How does Parful work out the net score for each hole?

It scales every hole in a round by that round's net total divided by its gross total and rounds to the nearest whole number. A 90 gross for a 72 net has a ratio of 0.8, so a 5 becomes 4.

Is that the same as taking strokes by stroke index?

No. Stroke-index netting gives a whole stroke on the hardest holes; proportional scaling spreads the handicap across all eighteen. The two boards usually agree on the winner but not on every hole.

Why did a round not change my ringer card?

Either no scaled hole score was lower than the one already there, or the card was entered as a gross total without hole scores, which cannot contribute.

Does a ringer count only the best rounds?

No. Every counting round can improve the card and nothing is dropped, so the counting rounds setting does not apply.

Competition structures

Parful runs this

Ringer

Q: What is a ringer in golf?

A season-long competition where each player's best net score on every hole, from any counting round, is combined into one composite card. It is the handicap version of an eclectic.

Also called Ringer board, Net eclectic, Ringer competition.

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.

Basis: Best net score on each hole across all counting rounds
Direction: Lowest composite total wins
Net method: Each hole scaled by the round's net divided by gross, then rounded
Needs: Hole-by-hole scores with a gross and a net total
Counting rounds: Every round contributes; no best-N cap
Gross version: See Eclectic

How a ringer works

A ringer is an eclectic for handicap golfers. Each hole on the composite card holds the best net score the player has posted there in any counting round, and the eighteen bests are added together at the end of the season. A 24-handicapper and a 4-handicapper can compete on the same board because every hole is compared after handicap.

The traditional way to net a hole is by stroke index: a player with a Course Handicap™ of 12 takes one stroke on the twelve hardest holes, so a 5 on stroke index 3 becomes a net 4 while a 5 on stroke index 15 stays a 5. That is how a Stableford score is built.

Clubs that keep a ringer board by hand often simplify: they mark the best gross on each hole and take the handicap off at the end. That is really an eclectic with a deduction, and it favors nobody in particular, but it is not a hole-by-hole net competition.

How the net hole score is built

Parful does not allocate strokes by stroke index when it builds a ringer card. Instead it takes each round's gross and net totals and scales every hole in that round by the same ratio: net hole = gross hole multiplied by (round net divided by round gross), rounded to the nearest whole number. A player who shot 90 gross for a net 72 has a ratio of 0.8, so a 5 becomes 4 and a 6 becomes 4.8, which rounds to 5.

The scaling spreads the handicap evenly across all eighteen holes rather than putting a full stroke on the hardest ones. On a par-5 where the player took 8 the scaled score is 6.4, rounded to 6, which is a two-stroke reduction; on a par-3 where the player took 3 the scaled score is 2.4, rounded to 2. A club that wants strict stroke-index netting should know that the board will differ slightly from a hand-kept one.

The ratio is only applied when both totals are positive. A card entered as a gross total only carries no real hole scores and is skipped, exactly as in the eclectic.

How Parful runs it

A ringer on Parful is a standings table with the best-per-hole net method. Every counting outing with hole-by-hole cards feeds it. Each player's row shows the composite total, holes covered and rounds played, and opens into the composite net card and a per-round breakdown showing the scaled total of the holes each round scored.

Rows are ranked by composite total, lowest first, then by any listed tiebreakers, and equal totals share the position. Holes covered is shown beside the total and should be read with it, since a card with blank holes sums fewer numbers. The counting rounds setting does not apply because the composite already takes the best of every round.

Worked example

A worked example: one round scaled to net, six holes shown

Marco shoots 45 gross for the front nine with a net of 36 on the day (his full-round ratio is 72 divided by 90, which is 0.8). Each hole is multiplied by 0.8 and rounded. The ringer card then keeps the lower of this round and what was already there.

Hole	Par	Gross	Gross x 0.8	Net (rounded)	On the card before	Ringer after
1	4	5	4.0	4	5	4
2	3	3	2.4	2	3	2
3	5	8	6.4	6	6	6
4	4	6	4.8	5	4	4
5	4	4	3.2	3	4	3
6	3	4	3.2	3	3	3

Three holes improved (1, 2 and 5), two stayed the same (3 and 6, where the new net equaled the old), and hole 4 kept its earlier 4 because the new net 5 was worse.

The ratio is the whole round's net over gross, not the front nine's, so a strong back nine lowers the front-nine net scores too.
Rounding is to the nearest whole number: 4.8 becomes 5, 6.4 becomes 6, 2.4 becomes 2.

Common variants

Stroke-index ringer: Net hole scores built by taking a full stroke on each hole where the handicap allows, in stroke index order. This is the hand-kept tradition. Parful uses the proportional scaling described above rather than stroke-index allocation.
Gross eclectic: The same competition without handicap. Available on Parful as the eclectic.
Ringer with a fixed handicap: Some clubs freeze each player's handicap for the whole ringer season so an improving player does not lose strokes mid-board. Parful uses the net total actually recorded on each round, which follows the handicap of the day.