Rules guide
Match play in golf: the rules and the scoring
Match play is golf's head-to-head format. Instead of adding up every stroke over the round, you play each hole as a mini-contest. Win the hole and you go one up. The golfer who wins more holes wins the match.
It's one of the oldest ways to play, and still the format of famous team events and club knockouts. It's also the format of 1v1 matches in One Fairway.
How match play works
- Each hole is its own contest. The lower score on a hole wins it. A 4 beats a 5, whatever happened on the last hole.
- A tie halves the hole. Nobody wins it, and the match score stays the same.
- You count holes, not strokes. A disaster on one hole costs you just that hole. Take a 9, shake it off, and win the next one.
- The match ends when it's decided. Once one side leads by more holes than there are left to play, the match is over.
That last point is why match play feels different from stroke play. You're always playing the golfer in front of you, not the course total.
How the score is kept
Match play scores describe the lead, not the strokes.
| You'll hear | It means |
|---|---|
| All square (or "level") | Both sides have won the same number of holes. |
| 1 up, 2 up… | You lead by one hole, two holes… |
| 1 down, 2 down… | You trail by one hole, two holes… |
| Dormie | You lead by exactly as many holes as are left. You can't lose the match outright now; the best your opponent can do is draw level. |
| 3 & 2 ("three and two") | The match was won 3 up with 2 holes left to play. |
| 2 up (as a final result) | The match went the distance and finished with a two-hole lead. |
| 1 up (as a final result) | Won on the last hole, or by one hole at the end. |
So "won 4 & 3" tells you the winner was four holes ahead with three to play, and the match stopped there.
Reading a match play scorecard
A match play scorecard has the usual strokes for each player, plus a line for the match. After each hole, you write who won it and the running state of the match.
Example over the first four holes:
| Hole | Par | Amara | Kenji | Hole result | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | Amara wins | Amara 1 up |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Halved | Amara 1 up |
| 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | Kenji wins | All square |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | Amara wins | Amara 1 up |
Notice hole 3: Amara took 7 on a par 5 and only lost one hole. In stroke play that would cost two shots for the round.
Some golfers mark a won hole with "+", a lost hole with "−" and a halved hole with "0". Others write "W", "L" and "H". Any clear method works.
Concessions
In match play you can concede to your opponent:
- a stroke (the next putt, usually a short one: a "gimme"),
- a hole, or
- the whole match.
Under the Rules of Golf, a concession is final: it can't be refused or taken back. Conceding is only allowed in match play. In stroke play everyone holes out. More about gimmes.
Order of play and the honour
The golfer who won the previous hole has the "honour" and tees off first. On a halved hole, the honour stays with whoever had it. After the tee shots, the ball farther from the hole is played first.
Handicaps in match play
When golfers of different abilities play a handicap match, the higher handicap receives strokes. The usual method gives the difference between the two players' handicaps, one stroke per hole, on the holes the scorecard rates hardest (the "stroke index"). A stroke received makes the net score one lower on that hole. How golf handicaps work.
Match play vs. stroke play
| Match play | Stroke play | |
|---|---|---|
| What counts | Holes won | Total strokes |
| A bad hole | Costs one hole | Stays on your total |
| Players | Usually 1 v 1, or team against team | Any number |
| Concessions and gimmes | Allowed | Not allowed: hole out |
| Ends | When it's decided | After the last hole |
Because a blow-up hole costs so little, match play rewards bold shots. Going for a tucked flag makes more sense when the worst case is losing one hole.
Match play in One Fairway
You can play 1v1 match play against a friend, or in ranked play against a golfer near your level. It follows the real format closely:
- The lower score wins the hole; a tie halves it. The live scorecard shows the match state: "2 up", "All square".
- Matches end early once decided, with a "3 & 2" style result.
- A level match at the end is a draw. We don't play extra holes.
- Gimmes: when your putt stops within about 3 feet (1 metre) of the hole, your opponent can give it to you, or you can ask once. How gimmes work in the game.
- Conceding a hole is offered only when you're struggling: double bogey or worse without being on the green, or two shots in sand or water on the same hole. One tap gives the hole to your opponent. It costs nothing else.
- A lost hole ends by itself. Once your opponent has holed out and you can no longer tie, your hole ends. No pointless putting.
- Handicaps in friendly matches: the higher handicap receives the difference, scaled to the holes you're playing. Stonepine doesn't have a stroke index yet, so the strokes fall one per hole in the order you play them. Ranked matches don't use handicaps.
Match play in One Fairway is for two golfers. For a team match, try 2v2 alternate shot. Groups of three or four play stroke play.