- Match play is scored in holes: a result like 3&2 means 3 up with 2 to play, decided on the 16th.
- Singles match play uses 100% of Course Handicap and four-ball uses 90%; the lowest plays off scratch and the rest receive the difference.
- A tied match is extended hole by hole under the Rules unless the group agrees a halved bet is void.
- A press is a new bet for the same stake over the remaining holes of a nine, usually opened at 2 down.
- A tied skins hole carries over, so the next hole is worth more; agree the value per skin and who pays it before play.
- Agree format, stake, allowance, presses and ties before the first tee, and nominate one scorer.
Last updated: . Rules references are to the R&A and USGA Rules of Golf (2023 edition) and the WHS Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C.
How do you keep score in golf match play?
Match play is scored in holes, not strokes. On each hole the lower score wins the hole, equal scores halve it, and the running position is stated as holes up: 1 up, 2 down, all square. The match ends as soon as one side is more holes up than there are holes left to play.
Nothing else carries. A 9 on one hole costs exactly the same as a 5 if the other side made 4: one hole. That is why match play suits mixed groups and why a bad hole never ends your afternoon.
In a handicap match, the player receiving strokes takes them on the holes marked by stroke index, and the hole is decided on the net score.
What does 3&2 (or 4 and 3, 5&4) mean in match play?
A result such as 3&2 means the winner was 3 holes up with only 2 holes left to play, so the match ended there, on the 16th. The first number is the lead, the second is the holes that were never played. 4&3 ended on the 15th; 5&4 ended on the 14th.
The match finishes the moment the lead is bigger than the holes remaining, because the side behind can no longer catch up. If the lead and the holes left are equal, for example 2 up with 2 to play, the match is dormie and carries on.
A match that reaches the 18th is reported as 1 up or 2 up with no second number. A match decided at the first extra hole is reported as "won at the 19th".
What happens if a match play match is tied after 18 holes?
Under the Rules of Golf a tied match is extended one hole at a time, starting again from the 1st, until one side wins a hole. Groups playing for money often agree something simpler before the round: a halved match means no money changes hands, or a single sudden-death hole decides it.
In a handicap match the strokes carry into the extra holes exactly as they did in the round: if the 1st is stroke index 7 and you were getting a stroke there, you get it again on the 19th.
In a Nassau only the overall 18 can be halved after 18; the front and back nines are already settled. Decide before the first tee whether a halved bet is void or pushed to a play-off.
How many strokes do I give in a singles match?
In singles match play the World Handicap System recommends 100% of Course Handicap. The lower handicap plays off scratch and the other player receives the full difference, taken on the holes with the lowest stroke index. An 8 handicap playing a 20 gives 12 strokes, on stroke index 1 to 12.
The strokes are fixed to holes, not spread evenly. A player getting 12 strokes gets one on each of the twelve hardest holes and none on the other six, so check the stroke index on the card before you tee off.
If your Course Handicaps come from different tees, work out each Course Handicap first, then take the difference. The calculator below does the whole thing and lists the holes.
What is the handicap allowance for a four-ball match?
Four-ball match play uses 90% of Course Handicap under the WHS Rules of Handicapping. Multiply each player's Course Handicap by 0.9 and round. The lowest resulting Playing Handicap plays off scratch and the other three receive the difference. Course Handicaps of 8, 12, 18 and 24 become 7, 11, 16 and 22, so strokes given are 0, 4, 9 and 15.
Each player's strokes are their own. A stroke your partner gets on the 5th does not help you on the 5th; the side simply counts whichever net score is lower.
Four-ball stroke play and better-ball Stableford use 85% instead, and each player keeps their own Playing Handicap rather than playing off the lowest.
How does a press work in a Nassau?
A press is a new bet for the same stake that runs over the remaining holes of the nine, opened by the side that is behind, usually when 2 down. The original bet keeps going. If you are 2 down after the 5th and press, the press covers holes 6 to 9 and you can now win, lose or split two bets on that nine.
Many groups make presses automatic at 2 down, so nobody has to ask. Others let the side behind choose. Either way, agree it on the first tee, and agree whether a press can itself be pressed.
A $5 Nassau with one press on each nine can put $25 in play: front, back, overall and two presses. The Nassau calculator keeps every bet separate and nets them off at the end.
How do you settle a $5 Nassau?
A $5 Nassau is three $5 bets: front nine, back nine and overall 18, each scored as its own match, plus any presses at $5 each. Add up what each side won and net it off. If Alex wins the front and the overall, Sam wins the back, and Sam loses a press on the front, Alex is up three bets to one and Sam pays Alex $10.
The worked numbers: Alex +5 (front) +5 (overall) +5 (Sam's lost press) −5 (back) = +10. Only the net amount moves, one payment, one direction.
In a partner Nassau, such as four-ball, the stake is per side and partners split it. State on the first tee whether $5 means $5 per side or $5 per player.
How do skins payouts work when holes are tied?
A skin is won only by the sole lowest score on a hole. When two or more players tie for low, nobody wins it and the skin carries over, so the next hole is worth two skins, then three, until someone wins a hole outright. At $2 a skin, ties on the 1st and 2nd make the 3rd worth $6 to whoever wins it alone.
Agree before play what a skin is worth and who pays it: commonly each other player pays the winner the skin value, so a $2 skin in a four-ball is worth $6 to the winner. Agree too what happens if the 18th is tied with skins still live; most groups either void them or play on.
Settlement is each player's skins won multiplied by the value, netted off against everyone else. The skins calculator handles carryovers and shows who pays whom.
How do you play skins with handicaps?
Net skins uses each player's score after handicap strokes, so a 20 handicap's gross 5 on a stroke hole counts as a 4. The Rules of Handicapping do not set a skins allowance, so groups usually play off the lowest handicap in the group and give the others the full difference, taken on the stroke index holes.
Some groups reduce the allowance (for example 90%, borrowing the four-ball figure) because a high handicapper receiving a stroke on a par 5 wins a lot of skins outright. Whichever you choose, write it in the chat before the first tee.
Gross skins with no strokes is simpler but in a mixed group one player tends to take the lot. Net skins keeps every player in the game on every hole.
Can you concede a putt or a hole in match play?
Yes. In match play you may concede your opponent's next stroke, the hole, or the whole match at any time. A concession must be clearly communicated, it is final, and it cannot be declined or withdrawn. If you concede a putt, your opponent is treated as having holed it with their next stroke.
Conceding short putts keeps the group moving and is normal between mates. Conceding a hole is useful when you have already made a mess of it: pick up, concede, walk to the next tee with the match still alive.
There are no concessions in stroke play, which is one reason match play and its side games suit a Saturday fourball better than a card you have to return.
How do you play match play with three players?
With three players the simplest option is three singles matches played at the same time: each player plays the other two over the same 18 holes, and each hole is scored in two matches at once. Skins is the other natural three-player game, because every hole is contested by all three and a tie just carries the skin over.
In three simultaneous singles matches a player can win one match and lose the other, so the settlement is three separate results netted off, not one. State the stake per match.
Handicaps work the same way as any singles match: in each pairing the lower handicap plays off scratch and the other receives the difference.
What should a group agree before the first tee?
Five things, in the chat, before anyone hits: the format (singles, four-ball, Nassau, skins), the stake and whether it is per player or per side, the handicap allowance, the press rules, and what happens on a tie. Groups that settle those in advance never have the awkward conversation in the car park.
Add a sixth if the group is new: who keeps the card. One person posts the position after each hole and the group confirms it. A disputed hole three holes later is the most common way a friendly match goes sour.
That running position, the final call and the settlement are exactly what MatchPlay is being built to do inside the group chat.
What is the easiest way to keep score and settle a golf match in a group chat?
Today most groups nominate one scorer who posts the match position after each hole, then work out the money at the 19th. MatchPlay is being built to do that job inside the group chat: start the match, record each hole as a message, show the live position, call the result and settle the funds when the card is confirmed. It is in early access.
Until the bot is in your group, the free calculators on this site do the maths for the three games with the most arguments: skins carryovers, Nassau presses and handicap strokes by hole.
What MatchPlay will not do is change the golf. The formats, allowances and rule sources on these pages are the ones the group already plays by.
The score, the call and the settlement in one chat.
MatchPlay is being built to keep the running position visible in the group, call the match when it is over, and settle the funds once the card is confirmed.