Golf match play scorecard: what to track, and a card you can print.

Free tools: match play handicap calculator (works out the strokes and lists the holes they fall on) → and the Nassau calculator (scores front, back and overall as separate matches, with presses) →

What to track on a match play scorecard

A stroke play card is a column of numbers that gets added up. A match play card is a column of results that gets read. Every hole produces exactly one of three outcomes for a side, and the only running total that matters is the difference between holes won and holes lost. The columns, in the order most clubs print them:

Above the holes, write the things the group agreed: players or sides, date and course, the format, who receives strokes and how many, the stake per match or per hole, and what happens if the match is all square after 18 (play on, or halve it). The match play guide explains how each of those is decided; the card is where the decision is written down.

A printable 18-hole match play scorecard

This card is sized for one sheet of A4 or US Letter. Fill in the header before the first tee, copy par and stroke index from the course card, and keep one row per hole. The Out and In rows carry the position at the turn and at the end, which is also where a Nassau's three bets are settled. Use the button to print just the card without the rest of this page.

How to fill in a match play scorecard, hole by hole

1. Pick one side as "A" and never switch. Every result and every position is written from A's view. If Casey is A, then Casey winning the 3rd is a W and the match column reads Casey 1 up; if Jordan is A the same hole is an L and the column reads 1 dn. Either is fine, as long as the whole card uses the same view.
2. Strokes first, if there are any. Work out the allowance before the round and dot the stroke holes. In singles match play the World Handicap System allowance is 100% of Course Handicap, with the lower player off zero and the other receiving the difference. An 8 playing a 20 gives the 20 twelve strokes, on stroke index 1 to 12; on a card whose stroke index runs 7, 13, 1, 15, 5, 11, 3, 17, 9, 8, 14, 2, 16, 6, 12, 4, 18, 10 those dots land on holes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18. The handicap calculator does this for singles, four-ball, foursomes and greensomes.
3. After each hole, write the result. Compare the two scores, net of any stroke on that hole, and write W, L or H. If a hole was conceded, write it as won by the other side; if a putt was conceded, that player's score is their strokes so far plus one. Gross scores are optional, but if the opponent asks for a stroke count during or after a hole the player must give the right one (Rule 3.2d(1)), so many groups write them down anyway.
4. Carry the position. A W moves the position one toward A, an L moves it one toward B, an H copies the previous entry across. Say it out loud as you write it: "2 up, 9 to play." Rule 3.2d(3) expects both players to know the match score, and a wrong score the two agree on becomes the real score if it is not corrected before either player begins the next hole.
5. Check the holes left. When the lead is bigger than the holes left, the match is over. Write the result as lead and holes left (4 and 3, 2 and 1) on that hole and leave the rest blank. If the lead equals the holes left, the match is dormie: the leader cannot lose in regulation.
6. At the 18th, write the final result and have both sides agree it. A match decided on the last green is written 1 up or 2 up. All square after 18 is either played on one hole at a time or recorded as a halved match, whichever the group wrote in the header.

A worked 18-hole card

Jordan and Casey play singles with no strokes. Jordan is A, so every result is from Jordan's view. The first five holes are the ones used in the scoring guide; the card then runs on until the match is decided.

Jordan is 2 up at the turn, so the Out row reads "Jordan 2 up" and a front-nine Nassau bet would be settled there. Jordan wins the 10th and 13th to go 4 up with 5 to play, Casey wins the 14th to make it 3 up with 4 to play, and Jordan wins the 15th: 4 up with 3 to play, which is more holes up than there are holes left, so the card reads Jordan wins 4 and 3 and holes 16 to 18 stay blank. Over the 15 holes Jordan won seven (1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13, 15), Casey won three (3, 7, 14) and five were halved (2, 6, 8, 11, 12). Nobody needed a stroke total to know any of that.

What the Rules of Golf say about scorecards in match play

Less than most golfers expect. The Rules make a scorecard compulsory in stroke play: under Rule 3.3b a marker keeps the player's hole scores on the card, certifies them at the end of the round, and the player must check and return the card or be disqualified. None of that applies to match play. Rule 3 handles a match with three duties instead:

• Know the match score (Rule 3.2d(3)). The players are expected to know it. If they mistakenly agree a wrong score, they may correct it before either player begins another hole, or before the result of the match is final; if not, the wrong match score becomes the actual match score. A shared card is the simplest defence against this.
• Give the right stroke count when asked (Rule 3.2d(1)). The opponent may ask for the number of strokes taken at any time during a hole or after it. A player who gives a wrong number, or does not answer, gets the general penalty (loss of hole) unless it is corrected in time, with no penalty if the error did not affect the result of the hole. Writing gross scores on the card makes the answer easy.
• Tell the opponent about a penalty (Rule 3.2d(2)). As soon as reasonably possible, even if the player did not know about it at the time. The same loss-of-hole penalty applies for not doing so, unless the opponent already knew.

Handicap strokes are covered by Rule 3.2c: strokes are given by hole, the lower net score wins the hole, and each player is responsible for knowing the holes they give or get strokes on, which is normally read off the stroke index on the scorecard. A hole is halved when both sides complete it in the same number of strokes or agree to treat it as halved once at least one of them has started it (Rule 3.2a(2)); a match is won when a player leads by more holes than remain (Rule 3.2a(3)). The Committee for a club knockout may still ask for a signed card or a result slip; that is a condition of the competition, not a requirement of the Rules.

Cards for four-ball, foursomes, handicap matches and a Nassau

• Four-ball. Four score columns, one per player, and one result column for the match. On each hole circle the lower score on each side (net, if strokes are in play) and compare the two circled scores. Only one partner on each side needs to hole out, so a partner who picks up simply has no score in their column. Four-ball match play strokes are 90% of Course Handicap with the lowest player off zero; the better-ball guide covers the naming and the Stableford version.
• Foursomes. One ball per side, so one score column per side. Some groups add a tick to show which partner teed off, which keeps the alternate order honest. Strokes are 50% of the combined Course Handicaps, so the stroke column is for the side, not a player.
• Handicap singles. Dot the stroke holes in the receiving player's column before the round. A dotted hole is won on net score, so a 5 against a 4 with a dot is a half. The singles guide has a full worked handicap card where the higher handicap wins on net while losing on gross.
• Nassau. Three match-position lines instead of one: front nine (settled on the Out row), back nine (restarts at all square on the 10th) and the overall 18. Each press is another line that starts at all square on the hole after it is called and runs to the end of that nine. The Nassau calculator keeps all of them, including automatic 2-down presses, and prints the settlement.
• Skins alongside the match. Skins is not match play, so keep it off the match line. Add one row under the card for skins won per hole and carryovers, or use the skins calculator and let the match card stay clean.

Before the first tee

• Names on the card, and which side is A.
• Format written down: singles, four-ball, foursomes, Nassau, and the stake.
• Strokes agreed and dotted on the card, using the stroke index for the tees you are playing.
• What a halved match means: extra holes or a half.
• Who writes, and the habit of calling the position aloud on every tee.

Sources: R&A Rules of Golf, Rule 3 (3.2a result of hole and match, including a hole tied by agreement; 3.2b concessions; 3.2c applying handicaps in a handicap match and knowing the stroke holes; 3.2d(1) to (3) telling the opponent the number of strokes taken and any penalty, and knowing the match score; 3.3b the marker and scorecard in stroke play); R&A Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C (100% of Course Handicap in singles match play with the lowest player off zero, and the worked 8 v 20 example used by this site's handicap calculator).

Related guides

New to the format? Start with what match play is, then how match play scoring works for the score language and dormie for the position where the match cannot be lost. For the bets that run alongside a match see the golf betting games hub, and for straight answers to the questions groups ask on the first tee, the match play questions page.

Common questions