Competition formats
Parful runs thisMatch play (singles)
Also called Singles match play, Head-to-head match play, Matchplay.
Singles match play is one player against one opponent, hole by hole: the lower score on a hole wins it, an equal score halves it, and the player who is more holes up than there are holes left wins the match. Strokes are given on the difference between the two handicaps, placed by stroke index.
- Played as
- Two players, one match, own ball
- Per hole
- Lower net score wins the hole; equal halves it
- Match over
- When one player leads by more holes than remain
- Strokes
- The difference between the two Course Handicaps, on stroke index 1 upward
- Result
- Written as 3 and 2, 1 up, or AS for a halved match
- Runs on
- Club knockouts and brackets, events, casual games on outings
How match play works
The unit of match play is the hole, not the stroke. On each hole the two players compare net scores: the lower score wins the hole and goes one up, an equal score halves the hole and the match stands where it was. A 4 beats a 5 by exactly as much as a 4 beats a 9. The player who has won more holes leads, and the score is spoken as holes up: 2 up, all square, 1 down.
The match ends the moment one player leads by more holes than there are left to play, because the trailing player can no longer catch up. A player 3 up with 2 holes to play has won 3 and 2. When the lead equals the holes left the leader is dormie: one more win or half finishes it, and the trailing player must win every remaining hole to halve the match. If the eighteenth is reached all square and the competition needs a winner, the players go to the nineteenth and play sudden death until a hole is won.
Strokes on the difference
In a handicap match the lower-handicap player plays off scratch and the higher-handicap player receives the difference between the two Course Handicaps, at 100%. Ana off 8 against Ben off 15 is a difference of 7, so Ben receives one stroke on each of the seven hardest holes, stroke index 1 to 7, and nothing anywhere else. A difference of 20 gives a stroke on every hole and a second stroke on stroke index 1 and 2.
The allowance for singles match play is locked at 100% on Parful, following the World Handicap System™ recommendation. There is no 95% option, because the difference is what makes the match fair and trimming it favors the better player. A gross match is set as gross and no strokes are given regardless of what either player carries.
Reading the result
A result is written as the margin and the holes remaining. 3 and 2 means the winner was 3 up with 2 holes left, so the match ended on the sixteenth. 1 up means the match went to the eighteenth and was won by one hole. AS, or all square, is a halved match. A match that went to extra holes is recorded by the hole it finished on: won at the nineteenth. A player can concede a stroke, a hole or the match at any time, and a concession stands once made.
How Parful runs it
Singles match play runs in club knockouts and brackets, in cup sessions, on events and as a casual game between two players on an outing. The scorecard takes both players' Course Handicaps, works out the difference and places the strokes by stroke index, then walks the holes in order: each hole is won, lost or halved on net score as soon as both scores are in, and the status reads 2 up, AS or dormie as the match goes. A hole where one player has picked up is lost to the other, or halved if both picked up.
The match closes itself the moment the lead exceeds the holes remaining and the result is written as 3 and 2, 1 up or AS. At dormie the default is to play on; a competition can end the match there instead. A halved bracket match is settled the way the competition rules say, sudden death from the nineteenth, a replay or a recorded decision, and concessions and walkovers are recorded on the fixture.
Worked example
A worked example: Ana (8) against Ben (15), won 3 and 2
Ana has a Course Handicap™ of 8 and Ben 15. The difference is 7, so Ben receives one stroke on stroke index 1 to 7 and Ana plays off scratch. Net scores decide every hole.
| Hole | Par | Stroke index | Ana gross | Ben gross | Ben stroke | Ben net | Hole | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | Halved | AS |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | Halved | AS |
| 3 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Ana | Ana 1 up |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | Ben | AS |
| 5 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Ana | Ana 1 up |
| 6 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Halved | Ana 1 up |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | Halved | Ana 1 up |
| 8 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Halved | Ana 1 up |
| 9 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Ben | AS |
| 10 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Ana | Ana 1 up |
| 11 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Ben | AS |
| 12 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Ana | Ana 1 up |
| 13 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | Halved | Ana 1 up |
| 14 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Ana | Ana 2 up |
| 15 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 | Ana | Ana 3 up, dormie |
| 16 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Halved | Ana wins 3 and 2 |
- Ben's seven strokes fell on holes 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 13 and 15. Two of them turned a gross loss into a half and two turned a gross half into a win.
- Holes 17 and 18 were never played. In stroke play Ana would have been 7 strokes better on the day; in match play the margin is three holes.
Common variants
- Four-ball match play
- Two against two, each side counting its better ball on every hole, with strokes at 90% of Course Handicap relative to the lowest player in the match. Parful runs it as its own format.
- Foursomes match play
- Two against two with one ball per side, played alternately, and a combined side handicap. Parful runs it as its own format in cups and brackets.
- Ends at dormie
- Some club knockouts stop a match at dormie when the halved result is not needed, saving a hole or two on a busy course. Parful plays on by default and a competition can be set to end the match at dormie.