MATCH PLAY RULES

Objective

The objective of Match Play is to win more holes than your opponent. Match Play is a one on one competition format.

Scoring

When scoring you must take handicaps into consideration. Deduct the lower handicap from the higher handicap, the difference is the “head start” the higher handicap player will receive. The higher handicap player will distribute evenly his “head start” over the Match Index holes that are ranked from 1 to 18, and receive these as stroke advantages over his opponent. For example:

Higher Handicap Player (36)
–
Lower Handicap Player (15)
=
21 Strokes “Head Start”

The Higher Handicap Player will have one stoke advantage on holes ranked 4th and higher and two strokes on holes ranked 1st, 2nd & 3rd. A Match Play Hole has only 2 possible results a win for a player or the hole is halved (tied).

Using the above example for a Match Play Hole ranked 3rd if the Higher Handicap Player records a gross score of 6, and the Lower Handicap Player records a gross score of 4, the hole is halved or tied and no result is recorded. However, if the Higher Handicap Player records a gross score of 5, and the Lower Handicap Player records a gross score of 4, the hole has been won by the Higher Handicap Player.

Tallying Up Results

If a player has won more holes than there are left to be played, the game has been won and is over. Results will reflect this scenario for example:

2 & 1 means a player was up by 2 holes and there was one hole left to play. Effectively the game was over after the completion of the 17th hole played.

A Tied Result

If holes are tied (both player have won the equal amount of holes), a putt-off will determine the winner. Each player will putt once at an agreed point, the player closer to the hole will be the winner.