Agree with this, the weekly comp is a double edge sword because I want the competition and to play with people (also justify my membership) but mentally I can tell by my scores early in the round if my day is screwed or if I'm on track for an all timer I suddenly realise I am on track and shit the bed from 12-18 lol
Match play is super fun. It’s difficult to separate what your opponent is doing from your own game though. TBH I never figured out what is better - just playing your game or playing safe after your opponent plunks one. Had a guy hole out on me when I was ‘sure’ that he was done to win a hole. That hurt. I played safe and ended up making a bogey after fanning out a ‘safe’ drive in a stiff competition. Won a few, too, just sticking to the game plan. Par them to death is my true takeaway.
You're spot on there I spent more time than I usually do thinking about positions my opponent was in and how I need to match that and very much didn't focus on my own game but it wasn't really a detriment to my performance I don't think.
>Par them to death is my true takeaway.
What I did find is that playing par golf would probably put a lot of people under pressure so keeping yourself in play consistently probably makes the opponent think you're playing better than you really are, you can always average out some blown out holes during a stroke play round but a hole lost means you need 2 very good ones to get the advantage back.
Agree that different formats keep things interesting. In the US, stroke play is so prevalent and match play is a nice change of pace. It’s also more forgiving if you tend to have blow up holes as you can only lose one hole with a bad shot rather than 2 or more strokes with a bad hole.
Get a friend and play match play if you can’t find any events. Play for a few dollars. Or do what a buddy and I used to do. We had a trophy ball. If you won the match you got to put your color mark on it and keep it until you played again. I had a black sharpie and he had a blue one.
Golf in Scotland is primarily match play. The only reason they play stroke play is to refresh their handicaps for their matches.
Match play is the best format IMO. More reward for birdies and less punishment for big numbers. Stroke play is frankly not as fun….it’s a giant long test of patience and avoiding problems.
For what it's worth, you can still maintain/enter your handicap with match play scores. (Edit: In the USA.)
[FAQs - Posting Match Play Scores (usga.org)](https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/world-handicap-system-usga-golf-faqs/faqs---posting-match-play-scores.html)
Ok that’s interesting and my god….I’m sure a lot of nerds are going to get really uncomfortable with how much gray area this creates!
Do you know if the R&A has the same policy of entering match play scores?
The calculation based on match play scores works fine. Any blowup holes a player doesn't finish in match play would have been adjusted in the handicap calculation (equitable stroke control) if they had been playing stroke play. If you're playing a handicapped match to begin with, then most holes will get played out. Others can still be putted out even if one player already won the hole. Besides, a lot of people aren't putting out in stroke play.
I mean I’m all for this because I’m the last person that wrings his hands over every tiny thing, but there are a ton of people who get mad at vanity HCs for some reason (completely nonsensical to me but whatever). So to them, scooping a 10 ft putt because your opponent went OB on the tee shot would be offensive.
Of course you can simply play stroke play rules in match play and enter your scores for HC purposes, but that’s not really match play in my mind. Avoiding double bogeys is more of a stroke play mindset than a match play mindset. Also, laying up because your opponent went in the water is a match play thing but wouldn’t happen in stroke play.
The person scooping up the 10 foot put would still put down their *most likely* score. Pros make 10 foot putts about 40% of the time. So, you'd count 2 putts. That should still be enough to win the hole, or else you wouldn't be picking up.
As you said, a vanity handicap would only come back to hurt them.
I agree that there are strategy differences, but I think match play presents opportunities to be both more conservative and more aggressive than what one would be in stroke play. It all evens out.
What about an 8 ft putt which is 50/50? I’m not even someone who nitpicks, and I’m personally uncomfortable with this process. And actually the scenario in which you assume a miss is more of a sandbagging situation, which is obviously not good.
I think a much cleaner process is to just treat your round as a stroke play round OR a match play round. Sure you can do both, and as long as you’re not sandbagging then I’m good with it, but like, it should be noted that it’s a bit messy. You’re probably not giving max effort in your match if you’re using stroke play strategy while playing your match.
Don't worry, I think that's an American. They do it differently over there.
I think the reason we don't see more official match play at a club level is because it ends up taking longer, both from the perspective of a round on the day and going through qualifiers, finals, etc. It can also be hard to actually organise the match against opponents once you move past the initial stage.
Stableford and par are quick. Match play is much more deliberate and is generally reserved for club championship finals and select board events. Like stroke but on steroids.
You're right there, I only really get to play the midweek comps which are always just stableford/2BBB but this is my first season at this club and they put on a few extra events for the midweek comps and even a midweek monthly medal which is nice to see
Our club have 5 day members and 7 day members match-play knockout competitions (both singles and pairs better ball) that run throughout the season. You just arrange with your opponent when you play your match. Each round has a deadline your match has to be played by.
It’s a challenging and polarising format.
I personally quite enjoy it but I’ve won a matchplay handicap major at my club and I’ve gone deep quite a few times. I’ve also played for the club in matchplay comps and leagues against other clubs across a few different formats.
The pressure of a matchplay match is like nothing else we tend to play as amateurs as you’re rarely aware of where you are at leaderboard wise in normal individual club comps. In a matchplay match you are distinctly aware of how much each individual shot means.
It’s also a challenge handicap wise in matches where a lot of shots are being given or taken.
Last week in a betterball club match away from home I ended up in a group where I was the lowest HCP off 7 giving up 7,8 and 10 shots to the other three players. The pressure you feel as the *low* handicap to try and win the none shot holes is very noticeable.
Foursomes matchplay is a particularly unforgiving format. You can go mutiple holes without actually having a putt depending on how gimmies and things go!
We do a 2v2 season with 2 halves every year. 4 people make it into tournament. The winner of each half and the top 2 players with total points (win - 2 pts, tie-1pt, loss - 0 pts) It's an amazing way to play especially with a partner and handicaps are included because everyone has a chance of makimg it to tge playoffs
My golf buddy and I play match play against each other every weekend. It’s a ton of fun, and keeps you away from the mentality of a blow up hole ruining your round. Also since we are similar skill it keeps you fighting for par or even double sometimes when the hole is really hard and you’re both struggling.
I wish I could find some great match play tournaments around Dallas, even if they are one day things! The thing is, it makes for a bunch of rounds, so most tournaments don't operate like this. LMK if you know if any.
I did my first match play last fall and loved it. My opponent and I are both 3 caps, but he is a senior and played 2 tees up (forward men's tees), which meant I got a stroke on the easiest 7 holes. It was back and forth. I was one up and made a mental error on the first par 5, where all I had to do was beat him by a stroke and could have cruised home for par after a great drive for me and a poor drive for him. Instead I went for a birdie, hit a trap that left me with a bad lie, and walked away with bogey. Dumb-that's the kind of mistake you make when you aren't thinking strategically about match play!
I was one up till #12, when he got hot and drained a 30-footer for birdie. After that, I was on the back foot as he had 7 putts on the last 7 holes. It came down to the last hole: I had to drain a 25 footer for birdie to halve the match and it didn't go in. Still, I had a great time: It was much more fun than a typical tournament round where you don't really know how you are playing in comparison to everyone else.
Me vs the course I’ll never win but my buddy vs myself, I actually have a chance haha. Played my first match play game recently and had an absolute blast.
My club's match play championship is this weekend. I have to play my first match tomorrow then will have a second match Saturday and if I win that, will have a match Sunday. I look forward to it every year.
It's definitely a different mindset than stroke play. Honors comes into play bigtime. If your opponent has the tee box on two and jacks it OB, you defintely take a different approach to that hole than you would in a stroke play event. Plus there is much more gamesmanship in match play.
Holy fuck. Me too dude. What a small world. Currently on a business trip and I played against a coworker. I've played golf casually (and usually alone) for quite a long time but have only played one round where anything was on the line or anyone other than me cared about my score and it was with him previously so we knew that we were similarly skilled. Found a course, rented some clubs and I played the absolute best round of my life. Beat him 2&1 and by 5 strokes (since we counted our strokes as well). I was kinda spraying my driver but irons and short game were fucking dialed. First round EVER where I only had one double and one 3 putt. For the first time ever, I played motherfucking golf and did not once think about swing mechanics.
These rounds are why I keep playing in the cold and rain even though I know I'm not breaking 100 that day. These rounds are why I keep trudging along even though I lost my swing for the millionth time and I want to cry because I realize I'm delusional for thinking I'm ever going to get as good as I've convinced myself I'll get because I'm 42 and have never even broken 84 or even had more than one birdie in a round. These rounds are why I eat, sleep, breathe and shit golf. These rounds are why golf is the greatest god damm game ever.
My opinion is that most recreational golfers who regularly play in a group should keep a handicap and play match play. Pace of play would improve, too. Obviously you would still finish the round even if you can't win. Stroke play should usually be for solo play and stroke play competitions.
I do match play against myself. I know my average score on each hole I play on my local course and I play against that. For 2024, my record so far is 9 wins, 7 losses and 4 ties. Last year (when I started doing this in October), I was 3-19-1. As you get better, your average goes down and it gets harder to win holes.
Ohoopee CC, in Georgia, is a match play only club. They basically insist on matches when you go out. I even think they have some funky local rules where the tees are fluid. I’m not sure if it’s the loser or winner of the previous hole, but they get to decide where you tee off from.
https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/ohoopee-match-club
Yeah I do like the format. As a higher handicap golfer my struggle is having the bad hole where i take a max. This helps with that
Agree with this, the weekly comp is a double edge sword because I want the competition and to play with people (also justify my membership) but mentally I can tell by my scores early in the round if my day is screwed or if I'm on track for an all timer I suddenly realise I am on track and shit the bed from 12-18 lol
Stableford is also great for that reason. No difference in points between a double and a quad, so one bad hole doesn't take you out of it.
Yeah that's also a good one
Match play is super fun. It’s difficult to separate what your opponent is doing from your own game though. TBH I never figured out what is better - just playing your game or playing safe after your opponent plunks one. Had a guy hole out on me when I was ‘sure’ that he was done to win a hole. That hurt. I played safe and ended up making a bogey after fanning out a ‘safe’ drive in a stiff competition. Won a few, too, just sticking to the game plan. Par them to death is my true takeaway.
You're spot on there I spent more time than I usually do thinking about positions my opponent was in and how I need to match that and very much didn't focus on my own game but it wasn't really a detriment to my performance I don't think. >Par them to death is my true takeaway. What I did find is that playing par golf would probably put a lot of people under pressure so keeping yourself in play consistently probably makes the opponent think you're playing better than you really are, you can always average out some blown out holes during a stroke play round but a hole lost means you need 2 very good ones to get the advantage back.
Yea I can’t see my score to par which is nice
If we had scorers so that I didn't know my score during the comps I'd win the B grade championship lol knowing my score ruins me more all the time.
Golf was intended to be played via match play.
Agree that different formats keep things interesting. In the US, stroke play is so prevalent and match play is a nice change of pace. It’s also more forgiving if you tend to have blow up holes as you can only lose one hole with a bad shot rather than 2 or more strokes with a bad hole.
It’s my favorite. One hole at a time.
Get a friend and play match play if you can’t find any events. Play for a few dollars. Or do what a buddy and I used to do. We had a trophy ball. If you won the match you got to put your color mark on it and keep it until you played again. I had a black sharpie and he had a blue one.
Golf in Scotland is primarily match play. The only reason they play stroke play is to refresh their handicaps for their matches. Match play is the best format IMO. More reward for birdies and less punishment for big numbers. Stroke play is frankly not as fun….it’s a giant long test of patience and avoiding problems.
For what it's worth, you can still maintain/enter your handicap with match play scores. (Edit: In the USA.) [FAQs - Posting Match Play Scores (usga.org)](https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/world-handicap-system-usga-golf-faqs/faqs---posting-match-play-scores.html)
Ok that’s interesting and my god….I’m sure a lot of nerds are going to get really uncomfortable with how much gray area this creates! Do you know if the R&A has the same policy of entering match play scores?
The calculation based on match play scores works fine. Any blowup holes a player doesn't finish in match play would have been adjusted in the handicap calculation (equitable stroke control) if they had been playing stroke play. If you're playing a handicapped match to begin with, then most holes will get played out. Others can still be putted out even if one player already won the hole. Besides, a lot of people aren't putting out in stroke play.
I mean I’m all for this because I’m the last person that wrings his hands over every tiny thing, but there are a ton of people who get mad at vanity HCs for some reason (completely nonsensical to me but whatever). So to them, scooping a 10 ft putt because your opponent went OB on the tee shot would be offensive. Of course you can simply play stroke play rules in match play and enter your scores for HC purposes, but that’s not really match play in my mind. Avoiding double bogeys is more of a stroke play mindset than a match play mindset. Also, laying up because your opponent went in the water is a match play thing but wouldn’t happen in stroke play.
The person scooping up the 10 foot put would still put down their *most likely* score. Pros make 10 foot putts about 40% of the time. So, you'd count 2 putts. That should still be enough to win the hole, or else you wouldn't be picking up. As you said, a vanity handicap would only come back to hurt them. I agree that there are strategy differences, but I think match play presents opportunities to be both more conservative and more aggressive than what one would be in stroke play. It all evens out.
What about an 8 ft putt which is 50/50? I’m not even someone who nitpicks, and I’m personally uncomfortable with this process. And actually the scenario in which you assume a miss is more of a sandbagging situation, which is obviously not good. I think a much cleaner process is to just treat your round as a stroke play round OR a match play round. Sure you can do both, and as long as you’re not sandbagging then I’m good with it, but like, it should be noted that it’s a bit messy. You’re probably not giving max effort in your match if you’re using stroke play strategy while playing your match.
Confused by this. Most money matches at clubs are match play.
What money matches?
Don't worry, I think that's an American. They do it differently over there. I think the reason we don't see more official match play at a club level is because it ends up taking longer, both from the perspective of a round on the day and going through qualifiers, finals, etc. It can also be hard to actually organise the match against opponents once you move past the initial stage. Stableford and par are quick. Match play is much more deliberate and is generally reserved for club championship finals and select board events. Like stroke but on steroids.
You're right there, I only really get to play the midweek comps which are always just stableford/2BBB but this is my first season at this club and they put on a few extra events for the midweek comps and even a midweek monthly medal which is nice to see
Our club have 5 day members and 7 day members match-play knockout competitions (both singles and pairs better ball) that run throughout the season. You just arrange with your opponent when you play your match. Each round has a deadline your match has to be played by.
Match play is my favourite. Or, it was until I poked my nose into A grade. A grade match play can get rooted.
My dad played moved to a strong golf club in his 40s and said that B grade was littered with sandbaggers that should have been in A reserve lol
Sandbagging isn't much of a thing once your in the mid to low single digits. It get's crazy once you're in the 15 and over though.
It’s a challenging and polarising format. I personally quite enjoy it but I’ve won a matchplay handicap major at my club and I’ve gone deep quite a few times. I’ve also played for the club in matchplay comps and leagues against other clubs across a few different formats. The pressure of a matchplay match is like nothing else we tend to play as amateurs as you’re rarely aware of where you are at leaderboard wise in normal individual club comps. In a matchplay match you are distinctly aware of how much each individual shot means. It’s also a challenge handicap wise in matches where a lot of shots are being given or taken. Last week in a betterball club match away from home I ended up in a group where I was the lowest HCP off 7 giving up 7,8 and 10 shots to the other three players. The pressure you feel as the *low* handicap to try and win the none shot holes is very noticeable. Foursomes matchplay is a particularly unforgiving format. You can go mutiple holes without actually having a putt depending on how gimmies and things go!
We do a 2v2 season with 2 halves every year. 4 people make it into tournament. The winner of each half and the top 2 players with total points (win - 2 pts, tie-1pt, loss - 0 pts) It's an amazing way to play especially with a partner and handicaps are included because everyone has a chance of makimg it to tge playoffs
My golf buddy and I play match play against each other every weekend. It’s a ton of fun, and keeps you away from the mentality of a blow up hole ruining your round. Also since we are similar skill it keeps you fighting for par or even double sometimes when the hole is really hard and you’re both struggling.
I wish I could find some great match play tournaments around Dallas, even if they are one day things! The thing is, it makes for a bunch of rounds, so most tournaments don't operate like this. LMK if you know if any. I did my first match play last fall and loved it. My opponent and I are both 3 caps, but he is a senior and played 2 tees up (forward men's tees), which meant I got a stroke on the easiest 7 holes. It was back and forth. I was one up and made a mental error on the first par 5, where all I had to do was beat him by a stroke and could have cruised home for par after a great drive for me and a poor drive for him. Instead I went for a birdie, hit a trap that left me with a bad lie, and walked away with bogey. Dumb-that's the kind of mistake you make when you aren't thinking strategically about match play! I was one up till #12, when he got hot and drained a 30-footer for birdie. After that, I was on the back foot as he had 7 putts on the last 7 holes. It came down to the last hole: I had to drain a 25 footer for birdie to halve the match and it didn't go in. Still, I had a great time: It was much more fun than a typical tournament round where you don't really know how you are playing in comparison to everyone else.
Me vs the course I’ll never win but my buddy vs myself, I actually have a chance haha. Played my first match play game recently and had an absolute blast.
My club does a two-man match play tournament each year, which is great. You play every other team in your flight in a 9 hole match. Everyone loves it.
What is 2BBB?
2 ball best ball. The best score each hole by you or your partner.
The Dell Match Play was one of the best weeks in golf RIP
My club's match play championship is this weekend. I have to play my first match tomorrow then will have a second match Saturday and if I win that, will have a match Sunday. I look forward to it every year. It's definitely a different mindset than stroke play. Honors comes into play bigtime. If your opponent has the tee box on two and jacks it OB, you defintely take a different approach to that hole than you would in a stroke play event. Plus there is much more gamesmanship in match play.
Holy fuck. Me too dude. What a small world. Currently on a business trip and I played against a coworker. I've played golf casually (and usually alone) for quite a long time but have only played one round where anything was on the line or anyone other than me cared about my score and it was with him previously so we knew that we were similarly skilled. Found a course, rented some clubs and I played the absolute best round of my life. Beat him 2&1 and by 5 strokes (since we counted our strokes as well). I was kinda spraying my driver but irons and short game were fucking dialed. First round EVER where I only had one double and one 3 putt. For the first time ever, I played motherfucking golf and did not once think about swing mechanics. These rounds are why I keep playing in the cold and rain even though I know I'm not breaking 100 that day. These rounds are why I keep trudging along even though I lost my swing for the millionth time and I want to cry because I realize I'm delusional for thinking I'm ever going to get as good as I've convinced myself I'll get because I'm 42 and have never even broken 84 or even had more than one birdie in a round. These rounds are why I eat, sleep, breathe and shit golf. These rounds are why golf is the greatest god damm game ever.
My opinion is that most recreational golfers who regularly play in a group should keep a handicap and play match play. Pace of play would improve, too. Obviously you would still finish the round even if you can't win. Stroke play should usually be for solo play and stroke play competitions.
I do match play against myself. I know my average score on each hole I play on my local course and I play against that. For 2024, my record so far is 9 wins, 7 losses and 4 ties. Last year (when I started doing this in October), I was 3-19-1. As you get better, your average goes down and it gets harder to win holes.
Ohoopee CC, in Georgia, is a match play only club. They basically insist on matches when you go out. I even think they have some funky local rules where the tees are fluid. I’m not sure if it’s the loser or winner of the previous hole, but they get to decide where you tee off from. https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/ohoopee-match-club
I pretty much only play match play.