- Games
- Match play and the cup
Match play, and the Ryder Cup format for a golf trip
In match play you win holes, not strokes: the side that wins more holes wins the match. Split a trip into two teams, play a session of matches each day, and you have a Ryder Cup-style cup, the format that suits a trip of eight, twelve or sixteen best.
Free for a single round. Players never sign up.
Match play rules. Holes won, not strokes counted.
Each hole is won by the lower score, or halved. A 9 loses the hole the same as a 5 does, and then it's forgotten. The match is described by how many holes one side is up, and it ends as soon as one side is up by more holes than are left.
That's where the scores come from: 3&2 means 3 up with 2 to play, the match over on the 16th green. 1 up means it went the distance. Dormie is being up by exactly the holes left: the leader can't lose, only be caught to a half.
- Agree the strokes. The lower handicap plays at scratch; the other gets the difference, on the hardest holes by stroke index.
- Play each hole. Lower net score wins it; equal scores halve it.
- Keep the standing as up, down or all square, not as a stroke total.
- Concede when it's sensible. A putt, a hole or the match can be conceded, and a concession can't be taken back.
- Close it out. When one side is up more than the holes left, the match is won: 4&3, 2&1. Level after 18 is a halved match, unless you play extra holes.
A singles match, closed out 3&2.
Ray (course handicap 12) plays Mike (16). Mike gets the difference, 4 strokes, on stroke index 1 to 4. On this card the even indexes are on the back nine, so two of his strokes fall on the 11th and 13th. Ray is 1 up after nine.
| Hole | Par | SI | Ray | Mike | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| After 9 | Ray 1 up | ||||
| 10 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 | Ray 2 up |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 net 3 | Ray 2 up |
| 12 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 4 | Ray 1 up |
| 13 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 net 5 | Ray 1 up |
| 14 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 5 | Ray 2 up |
| 15 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 5 | Ray 3 up dormie |
| 16 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 3 | Ray 3&2 |
The Ryder Cup format. Two teams, a session a day.
The trip splits into two teams for the whole trip, usually picked by two captains or split by handicap so they come out even. Each round is a session of matches in one format, every match worth a point, a halved match half a point each.
The cup goes to the first team past half the points. On a tie, the team that holds the cup keeps it. The last day is singles, so everyone plays a match that counts.
Eight players, three days, eight points.
Red plays Blue, four a side, and Blue holds the cup from last year. Day one is two fourball matches, day two two foursomes, day three four singles: 8 points in all. Red needs 4½ to win it; Blue needs 4 to keep it.
| Session | Results | Red | Blue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fourball 2 matches | Red 2&1, halved | 1½ | ½ |
| Foursomes 2 matches | Blue 3&2, Blue 1 up | 0 | 2 |
| Singles 4 matches | Red, Red, Blue, halved | 2½ | 1½ |
| Total | 4 | 4 |
Handicaps. Off the low man in every match.
Singles: the difference between the two course handicaps, 100%. Fourball: the World Handicap System recommends 90% of each player's course handicap, then everyone plays off the lowest of the four. Foursomes: 50% of each side's combined handicap, and the side with more gets the difference.
In the fourball, with Ray 12, Mike 16, Dale 6 and Tom 18 at 90%: 11, 14, 5 and 16. Dale plays at scratch; Ray gets 6, Mike 9, Tom 11.
Some trips skip the low man and give everyone their full playing handicap. In match play that changes which holes the strokes fall on, not just how many.
Settling the money. A trophy, a team stake, or both.
Plenty of cups are played for the trophy alone. Where there's money, the simple way is a team stake: $50 a man, and each player on the losing team pays one on the winning team. Agree before the first tee whether a retained cup pays anything; on a tie like the example's, a push is the usual answer.
The other way is to put the money on the matches underneath: a $10 Nassau inside each fourball, or $20 a singles match. Then the cup is pride and the matches settle themselves.
In Live Links Golf. Every match scored off the card.
Matches are worked out from the scores the group enters: nobody reports a result. A trip turns the cup on in its settings, and the board opens on Red against Blue.
Match play, asked on the first tee.
What does dormie mean in golf?
Being up in a match by exactly the number of holes left to play, such as 2 up with 2 to play. The leader can't lose, but can still be caught to a halved match.
What does 3&2 mean?
The winner was 3 holes up with only 2 left to play, so the match ended on the 16th green.
How do handicap strokes work in match play?
The lower handicap plays at scratch and the other player gets the difference, one stroke a hole on the hardest holes by stroke index. In fourball each player's handicap is usually taken at 90% first.
How do you run a Ryder Cup format on a golf trip?
Split the group into two even teams, play a session of matches each round (fourball, foursomes or scramble, then singles on the last day), score a point a match and half for a halve, and give the cup to the first team past half the points.
Who keeps the cup on a tie?
The team that holds it, as in the Ryder Cup. The holder needs exactly half the points to retain it; the challenger needs half a point more.