Competition structures
Parful runs thisCuts
Also called Cut line, Making the cut, Top N and ties, 36-hole cut, Cut rule.
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.
- Where
- Events with 2 or more rounds
- Modes
- Top N plus ties, or manual selection
- Eligible
- Complete cards only; incomplete, DNF and WD are excluded
- After which round
- Any round except the last
- Multiple cuts
- A player must survive every prior cut to play a later round
- Applies to
- Players in individual formats, teams in team formats
How a cut works
A cut is the line drawn through a leaderboard after a round. Everyone above it plays on; everyone below it has finished. The 36-hole cut at a professional event is the familiar one: after two rounds the top 65 and ties play the weekend. A club or charity event uses the same idea to bring a big first-day field down to a final-day field the course can hold.
The rule is stated as top N plus ties. Find the Nth position on the leaderboard and let everyone at or above it through, including every player tied at that position. So a top-6 cut with two players tied for sixth lets seven through. Positions are the leaderboard's own positions, ranked on the format's axis, which means the cut respects gross, net or Stableford as the event scores it.
Who is eligible
Only a complete card can make a cut. A player who has not finished the round, who did not finish, or who withdrew is excluded from the calculation and listed as excluded rather than eliminated, and the admin can see why. If fewer complete cards exist than N, everyone with a complete card advances and the admin is warned.
The cut applies to whatever unit the format ranks. In an individual format it is the player; in a scramble, four-ball or other team format it is the team, identified by its team and the registrations that make it up.
Where a cut can fall
Cuts need at least two rounds and a cut can follow any round except the last, because there is nothing to play after a final-round cut. An event can carry more than one cut, after round 1 and after round 2 of a three-round event for instance, with one rule per round. The field for a later round is the intersection: a player must have advanced through every prior cut to be eligible, so surviving the first cut and missing the second is the end.
A manual cut has no automatic line. The admin sees every complete card as a candidate and selects who advances, which is how a club with an invitation-only final day or a cut by category runs it.
How Parful runs it
Cuts are an Events feature for multi-round events. The organizer enables cuts, sets a rule per round with a mode and an N, and Parful validates the configuration: at least two rounds, no cut after the final round, no duplicate rule for one round, a positive whole number for N. After the round is scored the organizer previews the cut. The preview lists who advances, who is eliminated, who is tied at the line, who is excluded and why, and the score at the line.
Applying the cut records a snapshot on the event: the position and score at the line, the advancing and eliminated IDs, the counts and the warnings, who applied it and when. The next round's registrations, groups and leaderboard use only the advancing IDs. A cut can be undone and reapplied if a late card changes the picture. Cuts are not offered on club competitions.
Worked example
A worked example: a top-6 cut after round 1 of a two-round net event
Ten players. Net stroke play, ranked lowest first with tied positions. The rule is top 6 plus ties. Meg withdrew after nine holes and has no complete card.
| Position | Player | Round 1 net | Status | Cut result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ana | 70 | Complete | Advances |
| 2 | Ben | 71 | Complete | Advances |
| T3 | Cal | 72 | Complete | Advances |
| T3 | Dee | 72 | Complete | Advances |
| 5 | Eve | 73 | Complete | Advances |
| T6 | Fay | 74 | Complete | Advances (tied at the line) |
| T6 | Gil | 74 | Complete | Advances (tied at the line) |
| 8 | Hal | 75 | Complete | Eliminated |
| 9 | Ivy | 76 | Complete | Eliminated |
| None | Meg | No card | Withdrawn | Excluded from the cut |
- Round 2 is played by seven players. If the event carried a second cut, only these seven would be candidates for it.
- Had only five cards been complete, all five would advance and the organizer would see a warning that the field was smaller than N.
Common variants
- Top N without ties
- Exactly N advance, with ties at the line settled by countback or a playoff. Parful advances every player tied at the line; a committee that wants exactly N uses a manual cut.
- Cut to a score
- Everyone within 10 strokes of the leader plays on, as some professional tours once did. Parful cuts by position, not by score; the organizer can reproduce it with a manual cut.
- Cut per flight
- The top N in each flight advance. Parful applies one cut across the leaderboard; per-flight cuts are done manually.
- Secondary cut
- A second line after the third round of a four-round event. Parful supports a cut rule after any round except the last, so a 54-hole cut in a 72-hole event is an ordinary second rule.