'm very positive there is not a cats in hell chance my opponent will agree to playing late on, meaning I do not miss scramble. Mind you, I'm a bit older now, I don't fancy 2 rounds in a day
I could drop the scramble. And, if we were both genuinely struggling to find dates before deadline, then I'd happily sacrifice a competition so we could get it played. However, when my opponent says he will not play the last 5 or so weekends before deadline, because the weather might be bad, I'm struggling to have any desire to make any sort of sacrifice myself. Everyone loves a scramble, and the thought of having to drop a scramble to play against this delightful chap is not the most appealing thought.
It is also not appealing to just give up, and offer him the match. And I suppose the question is, why should I? The guidelines don't make any mention that a player will be DQ'ed if they can't play the 3 dates on offer. Otherwise, a crafty player, ideally right at the top of the draw, could simply find out when his opponents go on holiday, or what their shift patterns are, and then offer 3 dates they know they cannot do.
In my 15 years at the golf club, there is not one member now (except for this guy), or one member in the past, that I would ever consider having this problem with. Everybody always makes some sort of reasonable effort to play a game. Yes, occasionally someone might end up being on holiday for a long time, or get an injury, and things can get a bit iffy. But, even when that happens, both players have always made an honest attempt to try and make the deadline. I have never ever heard of anyone at my club, or any other, who has refused to play the last 5 or 6 weeks before a deadline in a winter knockout because the weather might be bad (our course rarely ever closes anyway, it takes heavy snowfall or vast amounts of rain to shut it down)