What is match play in golf?

Format type: One of the two forms of play in the Rules of Golf, governed by Rule 3.2. Singles, four-ball and foursomes can all be played as match play, and the Nassau is three match-play bets in one round.

Free tool: Match play handicap calculator (strokes given and where they fall) →

Match play vs stroke play

Stroke play is the form most club competitions and all four professional majors use: add up the strokes, lowest total wins. Match play is the form of the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup and most club knockouts, and the form nearly every friendly money game is built on. The differences matter more than people expect:

The practical effect is that match play rewards the moment. A player protecting a lead may take the safe side of a green; a player who is down may fire at every flag, because a lost hole is one hole whatever the number. A triple bogey that would wreck a stroke-play card is forgotten on the next tee.

How match play scoring works

• Each hole has its own result. The side that completes the hole in fewer strokes, including penalty strokes, wins it. The same number of strokes halves the hole. A hole is also won if the opponent concedes it or gets the general penalty.
• The score is holes up. Win a hole and you are 1 up; lose it and you are 1 down; a half changes nothing. "All square" (AS on a scoreboard) means the sides have won the same number of holes. The margin a hole is won by never matters: a birdie against a double bogey earns one hole.
• The position is a running tally. If Alex wins the 1st, Alex is 1 up. If Sam wins the 2nd the match returns to all square. A half on the 3rd leaves it all square. The scoreline describes the state of the contest, not the strokes played.
• Holes left to play. Alongside the margin, the card tracks how many holes remain. The two numbers together tell you whether the match is still alive.

The match play scoring guide walks through the score language with a five-hole example, and the match play scorecard page shows what a card for this format needs to record.

How a match ends

A match is won as soon as one side leads by more holes than remain to be played. Three up with two holes left is a win, because the side behind cannot even draw level. The match can also end when the opponent concedes it or is disqualified.

• Results like 3 and 2. The first number is the lead, the second is the number of holes left unplayed. 3 and 2 (written 3&2) ended on the 16th; 2 and 1 on the 17th; 4 and 3 on the 15th; 5 and 4 on the 14th. The widest possible 18-hole result is 10 and 8.
• 1 up and 2 up. A match that reaches the 18th is reported by the margin alone: 1 up or 2 up. A match won at the first extra hole is "won at the 19th".
• Dormie. When the lead equals the holes remaining, for example 2 up with 2 to play, the match is dormie. The leader cannot lose in regulation and wins by winning or halving any remaining hole; the side behind must win every hole left just to tie.
• A tied match. If the match is all square after the final hole, Rule 3.2a extends it one hole at a time, starting from the 1st unless the Committee sets a different order, until one side wins a hole. The Terms of Competition can instead allow a halved match, which is what most friendly games and Nassau bets do.

A worked 18-hole match card

Alex and Sam play singles match play. The card records only who won each hole, the running position and the holes left; strokes are not needed.

After the 15th Alex is 3 up with 3 to play, so the match is dormie 3: Sam has to win the 16th, 17th and 18th just to halve it. The 16th is halved, which leaves Alex 3 up with 2 to play, more holes up than there are holes left, so the match is over. Alex wins 3 and 2. Alex won six holes (1, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14), Sam won three (3, 7, 12) and seven were halved; the 17th and 18th are never played for the match, though a group playing a Nassau would still play them for the back nine bet.

Concessions

Concessions are the part of match play that stroke play has no equivalent for. Under Rule 3.2b a player may concede the opponent's next stroke (the opponent is treated as having holed with that stroke and may pick up), the hole (at any time before it is completed, including before either player has played it) or the match (at any time before the result is decided).

• A concession is made only when it is clearly communicated, by words or by an action that clearly shows the intent, such as a gesture.
• Once made, a concession is final: it cannot be declined by the opponent and cannot be withdrawn.
• Players may not agree to concede holes to each other to shorten the match.

In practice, conceding short putts keeps the group moving and conceding a hole you have already made a mess of lets you pick up and walk to the next tee with the match still alive. A hole is also complete without holing out when its result is already decided, for example when the opponent has holed for a score you can no longer beat (Rule 6.5).

Rules that work differently in match play

• The general penalty is loss of hole. Where stroke play adds two strokes for a breach such as playing a wrong ball or grounding a club in a bunker, match play costs the hole (Rule 1.3c). A breach that carries one penalty stroke, such as an unplayable ball, is one stroke in both forms.
• Order of play has teeth. The side that wins a hole has the honour on the next tee; after a halved hole the honour stays where it was. After the tee shots, the ball farther from the hole is played first. A player who plays out of turn is not penalised, but the opponent may cancel the stroke, promptly and before either player plays again, and the stroke is replayed in the right order (Rule 6.4a).
• You must tell your opponent your score. When asked how many strokes you have taken, or when volunteering it, you must give the right number. A wrong number costs the hole unless it is corrected before the opponent plays again or, after the hole, before either player starts the next (Rule 3.2d).
• You must disclose penalties. A player who incurs a penalty must tell the opponent as soon as reasonably possible, and loses the hole for failing to do so unless the opponent already knew (Rule 3.2d).
• Both players must know the match score. A wrong score that is not corrected before either player starts the next hole becomes the actual score (Rule 3.2d). This is the rule that makes a shared running card worth keeping.
• Disputes are settled between the players. With no referee, the two sides may agree how to decide a rules issue and that outcome stands even if it was wrong, as long as they did not agree to ignore a Rule they knew applied. A request for a ruling must be made before either player starts the next hole, or before the result is final on the last hole, or the hole result stands. A player who is unsure of the procedure may not play two balls in match play (Rule 20.1b).
• Agreeing to waive a Rule disqualifies both. Players who agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies are disqualified (Rule 1.3b). Conceding a putt is fine; agreeing that a lost ball "doesn't count" is not.

Rules sources: Rule 3.2: Match Play (result of hole and match, concessions, handicaps, responsibilities), Rule 1.3 (general penalty, agreements to ignore Rules), Rule 6.4a and 6.5 (order of play, completing a hole) and Rule 20.1b (rules issues in match play), all from the R&A's Rules of Golf. The USGA match play topic covers the same Rules.

Handicaps in match play

Rule 3.2c says handicap strokes are given by hole and the lower net score wins the hole, so a stroke only helps on the hole it falls on. Players should declare their handicaps before the match; declaring one too high, if it affects the strokes given or received, is disqualification. In an extended match the strokes apply on the extra holes exactly as they did in the round.

How many strokes are given comes from the Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C:

• Singles: 100% of Course Handicap. The lower handicap plays off scratch and the other player receives the full difference on the holes with the lowest stroke index. An 8 playing a 20 gives 12 strokes, one on each of stroke index 1 to 12.
• Four-ball: 90% of Course Handicap. Course Handicaps of 8, 12, 18 and 24 become 7, 11, 16 and 22, so the strokes given are 0, 4, 9 and 15.
• Foursomes: 50% of the side's combined Course Handicaps, with the difference between the sides given as strokes.

The match play handicap calculator applies the right allowance for singles, four-ball, foursomes and greensomes and, if you enter the stroke index, lists the holes each player gets a stroke on. Decide the allowance before the first tee; Rule 3.2c requires the players to know the holes where they give or get strokes.

Formats and games built on match play

• Singles: one against one, the purest form and the one the Rules describe first.
• Four-ball (also called better ball): two pairs, everyone plays their own ball, the lower score on each side counts for the hole.
• Foursomes: two pairs, one ball per side, partners alternate strokes.
• Nassau: three match-play bets in one round, on the front nine, the back nine and the overall 18, with presses. Settle it with the Nassau calculator.
• Skins: not match play in the Rules sense, but a close cousin: each hole is worth a skin to the sole lowest score, and tied holes carry over. The skins calculator handles the carryovers and who pays whom.

Before any of them, agree the format, the stake, the handicap allowance and what happens on a tie. The golf betting games guide and the match play questions page cover the first-tee conversation.

Related guides

Read the scoring guide for the score language, the scorecard guide for what to track, and the dormie page for the moment a match tightens. The complete golf match-play format library covers every format on this site, and the questions page gives straight answers on strokes, presses, ties and settling up.

Common questions