Stroke (or Nett or Medal), Par Stableford, Foursomes, Four Ball (or Best Ball) are all described in the Rules of Golf.
Definition: FIXED SCORE = par for the hole (on score-card) PLUS handicap allowance.
Stroke: Record every stroke played on each hole. Lowest total wins.
Par: Record strokes played to a maximum of one over your fixed score. Record (+) if score is better than fixed score, record (0) if score equals fixed score or record (-) is score is worse than fixed score. Result is total of pluses and minuses. Highest score wins.
Foursomes: Two players play alternately from each tee AND alternately during the play of a hole. Score as for Stroke Play.
Four Ball (or Best Ball): Two players play as partners, the score on a hole being the best of two scores. Players must enter both names and both handicaps on their card. The score of each player should also be recorded for each hole.
Stable and International Stableford: (International Stableford is not in the Rules of Golf but is gaining acceptance).
| Score on Hole | Stableford Points | International Stableford Points |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed score plus 2 or more | 0 | -3 |
| Fixed score plus 1 stroke | 1 | -1 |
| Fixed score | 2 | 0 |
| One under fixed score | 3 | 2 |
| Two under fixed score | 4 | 5 |
| Three under fixed score | 5 | 8 |
The following forms of play provide some variety to the programme and are occasionally played.
Canadian Foursomes: Play as Foursomes except that both players tee off at each hole and afterwards continue with whichever ball they nominate. Handicap allowance is 50% of combined handicaps.
American Foursomes: Both players play tee shots at each hole, then play a second with their partners ball. One ball is then selected and then play proceeds as in foursomes with the owner of the ball selected then playing the third shot. Handicap allowance is 50% of combined handicaps. This event is often call ‘Pinehurst Foursomes’.
Greensomes: Both players play tee shots and second shots on each hole. One ball is then selected. The third shot is then played by the person whose ball was not selected. Handicap allowance is 50% of combined handicaps.
Ambrose: Played by a team of three to six players normally teams are of four players with at least one being a lady. All players tee off, the best shot is then selected and all players play from that spot for their second shot. Continue in this manner until the ball is holed out. Handicap allowance is the total handicaps and then divided by how many players are in the team. There other variations of ambrose that may be played.
Bisque Par: This is played against par, but with the allowable strokes taken wherever the player wishes, not at the holes set down on the card. Strokes taken must be decided upon when marking the card hole by hole, and not at the conclusion of the round. E.g. a player with six on a par five may use one of their strokes for half (0 on card), two for a win (+ on card) and none for a loss (- on card).
Eclectic: An individual stroke play game comprising a defined number of rounds. At the end of the series each of the competitors records his best score of the series at each hole.
Multiplication Stableford: Two players play as partners. The score on the hole is obtained by multiplying the two stableford results e.g. 2 x 2 = 4 or 2 x 0 = 0.
Australian Stableford: Players play stableford without handicap, then add 75% of their handicap to stableford points scored.
