How golf competitions are built and settled

A cut reduces the field of a multi-round competition after a round: the top N positions and everyone tied with the Nth advance, and the rest are out. Only players with a complete card are eligible, the cut cannot fall after the final round, and later rounds admit only players who survived every earlier cut.

Also called Cut line, Making the cut, Top N and ties.

Double elimination is a bracket in which a player is out only after two defeats. A first loss drops the player into a losers bracket that runs alongside the winners bracket; the two champions meet in a grand final, and if the losers champion wins it the bracket resets for one deciding match.

Also called Double-elimination bracket, Losers bracket, Second-chance bracket.

Flights, also called divisions, split a competition field into handicap groups that each compete for their own prizes. A championship flight takes the lowest handicaps, then an A flight, a B flight and so on, so a 20 handicap plays against 20 handicaps rather than the club champion.

Also called Handicap divisions, Flighted competition, Championship flight.

A group stage competition splits the field into pools of at least three, plays a round robin in each pool, and advances the top one or two from every group into a seeded knockout. Group winners are seeded first (A1, B1, C1, D1) and runners-up after them (A2, B2, C2, D2).

Also called Pool play, Group stage and knockout, Pools into a bracket.

Interclub golf is a match between teams representing two or more clubs, usually played in match play over home and away legs, with the results feeding a league or a knockout run by a district or regional golf body. Parful explains the concept here and does not run interclub competitions.

Also called Inter-club match, Club versus club, Interclub league.

A knockout is a match play bracket in which a player or team is eliminated by one defeat. Seeds are placed so that seed 1 meets seed 16 and seed 8 meets seed 9 in a 16 draw, the winners advance round by round, and the last unbeaten side wins the final.

Also called Single elimination, Knockout bracket, Matchplay knockout.

A multi-round competition is decided on the total of two or more rounds. Each round is scored on its own frozen rules, the totals are added on the format's axis (net strokes, gross strokes or Stableford points), and a tie on the total is settled by countback on the final round only.

Also called Multi-round aggregate, Two-round competition, 36-hole competition.

A qualifier bracket handles a knockout field that is not a power of two by playing a preliminary round for some of the main draw slots. Direct entries plus qualifier winners plus any byes equal the main bracket size, so a 12-player field becomes 4 direct entries and 4 qualifier matches feeding an 8 draw.

Also called Preliminary round, Play-in round, Qualifying round.

A round robin is a match play competition in which every player or team plays every other once and the standings are ranked on points, 3 for a win and 1 for a draw. Ties on points are broken head to head, then on net difference across recorded results.

Also called Round-robin league, League table, All-play-all.

A single-round competition is decided on one round of golf. Every player is ranked on the axis the format uses (gross strokes, net strokes, Stableford points, quota margin or skins), ties are settled by countback, and the champion and runner-up are the first two prize-eligible positions.

Also called One-day competition, Monthly medal, Single-day tournament.

A team cup in the Ryder Cup® style is a match play contest between two teams played over sessions of singles, four-ball, foursomes, greensomes, chapman or scramble matches. Each match is worth 1 point to the winner or a half to each side, and a team wins the cup by reaching more than half the points available.

Also called Ryder Cup® format, Team match play weekend, Club Ryder Cup.

A third-place match is an extra fixture in a single elimination knockout in which the two semi-final losers play each other to decide third and fourth place. Without it, both semi-final losers share third.

Also called Third place playoff, Bronze match, Consolation final.

Counting rounds, or best N of M, is the rule that a season standings keeps only each player's best N results out of the M outings played. The dropped rounds stay on the player's ledger marked as not counted; for aggregates the lowest N totals count and for points and Stableford standings the highest N count.

Also called Best N of M, Counting rounds, Best 8 of 12.

An eclectic is a season-long competition in which each player's best gross score on every hole, taken from any counting round, is combined into one composite scorecard. The composite total is the player's eclectic score and the lowest total wins.

Also called Eclectic competition, Gross eclectic, Best-ball-of-the-season.

A gross aggregate is a season standings that adds each player's gross stroke play totals across the counting rounds and ranks the lowest sum first. It uses the same ordering as the net aggregate: rounds counted first, then total, so a player short of the full set never outranks a player who completed it.

Also called Gross aggregate standings, Scratch aggregate, Season gross aggregate.

A net aggregate is a season standings that adds each player's net stroke play totals across the counting rounds and ranks the lowest sum first. Players are ordered by rounds counted before total, so a player with one round never outranks a player with three, and a missing round contributes nothing.

Also called Net aggregate standings, Season net aggregate, Multi-round net.

An order of merit is a season-long points standings: every counting outing awards placement points from a table (100 for first, 80 for second, and so on), plus optional participation and skill-prize points, and the player with the most points across the counting rounds wins the season.

Also called Order of Merit, Points race, Season points standings.

A ringer is the net form of an eclectic: across a season each player's best net score on every hole, from any counting round, is combined into one composite card, and the lowest composite total wins. On Parful each round's holes are scaled to net by the round's net-to-gross ratio before the best hole is chosen.

Also called Ringer board, Net eclectic, Ringer competition.

A Stableford league is a season standings that adds up each player's Stableford points across the counting outings, usually keeping only the best N rounds, and ranks the highest total first. Every round is worth its points, not its finishing position.

Also called Stableford points league, Season Stableford, Stableford standings.

Countback settles a tied stroke play or Stableford competition without a playoff: compare the tied players over the back nine, then the last six holes, then the last three, then the eighteenth. The first stretch that separates them decides it.

Also called Count back, Back nine tiebreak, Scorecard playoff.

A dead heat is a tie for a prize that no tiebreak has broken. The prize is then split between the tied players, paid in full to each, or decided by the committee. A related question is whether one player can take more than one prize in a day: on Parful club outings they can by default.

Also called Dead heat, Prize split, Tied prize.

A halved match in a knockout bracket is a match that finished all square, and a knockout cannot advance a tie: one side must go through. Parful never resolves a halved bracket match automatically; the admin records how it was settled (countback, sudden death, scorecard playoff, committee decision or other) and the match blocks advancement until then.

Also called Halved match, All square knockout, Tied match.

Head-to-head is the tiebreak used in round robin and group tables: when two sides finish level on points, the winner of the match between them ranks above, then net difference (points for minus points against) separates them, and a name sort orders the display only if still level.

Also called Head to head tiebreak, H2H, Direct result tiebreak.

A shared position is what a leaderboard shows when two or more players finish level and no tiebreak separates them: they take the same rank and the next player takes the position after the gap, so two players tied for first are followed by third (1, 1, 3). Parful shares rather than inventing an order.

Also called Shared position, Tied position, Joint position.

Sudden death is a playoff in which tied players keep playing extra holes and the first hole won outright decides it. In match play the match continues from the 19th until someone wins a hole; in stroke play it is the playoff used when a title should be decided on the course rather than by countback.

Also called Sudden-death playoff, Extra holes, Playoff holes.

A competition's awards are the champion, runner-up and third place taken from the prize positions on the leaderboard, plus a best net award when the competition is ranked on something other than net. Prize positions skip players who are not eligible for prizes and let tied players share, so the awards can differ from the raw finishing order.

Also called Champion and runner-up, Podium, Prize positions.

In a team cup in the Ryder Cup® style each side has a captain who names the lineup for every session: which players go out in which match. On Parful the captain and an assistant must be on the team, the lineup is editable until the session locks, and every pairing is checked against the roster before it is accepted.

Also called Team captain, Cup lineup, Pairings.

In match play a side may concede the opponent's next stroke, a hole or the whole match, and a concession cannot be withdrawn. On Parful a hole is conceded when every player on a side picks up, and a conceded match is recorded as conceded with the state at that moment, never as a made-up score.

Also called Conceded hole, Conceded match, Pickup in match play.

When a knockout match is all square after the last hole, the players go straight to extra holes, starting again at the first, and the first hole won decides the match. Handicap strokes are given on the same holes as in the round. A match won on the nineteenth is recorded as 1 up with one extra hole played.

Also called 19th hole, Sudden death match play, Playoff holes.

In match play every hole is won, halved or lost, and the score is the margin in holes: 2 up, all square, 1 down. A match is decided the moment the margin is greater than the holes remaining. When the margin equals the holes remaining the leader is dormie and cannot lose in regulation.

Also called Holes up, All square, Dormie.

A match play result is written as the margin and the holes remaining: 3&2 means the winner was three holes up with two holes left to play. A match that goes to the last hole is written 1 up or 2 up, and a match with no winner is AS, all square.

Also called 3&2, 1 up, All square.

In a knockout played over a season the two players arrange each match themselves before a play-by deadline. On Parful one player proposes an outing date, the other accepts, counters or declines, and the deadline reminds both at seven days and two days before it lapses. Deadlines nag; they never block scoring.

Also called Play by date, Match deadline, Arranging a knockout match.

A walkover awards a match to one side without play, usually because the other side withdrew or did not appear. A void removes the match from the competition so it counts for nothing. A bye advances a player who has nobody to play in that round. None of the three is a scored result.

Also called Walkover, W/O, Void match.