What is stroke play?
Stroke play is golf in its purest form. You count every stroke you take across the whole round, and whoever has the lowest total wins. It is the same format most club competitions use and the one professional golf is built on. Simple to understand, but unforgiving — a single blow-up hole follows you all the way to the last green.
How to play stroke play
- Count every stroke on every hole, no exceptions.
- The sum across the round is your total.
- Lowest total wins. Everyone has put in a stake, and the winner takes the pot.
- A tie splits the pot between whoever is lowest.
Stroke play off handicap
In a mixed group, stroke play is played net. Your handicap strokes are allocated to the hardest holes according to the course's stroke index, and deducted from your gross total. That is how a 20-handicapper and an 8-handicapper can settle on equal terms. Without handicap it is straight gross strokes, so the lowest actual total wins.
Wager Golf adds the strokes up hole by hole, works out the net with the correct WHS strokes and shows who owes whom, even if you decide to finish early.
When does stroke play suit?
Stroke play suits a group that wants the purest, most competitive game, or one where everyone plays off a similar standard. It is also unforgiving: a single blow-up hole follows you all the way to the last green. If the standards vary widely, or you want to keep the pace up, Stableford is usually more fun for everyone.
Common mistakes
- Chasing a bad hole straight away. In stroke play every extra stroke costs, and the desperation after a double bogey often leads straight into the next one. Play the hole in front of you.
- Forgetting the handicap. Without it the lowest player wins nearly every time. Play net if the group varies in standard and you will have a contest.
