What is match play?
Match play is golf between two players where every hole is its own small duel. You do not need to play well all round, you just need to win more holes than your opponent. A disaster on one hole costs you that hole, not the round. That makes match play nerve-racking and forgiving at the same time.
How to play match play
- The lowest score on the hole wins the hole and goes one up.
- An equal score halves the hole and the score stands still.
- Whoever leads by more holes than remain to be played has won the match.
- One stake covers the whole match. The winner takes the pot, the loser pays.
How the score works
The score is shown in holes, not strokes. You are 2 up, 1 down or all square. Once a player is more holes up than there are holes remaining, the match is over — even if the holes are not.
An example: you are 3 up after the 15th. Three holes remain. Your opponent can at best draw level, never go ahead. Win the 16th and you are 4 up with 2 to play, and the match is over 4&2.
Match play off handicap
In a mixed group, match play is played off handicap. The higher handicapper receives strokes on the hardest holes according to the course's stroke index, exactly as in ordinary handicap golf. Each hole is then decided on net score, and a close match becomes possible even between players a long way apart in standard.
Wager Golf keeps the score hole by hole, works out the net score with the correct WHS strokes and shows the moment the match is decided, for example 2&1.