Competition structures
Parful runs thisThird-place match
Also called Third place playoff, Bronze match, Consolation final, Third and fourth playoff.
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.
- Who plays
- The two semi-final losers
- Decides
- Third and fourth place
- Bracket type
- Single elimination only
- Minimum draw
- 4 slots, so that there are two semi-finals
- Without it
- Both semi-final losers share third
- Double elimination
- Not offered; the losers final already places third
How a third-place match works
A single elimination knockout produces a champion and a runner-up and then stops. The two players beaten in the semi-finals have identical records: each won every match until the last four and each lost once. If the club gives a prize for third, or seeds next year's draw from this year's placings, those two need separating. A third-place match is the honest way to do it. The semi-final losers play one match; the winner is third, the loser fourth.
The match has no bearing on the final. It is usually played on the same day as the final, immediately before it so the course is clear, or in the same week for a self-scheduled knockout. Some clubs call it the bronze match or the consolation final.
When to include one
Include a third-place match when third carries something: a prize, a trophy placing, a points award into the season standings, or a seeding for a future draw. Leave it out when it does not. Players who have just lost a semi-final are not always keen on another 18 holes for a placing nobody remembers, and a third-place match that ends in a walkover decides nothing that sharing third would not have.
In a double elimination bracket the question never arises. The losers bracket final is played between the last two survivors of the second-chance bracket, and its loser is third by construction. Parful does not offer a third-place match on a double elimination competition for that reason.
Format, handicaps and ties
The third-place match uses the same format and handicap rules as every other match in the bracket: singles, four-ball or foursomes at the allowance the competition froze. A halved match after 18 holes is settled the way the competition's halved-match rule says, on extra holes or by the committee; the bracket needs a winner to fill the placing.
If one semi-final loser withdraws, the match is recorded as a walkover and the other player takes third. If both withdraw the admin voids the match and the two share third, which is the same result as not having scheduled it.
How Parful runs it
The third-place match is an option on a single elimination knockout. When it is on, Parful builds one extra match alongside the final and binds it to the two semi-finals: as each semi-final result is recorded, the loser drops into the third-place match automatically, in the same way that the winner advances to the final. The match is labeled as the third-place match, appears in the bracket view and the printable bracket next to the final, and scores from the group scorecard or by admin entry like any other fixture.
The option needs a draw of at least 4 so that there are exactly two semi-finals. It is unavailable when double elimination is on, because the losers final already produces the placing. Walkovers, concessions and voids apply to it exactly as they do to the rest of the bracket, and the placings it produces feed the competition podium.
Worked example
A worked example: an 8 draw with a third-place match
Eight players seeded by Course Handicap™. Match play singles at full handicap difference. The semi-final losers, Dee and Ben, meet in the third-place match played before the final.
| Match | Side A | Side B | Result | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter-final 1 | Ana (1) | Hal (8) | Ana 4 and 3 | Ana to semi-final 1 |
| Quarter-final 2 | Dee (4) | Eve (5) | Dee 2 and 1 | Dee to semi-final 1 |
| Quarter-final 3 | Ben (2) | Gil (7) | Ben 1 up | Ben to semi-final 2 |
| Quarter-final 4 | Cal (3) | Fay (6) | Cal 3 and 2 | Cal to semi-final 2 |
| Semi-final 1 | Ana | Dee | Ana 2 up | Ana to final, Dee to third-place match |
| Semi-final 2 | Ben | Cal | Cal 19th hole | Cal to final, Ben to third-place match |
| Third-place match | Dee | Ben | Ben 3 and 1 | Ben third, Dee fourth |
| Final | Ana | Cal | Ana 1 up | Ana champion, Cal runner-up |
- Semi-final 2 was halved after 18 and settled on the nineteenth, which is the competition's halved-match rule, not a bracket rule.
- Ben and Dee each won a quarter-final and lost a semi-final. The third-place match is the only thing that separates them; without it their records are identical.
Common variants
- Shared third
- No match; both semi-final losers are third. This is the default in most club knockouts and what Parful records when the option is off.
- Third place by countback or handicap
- Some committees place the semi-final losers by the margin of their defeat or by handicap. Parful does not rank semi-final losers by any such rule; it is a match or a shared placing.
- Losers final in double elimination
- Third is the loser of the losers bracket final. Parful runs this automatically in double elimination and offers no separate third-place match there.
- Full placing playoffs
- Every eliminated player plays on for an exact finishing position, as in some junior events. Parful does not build placing playoffs beyond third and fourth.