Stableford, match play, scramble: pick the format

Most amateur golf is played as medal stroke play, which is the format least suited to most amateurs. One blow-up hole ruins the card, the round takes four and a half hours, and everybody holes out from three feet on a hole they have already lost. There are better options, and your club runs most of them.

Stableford: the format that fits how you actually play

You score points against par with your handicap applied: two points for a net par, three for a net birdie, one for a net bogey, nothing worse. A disaster hole costs you two points instead of six shots, and you pick up as soon as you cannot score, which speeds the round up considerably.

For a golfer who makes six pars, eight bogeys and four wrecks, Stableford turns a demoralizing 96 into a respectable 32 points and a round worth finishing.

Match play: the hole is the unit, not the round

You win, lose or halve each hole, and the score resets every time. A nine on the fourth costs one hole, exactly like a bogey. Match play rewards aggression at the right moment and forgives the rest, which is why it is the format everybody remembers and the one club knockouts use.

The rules differ in useful ways: you can concede a putt, you play in order of who is away, and you can pick up once the hole is lost.

Scramble: the format for mixed abilities

Everybody in the team tees off, the team picks the best ball, everybody plays from there, and so on. Weaker players contribute putts and the occasional wedge, stronger players carry the tee shots, and nobody spends the day looking for their ball. It is the format for charity days, corporate outings and any group where the handicaps run from 6 to 28.

Fourball and foursomes, and why they feel so different

In fourball each player plays their own ball and the better score counts, which is a relaxed and social format. In foursomes, partners alternate shots with a single ball, which is fast, tense, and the format most amateurs have never tried. A foursomes round takes about three hours and teaches you more about course management than a month of medal play.

Skins, Stableford points games and the rest

Skins gives the hole to whoever wins it outright and carries the value forward when it is halved. Nine-point games work for a threeball. All of them exist for the same reason: to keep every player in the round on the fifteenth tee.

Which format for which day

• Playing alone or with one other, wanting a real test: medal stroke play.
• Club competition, or a round you want to finish in good humor: Stableford.
• A friend of similar ability and a bet: match play.
• Mixed abilities, a charity day, or a group of eight: scramble.
• Two hours to spare and a partner: foursomes.

Ask what your club runs

Most American clubs and public courses run weekly Stableford or points events, member-guest days in fourball formats, and knockout match play through the season. The pro shop keeps the calendar, and entry is usually a few dollars. That calendar is the fastest route into the part of golf that keeps people playing.

If handicap counting matters to you, ask which events are posted for handicap purposes before you enter.