Match Play Golf: Road to Rivals

If you’re a new or casual golf fan, you may have stumbled upon a broadcast showing head-to-head golf and feel confused because you don't see the usual individual score-style tournaments that are most often on TV.

Match play is one of the most fun, and my favorite, style of golf to play and watch. I will be describing what it is, how the scoring works, and the different variations along with some strategy tips.

Key Takeaways

• Match play golf is a head-to-head competition (one-on-one or teams) where you score on a hole-by-hole basis. 

• The lower score on each hole is awarded 1 point. No points are awarded on a hole if it is tied.

• A player, or team, with more points after 18 holes wins. 

• The match can finish earlier if a player or team has more points than holes remaining for their opponent to catch up.

What is Match Play Golf?

It is when you are matched up against competition on a hole-by-hole basis. The idea is to win more holes than your competition (obviously), which differs from the usual golf we see on TV, which involves individuals playing as best they can to have their overall score be the lowest.

Match play also doesn’t have to be one-on-one, with two people squaring off in that hole-by-hole competition. It can also be played in a team format (think 2 on 2 in basketball), where teams of two match up against another two-player team. This is a bit different from scramble golf, where you play in teams of 2 to 4 but are all on the same team.

Ideally, if you are playing team match play, you want one player who knows how to hit a driver with consistency, and the other to have a great short game and knows how to putt better.

Well, what is truly ideal is if both players have well-rounded skill sets, but I love the way match play can bring out a different strategy at certain times, aside from just trying to always shoot as few strokes as possible during the round. We will get into that further down this article.

Match play can also be on any golf course, whether regular parkland-style or links golf courses.

Match Play Scoring

The scoring can be more exciting in match play; I think so whenever I watch great tournaments.

Here's a basic breakdown of match play scoring:

• Win a hole: 1 point

• Lose a hole: 0 points

• Halve a hole: no points awarded

The intention is to play the full 18 holes, and the player or team with the most points wins the match. If it is tied after 18 holes, it is called "all square." 

If it is a tournament format where there needs to be a winner, you would then proceed to playoff holes and play until somebody wins (note: there could be other local tournament rules for playoff format). 

If any player has more holes ahead than remaining holes to play, they are considered the winner. More clearly, I've won the match if I'm 3 up with 2 holes to play. There are no more holes left for my opponent to catch up. The final score would be 3 and 2. 

The match can end earlier than that, as well. If you lose the first 9 holes and halve the 10th hole, you would still lose the match because your opponent is “9 up” with only 8 holes left. 

Match Play Rules

Order of Play

The order of play in match play golf differs slightly from stroke play. I and the golfers I play with like to play ready golf, which means whoever is ready to hit can go ahead and tee off (or take other shots around the course).

I'm expected to play when ready rather than strictly following a determined order (like alternate shot match play). The player who wins a hole goes first on the next hole. If the prior hole was halved, the order would be the same as in that hole.

Concessions and Conceding

During match play, a player can concede a hole to their opponent, and they win that hole. This is usually done if one player is not playing well on a hole, and the chances of winning the hole are essentially zero.

An example is if you hit a ball into the water on a par 3 tee shot, and your opponent hits it to within 2 inches of the hole on their tee shot, you will probably say, “screw it,” they have a tap-in birdie, and you are already playing your third shot.

Just note that once you say you concede the hole, it is FINAL and cannot be revoked. So if you miscount a few strokes and after you concede, you realize you have a decent chance on that hole, you’re out of luck. 

Match Play Formats

Singles Match Play: One-on-one to win the most holes. This format is often seen in individual competitions like the WGC Match Play.

Unfortunately, this WGC event ended in 2023, which is a shame because it was one of my favorites.

Foursomes: Two pairs (teams) against each other. Each team shares one ball and alternates shots. Scoring is the same, where the lowest score for a team on the hole wins it. Foursomes can be seen in the Ryder Cup.

Fourball/Best Ball Golf: Each player on the two-player teams plays their own ball. The best individual score for each team determines the hole winner. This format often goes by the term "best ball".

This format can be entertaining because, since you're playing your ball, if your teammate has a good tee shot in the fairway, you can take a big rip at yours and try to hit it as far as possible, knowing the team is in a decent position already with one ball.

Match Play Strategy

The cool thing about match play is that you can use a few different strategies than you would when playing regular stroke play. 

In regular stroke play, you are focused on yourself 100% of the time, trying to score as low as possible on all the combined holes.

In match play, you must also consider your opponent and what they are doing. So, if they hit a drive into trouble and you are hitting after them, you can decide to play it safer and hit a long iron or fairway wood (something you might control better than your driver) to give yourself an advantage on the hole with a better second shot lie. 

Another strategy to implement is to be more aggressive on the greens. If you are putting for birdie to win the hole and your opponent is already in for par, I would be more aggressive on my birdie putt to try to make it instead of just lagging up to the hole to get par. 

My last strategy tip, and I am sure there are more but these are good ones to keep in mind, is if you are leading by a few holes and are playing the back 9. This will put a lot more pressure on your competition than you, so try to dial down the aggression a bit and play smart golf. 

Hopefully, your competition will start being overly aggressive out of desperation while you play the percentages and manage the course appropriately to cruise into a win as they run out of holes to catch you.

Conclusion

Match play is my favorite golf format because it adds to the competition, especially when you are playing it with a good group of golf buddies. 

If you’ve never tried it, do so next time. You will have a blast. 

Back to more Tips and Guides

Related Posts

1. How to Clean Golf Clubs: Scrub Away the Bogies

2. How Many Clubs in a Golf Bag: The Official Limit

3. Golf Swing Tempo: Get in the Groove

4. Skins Game in Golf: Show Me the Money