Golf Tournament Formats Explained

Sign up for enough golf tournaments and you will meet a handful of formats, each with its own scoring and feel. This guide explains the common ones in plain terms so you know what you are entering before you tee off.

Why the format matters

The format of a tournament decides almost everything about how the day feels — whether you compete alone or as a team, whether one bad hole ruins your round or barely registers, and whether a beginner can keep up. Reading the format on a listing before you enter saves you from signing up for a serious individual stroke-play event when what you wanted was a relaxed team scramble. The formats below are the ones you will actually run into at amateur and charity events.

Stroke play

Stroke play is golf in its purest form: you count every shot, and your score for the round is your total. The lowest total wins. Most serious amateur events, club championships, and city amateurs are stroke play, often split into gross flights (raw score) and net flights (score adjusted for handicap) so players of different abilities compete fairly.

Match play

In match play you compete hole by hole against one opponent. Win a hole and you go one "up"; lose it and you go one "down". The match ends when one player is further ahead than there are holes left. A blow-up hole costs you only that hole, not your whole round, which makes match play tense and strategic.

Scramble

A scramble is a team format: everyone tees off, the team plays its best shot, and repeats until holed. It is the standard for charity and corporate outings because it is fast, social, and forgiving. See our full guide, "What is a golf scramble", for the details and variations.

Best ball (four-ball)

In best ball, every player plays their own ball for the whole hole, and the team takes the lowest individual score as its hole score. Unlike a scramble, you finish out your own ball — so best ball rewards consistency rather than just one hot shot. It is also called four-ball when played two-versus-two.

Shamble

A shamble is a hybrid: the team tees off and picks the best drive (like a scramble), but from there every player finishes the hole with their own ball (like best ball). It gives everyone a good starting position off the tee while still testing individual play into and around the green.

Stableford

Stableford scoring awards points per hole instead of counting strokes — for example, two points for a par, three for a birdie, one for a bogey, and zero for worse. The highest points total wins. Because a disaster hole simply scores zero, Stableford keeps casual players engaged and encourages aggressive play.

Alternate shot (foursomes)

In alternate shot, two players share one ball and take turns hitting it — one tees off, the partner hits the second shot, and so on until holed. Players also alternate who tees off on odd and even holes. It is demanding and is mostly seen in club team events and competitions like the Ryder Cup.

Team formats vs individual formats

It helps to group the formats into two families. Team formats — scramble, best ball, shamble, and alternate shot — spread the pressure across a group and are the backbone of charity and corporate golf. Individual formats — stroke play, match play, and Stableford — put your own game on the line. If you are new to tournament golf, start with a team format; once you want your own score to mean something, move up to an individual event.

One practical note: handicaps. Many amateur events run gross and net divisions side by side. Gross uses your raw score, so it rewards the best players; net subtracts your handicap, so a steady mid-handicap golfer has a real chance to win. If a listing offers a net flight, it is worth entering even if you would not describe yourself as a tournament player.

Which format will you play?

Tournament listings almost always state the format up front. A charity event is nearly always a scramble; a city amateur is nearly always stroke play; club events mix in the rest. MullyMap shows the format on every listing, so you know what you are signing up for before you commit.