Many people think of golf as a game where you go out, play the holes, add up your score and that’s it. But there are many different types of play and scoring systems that add some flavor to the game. Some are derived from the rules of golf, some are alternatives to standard stroke tabulation, and some seem to exist just for betting.

The Basics

The rules of golf define both match play and stroke play, where match play is one side versus the other (side being a player or team) and stroke play is a competition where a player’s strokes are added and the winner is the competitor with the fewest strokes. Match play is played by holes, where each hole is won, lost, or halved (tied) by a side. The side that wins the most holes wins the match.

Those are the two forms of play that are most familiar to people. A stroke play tournament where each player shoots a score and the lowest score wins is what we normally see on TV each weekend. Match play tournaments are not as common, but not rare either as there are some to be watched. The Accenture Match Play championship and the Ryder Cup (every other year) come to mind.

Types of Matches

There are several types of match play, not just head to head. The rules of golf define the following variations:

• Single: A match in which one plays against another. This is what we normally think of as a head to head match.
• Threesome: A match in which one plays against two, and each side plays one ball. In this type of competition, each player plays a ball, and the lowest score for each side is counted.
• Foursome: A match in which two play against two, and each side plays one ball.
• Three-Ball: A match-play competition in which three play against one another, each playing his own ball. Each player is playing two distinct matches.
• Best-Ball: A match in which one plays against the better ball of two or the best ball of three players.
• Four-Ball: A match in which two play their better ball against the better ball of two other players.

Bogey, Par, and Stableford

These types of competition are defined in Rule 32. These competitions are relative to a fixed score for each hole. Players are scored for each hole in relation to the fixed score.

Stableford scoring uses the following point system:

• More than 1 over fixed score: 0 points
• One over fixed score: 1 point
• Fixed score: 2 points
• One under fixed score: 3 points
• Two under fixed score: 4 points
• Three under fixed score: 5 points
• Four under fixed score: 6 points

The PGA Tour used to play a Stableford competition at The International for many years until it was discontinued for 2007.

Off-the-Record Fun Stuff

The forms of play in the previous sections are all that are sanctioned by the rules of golf. However, there are literally dozens of other forms of play and gambling that take place unofficially all over the world each week. Here are some that you’ve probably heard of.

Skins

Skins matches pit players against each other where a purse amount is assigned to each hole. Whomever wins the hole wins the purse. If there is a tie, then the skin carries over to the next hole, where the winner wins the skin for that hole as well as the carry over. If there is still no winner, then both skins carry over. This continues until someone wins. Typically, the prize amounts for each hole gradually increase through later holes, though this isn’t always the case.

For some skins action on TV, tune in during late November for the LG Skins game, a $1,000,000 skins game featuring four popular players.

Scramble

The scramble is what is commonly played during charity outings at many courses. Each team of players plays their shot from the tee, then they determine which shot was the best, then everyone plays their second shot from there, and so on. Each team turns in a single score. Naturally, scores get quite low in these sorts of competitions.

Nassau

Nassau isn’t really a form of play, it’s a form of betting. Chances are you’ve heard the term and might have wondered about it.

In a Nassau, each round is played like three competitions: front nine, back nine, and all 18. Whichever player or team wins each segment, wins the prize for that segment ($2 each is common, but the amounts can get ridiculous). To throw a wrench in the works, the concept of “presses” comes into play. The losing team has the option to “press” or open up a new bet that runs concurrent to the original. With all the pressing and re-pressing, the totals can be big even on a $2 bet.

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There you have all the forms of play that the Rules of Golf allow for and a few that aren’t so “official”. There are dozens upon dozens of variations of formats, scoring, betting, etc. out there. It’s hard to keep it all straight. There’s a nice extensive list of formats over at About.com, if wacky betting scenarios are your thing. I zone out at the start of a match when someone starts laying out the bets and I hear stuff about greenies, polies, sandies, presses, and whacks in the head with a hammer (just seeing if you’re still with me). It’s fun to lay a little something on the line every once in a while, but it can get really complicated.

Have fun and always keep it friendly.

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