Golf Tournament Formats: Stroke Play, Match Play, Scramble and More

Every golf format is a decision about one question: how much should a single bad hole be allowed to cost?

Stroke play answers "all of it." Stableford answers "a couple of points." A scramble answers "nothing at all." Once you see the formats as answers to that question, choosing between them stops being a matter of tradition and becomes a matter of who is playing and what the day is for.

Individual formats

Stroke play. Every shot counts and there is no ceiling on the damage a hole can do. It is the format of most professional tournaments, and the reason avoiding disasters is a scoring strategy in its own right. Golf scoring covers how a tournament total is assembled.

Match play. Scored hole by hole: win, lose or halve. A hole where everything falls apart costs exactly one hole, no more than losing by a single shot would. That cap makes aggression far cheaper than it is in stroke play, which is why match-play tactics diverge so sharply from stroke-play tactics.

Stableford. Points are awarded per hole based on strokes taken against a fixed score, usually par, adjusted for handicap — and the highest total wins, inverting golf's usual direction. It was developed by Frank Stableford to deter golfers from giving up after one or two bad holes, used informally in Wales from 1898 and first used in competition at Wallasey in 1932. It has a practical bonus: once a player has taken two strokes more than the adjusted fixed score, no points are possible, so they can pick up and move on, which speeds up play noticeably.

Pairs formats

Four-ball (also called better-ball, and sometimes best ball). Each player plays their own ball and the better of the two scores counts for the pair on each hole. It can be played as match play or stroke play. Forgiving, sociable, and the format most amateur pairs events use.

Foursomes, or alternate shot. The pair has one ball between them and they alternate strokes until the hole is completed. It is the most demanding partnership format in golf: you are playing from wherever your partner left it, and a wayward drive is your problem to solve.

Greensomes, also called Scotch foursomes or modified alternate shot. Both players tee off, the pair picks which drive to use, and the player who did not hit it plays the second — then play alternates as in foursomes. It removes the harshest part of foursomes while keeping the shape.

Gruesomes (or bloodsomes) inverts the choice: the opposing team chooses which of your tee shots you must use, usually the worse one. It is played for entertainment rather than for competitive integrity, and it is very funny to everyone except the pair involved.

Chapman, also known as Pinehurst or American foursomes. Both players tee off, each then plays their partner's ball for the second shot, and after selecting one ball they alternate to the hole.

Team formats

Best ball. Every team member plays their own ball throughout, and the lowest score on the team counts for each hole. Variants such as 1-2-3 Best Ball and Low Ball/High Ball change how many of the scores count.

Scramble. Every player tees off, the team picks the best shot, and everyone plays their next from within a clublength of it, repeating until the hole is done. The scramble is the default for charity and corporate days for an obvious reason: a beginner's bad shots are never played, so nobody spends the afternoon holding up the group. Common variants include Ambrose (net scoring with a team handicap), Florida scramble (the player whose ball was chosen sits out the next shot), and Texas scramble (a set number of each player's tee shots must be used, which prevents one long hitter from playing every drive).

Patsome rotates formats within a round: typically six holes of four-ball, six of greensomes and six of foursomes.