Competition formats
Parful runs thisFlorida scramble
Also called Step-aside scramble, Stand-aside scramble, Drop-out scramble.
A Florida scramble is a scramble in which the player whose shot was chosen sits out the next shot. The other players hit, the team chooses again, and the new chooser steps aside in turn. One ball per team, one card, and a team handicap built from each player's Course Handicap™.
- Played as
- One ball per team, one card per team
- The extra rule
- The player whose shot is used sits out the next shot
- Team handicap
- As scramble: two players 35% low plus 15% high, larger teams tiered
- Enforced by
- The team, on honor; the app records the score only
- Ties
- Countback on the team card
- Runs on
- Club competitions, events
How a Florida scramble works
Everyone tees off and the team picks the best drive, as in any scramble. Then the player who hit that drive steps aside. The remaining players play the second shot from the chosen spot, the team picks the best of those, and the player who hit it steps aside for the third shot while the player who sat out the second rejoins. On the green the same rule applies: whoever hit the chosen approach does not putt first.
Only one player sits out at a time. A player sits out a single shot, the one immediately after their own was chosen, and is back in for the shot after that. In a team of four, three players hit every shot after the drive; in a team of three, two do.
Why teams play it
A standard scramble can be won by one player. If the best golfer's drive, approach and putt are chosen on every hole, the other three are passengers. The step-aside rule breaks that chain: the moment the strong player's shot is used, the next shot has to come from someone else. Every player's game is in the result on every hole, which is why charity days with mixed abilities like the format.
It also rewards a team that knows its players. The team wants its best putter available on the green, so it may deliberately pass over that player's approach for one nearly as good, and it wants its longest driver back in for the second shot on a par five.
Team handicap and ties
The team handicap is the scramble handicap. For a team of two it is 35% of the lower Course Handicap plus 15% of the higher, rounded to a whole number; larger teams use a tiered split of each player's Course Handicap, decided by the club. Strokes fall by stroke index, the team net is gross minus strokes, and ties go to countback on the team card, back nine first.
How Parful runs it
Choose Florida scramble when you set up a club competition or an event round. Parful builds the team handicap from the players' Course Handicaps, designates the tee with the lowest Course Rating™ among the team's tees, places the strokes and gives the team one card. The scorer enters one score per hole and the leaderboard ranks gross and net with countback.
The step-aside rule is an honor rule. Parful does not record whose shot was chosen on each stroke and does not enforce who sat out; the team keeps to it as it would on paper. Side games that read a player's own ball are unavailable; a Custom bet is the one side game a Florida scramble team can carry. No score from the round is posted to a handicap record.
Worked example
A worked example: a two-player Florida scramble, front nine
Eve plays off a Course Handicap of 6 and Finn off 18. Team handicap: 35% of 6 is 2.1, 15% of 18 is 2.7, total 4.8, rounded to 5. The team receives a stroke on stroke index 1 to 5, which on this front nine is holes 2, 4 and 7. With two players, the one whose shot is chosen sits out and the partner plays the next shot alone.
| Hole | Par | Stroke index | Team stroke | Drive chosen | Second shot played by | Team gross | Team net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | Eve | Finn alone | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | Finn | Eve alone | 5 | 4 |
| 3 | 3 | 17 | 0 | Eve | Finn putts first | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Eve | Finn alone | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | 11 | 0 | Finn | Eve alone | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 3 | 15 | 0 | Finn | Eve putts first | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | Eve | Finn alone | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | 4 | 9 | 0 | Eve | Finn alone | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | 4 | 13 | 0 | Finn | Eve alone | 4 | 4 |
- In a team of four the step-aside rule leaves three players hitting each shot after the drive, so the team still has choices. A pair is the sharpest version: choose a shot and your partner plays the next one solo.
- Parful records the hole scores and the team handicap. Who sat out is kept by the team.
Common variants
- Step aside on the green only
- Some clubs apply the rule only to putts: the player whose approach was chosen does not putt. Scoring is identical.
- Sit out until chosen again
- A harsher rule in which a player stays out until another player's shot is chosen. Parful does not distinguish it; the team keeps whichever rule the committee sets.
- Texas scramble
- The other common restriction, a minimum number of drives per player. Parful runs it as its own format.