Breaking down golf formats

Ever shown up to a charity golf event and realized you’ve never heard of the format you’re about to be play? The tee sheet says: 2-man best-ball shamble with skins. You don’t want to sound like an amateur and ask your partner what all that means. Turns out, your partner is probably thinking the same thing. Whatever the case, if you’re getting invites to golf tournaments it’s worth demystifying some of the common formats you might encounter.

Before digging in it’s good to understand playing formats versus scoring formats; playing formats determine what ball to hit, while scoring formats are simply how scores are carded. Also, betting and side games are often mixed and matched with the various formats, so I’ll cover a couple of those at the bottom.

Handicap

This is a good place to start because competitive tournaments often require an official handicap, and it can be applied in most formats. Scoring is done either gross (your unadjusted score) or net (your score adjusted for playing ability). The handicap system essentially puts two golfers of different skill levels on even footing so they can compete fairly.

An official handicap is obtained through GHIN.com. I won't get deep into the calculation, but it's based on your most recent scores adjusted for the difficulty of the courses you played. If you don't have a GHIN number, you don't have an official handicap and depending on the stakes, that could be a problem.

For low-stakes tournaments or rounds among friends, you can give yourself a handicap based on what you normally shoot. If you typically shoot in the high 80s, somewhere around a 14–16 is reasonable. Pro Tip: err on the low side, don’t be the guy that says 18 then shoots an 80, congrats you just earned the sandbagger label.

The handicap system doesn't simply subtract strokes from your total. Each hole has a handicap number printed on the scorecard, and that's where your strokes are applied. With a handicap of 16, you get one stroke off on holes handicapped 1 through 16. With a 22, you get one stroke off every hole, plus an additional stroke on holes handicapped 1 through 4.

A small aside, if you're curious: Hole handicaps aren't ranked purely by difficulty. They're set by a Handicap Committee based on which holes create the biggest scoring gaps between low- and high-handicap players. The goal is to maximize halved holes in match play. Also, it’s generally the case to have the odd numbered handicaps on the front-nine and the even numbered handicaps on the back-nine.

Core Scoring Formats

Stroke Play – Standard golf scoring. Add up every stroke, lowest total wins. Worth naming because it's the baseline everything else is compared to, and because it has a defining feature: every stroke counts. One blow-up hole can wreck an otherwise great round, which usually leads to more conservative play. Other scoring formats cap the damage a single hole can do, stroke play does not, which makes it a true test of one’s mettle. (Aside from local rules that set a max score of 10 or something of that ilk.) Most professional tournaments and serious competitions use stroke play.

Match Play – Each hole is worth one point. The person or team with the lowest score on each hole wins the point. A tie on a hole awards both teams half a point, aka halving. I have rarely, if ever, seen someone scoring a match play round actually add half a point to each team. In practice, most people scoring a match don't bother tracking halves as half-points. The score just stays where it is and you move on. But if you hear someone say a hole was 'halved,' that's where it comes from. Bonus: Match play rounds don’t always make it through all 18 holes. If a team is up three with two holes to go, then it can be said they won 3&2, because the losing team doesn’t have enough holes to make up the deficit. Depending on the stakes and/or your enjoyment level, you can “push” and start a new match with the remaining holes, finish up the remaining holes stress free, or walk home. Aside from the Ryder cup and the new Tour Championship format coming in 2028, match play generally happens amongst friends.

Skins – Similar to match play, but in skins each hole is worth one “skin” and ties carry the skin(s) to the next hole. Say two people tie on hole 3, hole 4 is then worth two skins. If they then tie again on hole 4, hole 5 is worth 3 skins. If one person then wins on hole 5, they get 3 skins and hole 6 is back to being worth 1 skin. That carryover mechanic is what makes skins different. When the pot keeps growing, the pressure compounds with it and it’s unlike anything else. If you find yourself evenly matched and you’re pushing multiple holes in a row, a single hole can be the deciding factor for the entire match. You feel the pressure. Your opponent feels the pressure. You can’t stop your hands from shaking over a 3-foot putt. It is intense. Skins is the format for the degenerate gambler. If golf isn’t enough of a rush for you, play skins with people who have deep pockets and even less regard.

Stableford – This is a fun system that awards more points for low scores and penalizes you less for high scores. There are two widely accepted ways the score is counted: Standard and Modified. In standard, it’s 6 points for an eagle, 3 points for a birdie, 1 point for a par, 0 points for a bogey and -1 for a double bogey. Modified is 8 for an eagle, 2 for a birdie, 0 for a par, -1 for a bogey, and -3 for double or worse. The PGA Tour tends to use the modified scoring to encourage more “going for it”.

Team Formats

Scramble – Everyone tees off, the team chooses the best shot, and all players hit from that spot. Repeat that process until the team holes out. If you want to have a good time, this format is a good facilitator. Every person on the team is vested in every other persons shots, when one person makes a good shot, everyone is giddy. The benefit of having four people hit the same shot, is that everyone gets to play uber aggressive and hit shots that wouldn’t dream of hitting in a normal round. Usually those shots don’t pay off, but when they do, it’s a real treat.  Almost every single charity event I’ve ever played in was a scramble, it plays faster than a normal round and allows novice golfers a chance to have fun.

Best Ball – Everyone plays their own ball and the lowest score amongst teammates is recorded for the team score. Playing your own ball from tee to hole makes this more challenging than a scramble or shamble, but you still have somewhat of a bailout for blowup holes having your team there, and sometimes you are the bailout for your team’s blunders. It’s a format that can be exceptionally fun if you’re ham and eggin’ it with your partner; you birdie when they bogey or you double when they par. But it can be frustratingly somber when you and your partner are blowing up and sticking it close on the same holes. This event rewards consistency coupled with aggressive play.

Shamble – Similar to a scramble but after the best tee shot is selected each player plays their own ball into the hole. This format is a good way to combine the comraderie of a scramble, with the challenge of finishing with your own ball.

Alternate Shot – Players switch back and forth hitting the next shot, and each tee shot switches as well regardless of who made the putt on the previous hole. As far as team formats go, this is most challenging. The strategy comes down to looking at the even holes versus the odd holes and setting up the person who is the best driver go first on the set of nine holes that necessitate a better tee shot.  This format is uncommon in amateur events, although it might be found at some country club events when they are looking to shake things up. It is however, famously played at the tour level in a few of the rounds at the Ryder Cup.

Greensomes – Both players tee off, the team picks the better drive, and from there they alternate shots into the hole. It’s a more forgiving version of alternate shot that makes the format more attainable for golfers who aren’t touring professionals. Instead of being stuck with a bad tee shot and forced to play punch outs, your team gets two opportunities to put a tee shot into the fairway. The demand for teamwork is still heightened, but a poor tee shot won’t necessarily sink the hole.

Chapman (sometimes called Pinehurst) – Take a scramble, an alternate shot, then throw in a mixture of crazy pills and viola, you have a Chapman. Both players tee off, then they hit each other’s second shot. After the second shot, they choose the better position and alternate shots from there.

Common Betting and Side Games

Wolf – Each hole one player in the group is designated as the wolf which rotates every hole. The wolf tees off last and picks a person to be their teammate or decides to be a lone wolf. If they choose a partner they play against the people not selected. If they decide to be a lone wolf, it’s their score against everyone else in the group. The scoring is simple, if you are on the team that wins the hole you get one point. If you win as the lone wolf, you get three points. (As an aside, there has been a spirited debate in the office about whether the wolf goes first or last. There aren’t any official wolf game rules, so pick your poison amongst your group. However, I am right and the wolf going last makes the most sense.)

Vegas – Split into groups of two and each person plays their own ball; the two scores are combined to create a two-digit number. So, a 4 and a 5 combine to be a 45, the lower number goes in the tens spot. If one team ends up with a 48 and the other team ends with a 56, the difference is 8. Max score on a hole is 9 unless you really dislike your opponents.

Snake – This is an ongoing penalty for whoever three putts last. The snake is the person who had the most recent three putt, and whoever is the snake when the round ends is the loser and pays everyone else. Here’s the thing about this game, it’s fun to play even when you don’t tell the other people you are playing. It’s about bringing the importance of putting into your consciousness. Maybe it doesn’t do anything but I like to think I’m a better putter now that I put this extra pressure on myself to avoid three-putts. **Important – From a technical standpoint, I think if you are off the green, it does not count as a putt, but some people argue that any time a putter is used, it counts as a putt. From a practical standpoint, it doesn’t matter what you decide is or isn’t a putt, as long as it is agreed upon before playing.

9-Point Game – Typically this game is played when there are only three people in your group, while I’m sure it can be adapted to two- or four-man groups, I’m just going to cover the three-person game. Each hole is worth nine points (hence the clever name). If everyone ties a hole, each person is awarded three points. If one person wins a hole and the other two tie, the points are awarded 5, 2, and 2. If there is a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd on a hole, the points are awarded 5, 3, and 1. At the end of the round, the points are added up and the most points wins.

Nassau – This is a very common way to bet that shows up alongside many tournament formats. There are three bets: one for the front nine, one for the back nine, and one for overall. It’s easy to keep track of the bet and keeps the competitive juices flowing. The built-in press keeps the losing team in the match if they were to go down big on the front nine.

Bingo Bango Bongo – This is an interesting game because allows the losers of typical bets a chance to win. Each hole consists of three points: first on the green (bingo), closest to the pin once all balls are on the green (bango), and first in the hole (bongo). The shortest drive has an advantage on bingo because they get to hit their approach shot first. The longer drive has an advantage on bango, because theoretically they have a better chance to hit the ball closer to the hole. And putts are an equalizer depending on how friendly the game is being played. In a normal match, a close putt might be considered “good” but if that means he wins by being first in, your opponents might make him mark his ball.  This can cause problems with pace of play and should be considered if you want to play this game.

Greenies, Sandies, and Barkies – These are all individual bets that can be added in any combination you and your group desires. Greenies are bonuses for hitting greens in regulation. Sandies are when you find yourself in a bunker and still get up and down for par or better. Barkies can either be penalties for hitting trees or boons for hitting trees and still making par or better.

Fin

Play golf, have fun.