What is an interclub golf competition?

A team competition between clubs. Each club selects a side, the clubs play match play fixtures home and away, and the results build a league table or a knockout draw run by a regional golf body.

How is an interclub match scored?

By matches won, so a five-player singles team needs three wins, or by holes up across the matches where the conditions say so. Halves count half where allowed.

Who can play interclub?

Members of the club they represent, holding a handicap within the competition's limit, usually after a qualifying period of membership. Eligibility is set by the competition's conditions.

Does Parful run interclub competitions?

No. Interclub was retired from Parful on 2026-09-02. Clubs can use outings to host and score a home fixture and a team cup for internal team matches, but the club-versus-club competition is run by its governing body.

What is the difference between interclub and a team cup?

A team cup is one club's two internal sides playing each other. Interclub is a club's team playing another club's team, with the result recorded by a body outside both clubs.

Competition structures

Concept only

Interclub

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

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.

Sides: Teams representing two or more clubs
Usual format: Singles or foursomes match play, home and away
Structure: A league of clubs, or a regional knockout
Run by: A district, county or state body, or the clubs themselves
Handicaps: Often scratch, or capped by the competition conditions
On Parful: Retired 2026-09-02; concept only

What interclub golf is

Interclub is club against club. Each club picks a team, the teams meet on one club's course, and the individual matches add up to a club result. It is the amateur game's version of a league season: the Pennant competitions in Australia, the Barton Shield and Senior Cup in Ireland, the Scratch and Handicap League matches run by English county unions, the interclub series in New Zealand and the team matches run by state golf associations in the United States are all interclub golf.

The shape is nearly always match play. A five-player singles team wins if it takes three of the five matches; a foursomes team of four pairs wins with three of four, or two and a half where halves are allowed. Some competitions score holes up rather than matches won, so a 5 and 4 win counts more than a 1 up win. The conditions of each competition state which.

How an interclub season is structured

Most interclub competitions run as a league of clubs in a division, each club playing every other club home and away across the season, with points per match won and a table that decides promotion, relegation and a champion. Others run as a regional knockout: a draw of clubs, one leg per tie on a neutral or the home course, the winner through to the next round until a final at the district's host course.

A club fields more than one team where the competition allows, typically a scratch team of its lowest handicaps and a handicap team where players receive strokes up to a cap. Eligibility rules are strict: a player represents one club, must hold a Handicap Index® within the competition's limit, and usually must have been a member for a set period before the first match.

League: home and away fixtures, points per match or per tie, a table with promotion and relegation.
Knockout: a draw of clubs, one or two legs per tie, a final at a host course.
Scratch team: no strokes; the lowest handicaps at the club.
Handicap team: strokes given up to a cap, often three-quarters of the difference in singles.

How clubs run one by hand today

The governing body publishes the fixtures, the conditions and the deadline for each round. Each club's team captain selects the side, exchanges the order of play with the opposing captain before the match, and the matches go off in that order with the home club providing the course and, usually, the meal. Results are recorded on a match card signed by both captains and sent to the competition secretary, who updates the league table or the draw.

Inside each club the captain's work is selection and availability: who is in form, who can travel, who holds a handicap within the limit. Clubs keep a squad list, chase availability before each fixture, and record who played and won so selection for the next fixture is informed. Handicap strokes in a handicap match are worked from each player's Course Handicap™ on the tees played at the home club, at the allowance the conditions set.

What Parful does

Parful does not run interclub competitions. An earlier interclub feature was retired on 2026-09-02, and there is no interclub page, fixture, team or result in the product. A club can still use Parful for the pieces that belong to it: the members and handicaps that inform selection, an outing to host a home fixture and score the day, and a team cup or knockout for its own internal team matches. The club-versus-club record itself, the league table and the draw, stays with the body that runs the competition.

This page is a reference for the concept, kept so that a member searching the term finds an honest explanation and not an implied feature.

Common variants

Scratch interclub: No handicap strokes; the strongest players at each club. The usual form of the premier division in most district competitions.
Handicap interclub: Strokes given up to a cap, so a broader squad can represent the club. The allowance is set by the competition conditions, not by the clubs.
Foursomes interclub: Pairs playing alternate shot, common in cup competitions that want a full team on the course in fewer matches.
Mixed and senior interclub: Divisions by age or gender with their own fixtures and eligibility, run alongside the main competition by the same body.