Guides

How the formats actually score

The rules a trip ends up arguing about are almost always about strokes, ties and what a hole was worth. Here they are, written out.

How does handicap allowance work in match play golf?

A handicap allowance is a percentage applied to a player’s Course Handicap to produce the Playing Handicap they actually receive strokes from. The allowance is applied to the unrounded Course Handicap and rounded once, in every format that uses one. Match play then usually goes a step further and plays "net to lowest": the lowest handicap in the match plays off scratch and everyone else strokes off the difference.

How match play handicap allowance works

What does carryover mean in a skins game?

In skins, each hole is worth one skin and it goes to the single lowest net score — a tie wins nothing. Carryover decides what happens to a tied hole: with carryover on, the tied hole’s stake rolls forward and is added to the next hole somebody wins outright, so three ties followed by a win make that win worth four skins. With carryover off, a tied hole is simply dead and every hole is worth exactly one.

What a skins carryover is

How do you run a Ryder Cup format golf trip?

A Ryder Cup-style trip splits the group into two teams and plays a series of matches across several rounds, with each match converted into points for a side rather than a score. Standard scoring gives one point for a win and half a point each for a halve, and the team total across the trip decides it. The details worth settling in advance are the teams, which games count toward the cup, and the handicap allowance.

How to run a Ryder Cup-style golf trip