Match Play

Forget the total. In match play you win holes — beat your opponent on a hole, that's one for you; tie it, nobody moves. Most holes won takes the match.

How it works

Two players, head-to-head. On every hole, compare scores: the lower score wins the hole, an equal score halves it (no one wins). The running status is spoken in holes: "2 UP" means you've won two more holes than your opponent. Finish with more holes won and the match is yours; equal, and it's all square.

The beautiful part: a disaster hole costs exactly one hole, whether you lose it by one stroke or by six. That triple bogey that would sink your stroke-play round? In match play, you shake it off and go win the next one. It's the most forgiving format for volatile golfers — and the most aggressive, since there's no reason to play safe when only the hole matters.

How handicap strokes are given

Match play handicapping follows one rule: the better player plays at scratch, and the other player gets the difference. Take both players' course handicaps, subtract the lower from the higher, and that many strokes go to the higher handicapper — one each on the hardest-rated holes (lowest stroke index first).

Player A: course handicap 8   →  plays at scratch
Player B: course handicap 15  →  gets 15 − 8 = 7 strokes,
                                 one each on stroke index 1–7

On those seven holes, B's net score is one lower than what they wrote down — so a 5 against A's 4 actually halves the hole. On the other eleven, it's straight gross against gross.

More than two players?

Classic match play is strictly one-on-one. For three or more players who each want to play their own ball against everyone, try BL Cutthroat — sole low score wins the hole, ties spoil it. For team-against-team match play, see Best Ball.