How to Score Match Plays in Golf
Scoring match play games in golf is very simple overall. At its most basic, a stipulated round of match play comes down to which side (or ‘team’) leads in the number holes won relative to the number of holes left to play. Match play can be performed on a full 18 holes, but the game may also be lengthened or shortened if necessary in order to determine a winner.
The basic scoring procedure at each hole comes down to strokes. In order to win a hole, your side must ‘hole the ball’ in fewer strokes than the opposing side.
For example, let’s say you’re at the fourth hole and the opposing team manages to get the ball into the hole after 5 strokes. Then, your team goes, and it happens to be your turn to hit the ball. Being the golf wizard that you are, you sink the ball after only 2 strokes. Bingo! Your team is the winner of that hole.
Now, let’s also say that, up to the fourth hole, your team has won 3 out of 4 holes played. Unlike other sports, you don’t say that you’re winning 3 to 1. Instead, you say that you are “up by 3”, while the other team is “down by 3”.
You’ll also hear golfers use terms such as “holes up”, “all square” and “so many to play.” If both sides are in a tie, for example, you’ll say it’s “all square.” If you’re halfway through a typical course, you might say: “We’re 4 up with 9 to play”, if you’ve won 4 holes and lost 5 to that point.
What happens if your side has won as many holes as there left to play? For example, maybe it was a bad day and you’ve won only 4 holes by the time you reach the sixteenth hole? The proper term in that case is: “dormie.”
This is it as far as the basics are concerned. You’ll want to check with an up-to-date rule book to determine what to do for special cases such as penalties on ‘halved holes’ as well as stroke, hole or match concessions.
