Golf Tournament Formats Explained

Each block gives the same three facts for one format: who plays whose ball, how a hole or a round is scored, and what is left to the event. The Rule that governs the format is linked beside its name. The words in quotation marks are the Rules of Golf’s own, as The R&A publishes them, and several come from the Rules’ Definitions. The Rules call the people running an event the Committee, and they call the event’s own conditions the Terms of the Competition.

Stroke play: Rule 3.3

Match play: Rule 3.2

Four-ball: Rule 23

Foursomes (alternate shot): Rule 22

Stableford: Rule 21.1

Maximum Score: Rule 21.2

Team competition: Rule 24

Scramble: Not in Rules 1 to 25. Described in Committee Procedures, Section 9

One more form of stroke play is in Rule 21. In Par/Bogey a player wins or loses each hole against a fixed target score set by the Committee, and the winner is the player “with the highest total of holes won versus holes lost”. The R&A’s guidance says the target would normally be par in a Par competition and “bogey (one over par)” in a Bogey competition.

Two names cause confusion:

• Best ball. In the Rules, the format in which each partner plays their own ball is Four-Ball. The Rules give the name Best-Ball to a different match, in which “an individual player competes against a side of two or three partners”. An entry page can still say best ball: U.S. Kids Golf says its Parent/Child events “use a variety of formats including best ball and scrambles”. Read the event’s own format line to see what it means by it.
• Alternate shot. It is the Rules’ own second name for Foursomes. Rule 22 is titled “Foursomes (Also Known as Alternate Shot)”.

If an entry page names a format that is not here, or adds a word such as modified, the page’s own description is what counts. Read it before the first hole, and ask the organizer about anything it leaves out.

In stroke play a player counts every stroke on every hole. Rule 3 says that in the regular form of stroke play “all players compete with one another based on the total score”. A high number on one hole stays in the total for the rest of the event.

In match play a player and an opponent “compete against each other based on holes won, lost or tied”. The total does not matter, only the holes. A match is won when a player “leads the opponent by more holes than remain to be played”, so it can end before the last hole. A result written 3 and 2 is scoreboard shorthand for that: three holes up with two left to play. The Rules pages we read do not define the shorthand. They define the win.

Four differences matter in a first event:

• Finishing a hole. In match play a player “may concede the opponent’s next stroke, a hole or the match”. In stroke play nothing is conceded: Rule 3.3c says “A player must hole out at each hole in a round”. A player who misses that must correct it before starting the next hole or, on the last hole, before returning the scorecard, and is disqualified otherwise.
• A penalty. The general penalty is defined as “Loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play”.
• Whose turn it is. Under Rule 6.4, in match play “the order of play is fundamental; if a player plays out of turn, the opponent may cancel that stroke and make the player play again”. In stroke play “there is no penalty for playing out of turn”. Our first-round etiquette card sets the two side by side.
• The scorecard. In stroke play a marker keeps each player’s card. The Rules’ definition of a scorecard says one “is not required in match play but may be used by the players to help keep the match score”.

One event can use both. Among the forms of play a committee may set, The R&A’s guidance for committees lists “match play, stroke play or stroke play qualifying for match play”. The entry page says which applies.

Both are played by two partners as a side, and they are easy to mix up. The difference is the number of balls.

• Four-ball: two balls for the side. Each partner plays their own ball for the whole hole, and the lower of the two scores is the side’s score. Rule 23 adds that when only one partner completes the hole, “That partner’s score is the side’s score for the hole. The other partner does not need to hole out.”
• Foursomes: one ball for the side. The partners take turns hitting it. Rule 22 says they must alternate who plays first from each teeing area, then alternate strokes for the rest of the hole, and that “Any penalty strokes for the side do not affect the partners’ alternating order of play.” A stroke made in the wrong order costs the side the general penalty, and in stroke play the side must also correct the mistake or be disqualified.

Two things are the same in both. Partners may help each other: each Rule lets a partner help the other in any way the other partner’s caddie is allowed to, “such as to give and be asked for advice”. And in stroke play only one partner needs to certify the side’s scorecard.

One scorecard detail belongs to four-ball stroke play only. The side returns a single card, and Rule 23.2b says “Each score on the scorecard must be clearly identified as the score of the individual partner who made it; if this is not done, the side is disqualified.”

The R&A also describes variations in which both partners tee off before the side settles on one ball, such as Greensomes and Pinehurst Foursomes. They are in its guidance on other forms of play, not in Rule 22, so an event that uses one sets its own terms.

In its basic form a scramble is a team format in which everyone hits and the team plays on from one chosen shot, and each event’s committee sets its own version. It is not one of the forms of play set out in Rules 1 to 25. Rule 21.5 says: “Although only certain forms of play are specifically covered by Rules 3, 21, 22 and 23, golf is also played in many other forms, such as scrambles and greensomes.”

The R&A describes the basic version in its guidance for committees: “A scramble is played with two, three or four-person teams. Each player plays from the teeing area on each hole, one of the tee shots is selected and all the players play their second shots from that spot. One of the second shots is then selected, and all players play their third shots from that spot, and so on until the ball is holed.”

It then says: “There are many variations on the basic scramble format.” It names three, a Texas Scramble, a Florida Scramble and a One-Person Scramble. The pages we read do not define a modified scramble, so that word means whatever the event’s own page says it means. For anything the Rules and the format’s own changes do not cover, the same guidance says the matter “should be decided by the Committee”.

Scrambles are part of organized junior golf. Two organizers’ own pages say so:

• U.S. Kids Golf says its Parent/Child events “use a variety of formats including best ball and scrambles”. Our parent-child tournaments guide covers how to enter one as a team.
• PGA Jr. League says on its How It Works page: “All PGA Jr. League games are played in a two-person scramble format.” It pairs that with match play scoring: a nine-hole match “is broken into three flags” of three holes each. Our PGA Jr. League guide covers the program.

Before a scramble, ask the organizer four things:

1. How many players are on a team, and who may be on it?
2. May the team select any shot, or must it use a set number of each player’s tee shots?
3. Is the score gross or net, and how is a team handicap worked out?
4. How is a tie decided?

Every score in these examples is invented. None of it is from a real player, round or event. Players A, B, C and D are invented too. Three holes are shown so that the arithmetic fits on a phone: a real round is 18 holes, or fewer where the event says so.

The invented scores

1. Stroke play (invented scores)

• A: 5 + 3 + 7 = 15
• B: 4 + 5 + 5 = 14
• C: 4 + 4 + 5 = 13
• D: 6 + 4 + 6 = 16

C leads with 13. A’s 7 on hole 3 is in the total and stays there.

2. Match play, A against C (the same invented scores)

• Hole 1: A 5, C 4. C wins the hole and is 1 up.
• Hole 2: A 3, C 4. A wins the hole. The match is tied.
• Hole 3: A 7, C 5. C wins the hole and is 1 up.

In stroke play A is two strokes behind C, 15 to 13. In match play A is one hole behind. The 7 cost two strokes in one format and one hole in the other.

3. Four-ball, A and B against C and D (the same invented scores)

• Hole 1: A 5 and B 4, so the side scores 4. C 4 and D 6, so the side scores 4.
• Hole 2: A 3 and B 5, so the side scores 3. C 4 and D 4, so the side scores 4.
• Hole 3: A 7 and B 5, so the side scores 5. C 5 and D 6, so the side scores 5.

As stroke play, A and B total 4 + 3 + 5 = 12 and C and D total 4 + 4 + 5 = 13. As match play, hole 1 is tied, A and B win hole 2, and hole 3 is tied, so A and B are 1 up. A’s 7 never counts, because B made 5 on that hole.

4. Foursomes, A and B with one ball (invented strokes, different from the table, because the side plays one ball)

• Hole 1: A tees off, then B, A, and B holes out. Four strokes.
• Hole 2: B tees off, then A, and B holes out. Three strokes. B made the last stroke on hole 1 and still plays first here, because the partners alternate who tees off, hole by hole.
• Hole 3: A tees off, then B, and the side gets one penalty stroke. A plays next, because the penalty stroke does not change the order. Then B, and A holes out. Five strokes made plus one penalty stroke is 6.

The side’s total is 4 + 3 + 6 = 13. Against a side that made 5, 3 and 5 with its one ball, A and B would win hole 1, tie hole 2 and lose hole 3: a tied match after three holes, and 13 strokes each in stroke play.

5. Scramble, A and B as a two-person team (invented shots, under the basic format The R&A describes)

• Hole 1: both tee off and the team selects B’s shot. Both play second shots from that spot and the team selects A’s. Both play third shots from that spot, and one goes in. Team score: 3.
• Hole 2: both tee off and the team selects A’s shot. Both play second shots from that spot and neither goes in. The team selects one, both play third shots from that spot, and one goes in. Team score: 3.
• Hole 3: the team selects a tee shot, a second shot and a third shot in the same way, and one of the fourth shots goes in. Team score: 4.

The team’s total is 3 + 3 + 4 = 10. On these invented holes, with no penalty strokes, the team’s score is the number of the shot that went in, however many balls were hit along the way. An event that requires a set number of each player’s tee shots changes which shot the team may select, so read its terms before the first hole.

6. Stableford (the same invented scores, with par as the target score)

• A: one over on hole 1 is 1 point, the target score on hole 2 is 2 points, two over on hole 3 is 0 points. Total: 3.
• B: 2 points, then 0 for two over on hole 2, then 2 points. Total: 4.
• C: 2 points, then 1 for one over on hole 2, then 2 points. Total: 5.
• D: 0 for two over on hole 1, then 1 point, then 1 point. Total: 2.

C leads with 5 points. A’s 7 scores 0, and an 8 or a 9 would also score 0. Rule 21.1b says: “To help pace of play, players are encouraged to stop playing a hole when their score will result in zero points.”

7. Maximum Score (the same invented scores, with a maximum of 6 on every hole chosen for this example)

• A: 5 + 3 + 6 = 14. The 7 on hole 3 counts as 6.
• B stays on 14, C on 13 and D on 16, because none of their scores is above 6.

A real event sets its own maximum. A player who reaches it may stop: Rule 21.2b says “players are encouraged to stop playing a hole when their score has reached the maximum”.

8. Par/Bogey (the same invented scores, with bogey, one over par, chosen as the target score for this example: 5, 4 and 6)

• A: ties hole 1 with a 5, wins hole 2 with a 3, loses hole 3 with a 7. One won and one lost: 0.
• B: wins, loses, wins. Two won and one lost: 1.
• C: wins, ties, wins. Two won and none lost: 2.
• D: loses, ties, ties. None won and one lost: minus 1.

C leads with 2. The score is the holes won minus the holes lost, so A’s 7 costs one hole, as it did in match play.

The format says whose ball is played and how holes are counted. Gross or net says whether a handicap is applied to the score. They are separate settings, and Rule 3.1c defines both:

• Gross, in a scratch competition. The gross score is the player’s “total number of strokes (including strokes made and penalty strokes)”, and “The player’s handicap is not applied.”
• Net, in a handicap competition. The net score “is the gross score adjusted for the player’s handicap strokes”. The Rule gives the reason: “so that players of differing abilities can compete in a fair way”.

Stroke play, match play, four-ball and Stableford can each be played either way. Rule 3.3a says that in a handicap competition the stroke-play winner has “the fewest total net strokes”, Rule 3.2c covers a handicap match, Rule 23 has the Committee count the “lowest (gross or net) score” in four-ball, and Rule 21 says Stableford is written for scratch competitions “but can be adapted for handicap competitions”.

An invented example: suppose the event’s terms give Player A one handicap stroke on hole 3. A’s gross 7 becomes a net 6, and A’s three-hole total goes from a gross 15 to a net 14.

Who does the arithmetic depends on the form of play:

• Stroke play. The marker enters gross scores. Rule 3.3b says the Committee is responsible for “Calculating the player’s handicap strokes for the competition and using it to calculate the player’s net score.”
• Match play. Rule 3.2c says “Handicap strokes are given by hole, and the lower net score wins the hole”, and that each player is responsible for knowing the holes where they give or get strokes.

So look for two things on an entry page: the format, and the word scratch, gross, handicap or net. Whether an event requires a handicap to enter is a third question, covered in our handicap requirements guide. Our GHIN guide explains how a junior gets a Handicap Index.

The event decides, in advance. Rule 3.3a points to The R&A’s guidance that “the Terms of the Competition should say how ties will be decided”.

• Match play. Under Rule 3.2a, “The match is extended one hole at a time until there is a winner”, unless the event’s terms say the match “will end in a tie rather than be extended”.
• Stroke play. The R&A’s guidance for committees says the terms “should specify whether a competition may end in a tie, or if there will be a play-off or matching of scorecards to determine the winner and other finishing positions”.
• A play-off. The terms set when it is held, which holes are used and how many, “for example, if it will be a hole-by-hole play-off or over a longer period such as 2, 4 or 18 holes”.
• Matching scorecards. Also called a scorecard count-back. The guidance gives one method: the best score for the last round and then, if the players are still tied or the event was a single round, “the score for the last nine holes, last six holes, last three holes and finally the 18th hole”. It is offered as one method, not the only one.

The same guidance says a winner can be decided by a play-off while “other positions in the competition may be decided by matching scorecards”. If a place or a qualifying spot matters to you, find the tie-break line in the event’s terms before the round.

The Rules define a round as “18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee”. An event can be one round or several, and in stroke play the winner is the player who completes all the rounds in the fewest total strokes. A one-round event is decided by that round’s score alone. In an event of several rounds every round counts toward the total.

A cut reduces the field partway through an event of several rounds, so that only some players go on to the later rounds. Whether there is one is for the event to say. The R&A’s guidance for committees says an event’s terms should state the “Number of rounds, including whether there will be a cut”, and adds: “If there is to be a cut, when it will be made, if ties for the final position will be broken and how many players will continue play in later rounds.”

Those are the three questions to put to an entry page:

1. Is there a cut, and after which round?
2. How many players continue?
3. Are ties for the last place broken, or do all tied players continue?

If the page does not say, ask the organizer before you book travel for the later rounds. Whether an event counts toward a ranking is the ranking operator’s rule, not a Rule of Golf: our rankings guide covers what three ranking operators publish.

In stroke play a player does not keep their own official score. Rule 3.3b says: “The player’s score is kept on their scorecard by the marker, who is either identified by the Committee or chosen by the player in a way approved by the Committee.” The Rules’ definition of a marker adds that the marker “may be another player, but not a partner”.

The Rule divides the job:

• After each hole, the marker “should confirm with the player the number of strokes on that hole” and enter the gross score.
• After the round, the marker must certify the hole scores.
• After the round, the player should check the hole scores, must make sure the marker has certified them, and must certify the card and “promptly return it to the Committee”. The Rule states the penalty: “If the player breaches any of these requirements in Rule 3.3b, the player is disqualified.”

A wrong score for a hole is treated in two ways under Rule 3.3b(3):

• Higher than the real score. “The higher returned score for the hole stands.”
• Lower than the real score, or no score. “The player is disqualified.” The Rule has one exception: a score that is too low only because it left out a penalty the player did not know about. In that case the Committee adds the penalty strokes if the mistake is found before the competition closes.

When a card counts as returned is for the event to say. The R&A’s guidance for committees says “The Committee should specify when the scorecard is considered returned”. Its options include the moment a player leaves a defined scoring area, the moment the card goes into a box, and a policy that “uses a duration of time (such as 15 minutes)”. After that point, Rule 3.3b says, “the player must not change the scorecard”. Ask where the scoring area is, and check every hole before leaving it.

Check the hole scores, not the total. Rule 3.3b(4) says there is no requirement “for players to add up their own scores” and no penalty for a mistake in the addition: the Committee adds up the scores.

The card changes with the format. In four-ball stroke play the side returns one card with each score identified to the partner who made it. In Stableford the card shows the actual score on each hole that earns points, and the Committee works out the points. In match play no scorecard is required.

Our tournament rules scenarios guide covers the situations that come up during a round, and the first tournament checklist covers the rest of the day.

Ask. Rule 1.3b says: “A player may ask for help with the Rules from a referee or the Committee, but if help is not available in a reasonable time the player must play on and raise the issue with a referee or the Committee when they become available”.

In stroke play the players in a group cannot settle it among themselves. Rule 20.1c says they “have no right to decide a Rules issue by agreement”, and that “A player should raise any Rules issues with the Committee before returning their scorecard.” In match play the two players may agree how to decide an issue, so long as they do not agree to ignore a Rule or a penalty they know applies.

For the format’s own Rule, start at Rule 3 on The R&A’s site, which points to the Rules for the other forms of play.