Competition formats
Parful runs this, with a caveatScramble match play
Also called Scramble match, Team scramble match play, Scramble knockout.
Scramble match play is team against team, hole by hole: each side of two to four players plays a scramble on one ball, and the lower net score wins the hole. Each side's team handicap comes from the scramble split of its players' Course Handicap™ figures, and the higher side receives the difference as strokes.
- Played as
- Side against side, 2 to 4 players a side, one ball and one card per side
- Team handicap
- The scramble split: two players 35% low plus 15% high, larger sides tiered
- Strokes
- The higher side receives the difference, by stroke index
- Hole result
- The lower team net wins the hole; equal nets halve it
- Level after 18
- Not resolved automatically; sudden death or a committee result
- Runs on
- Club cup sessions and scramble knockouts
How scramble match play works
Two sides meet. Each side plays a scramble on its own ball: every player hits, the side chooses the best ball, everyone plays from there, and the side records one score per hole. The two team scores are compared hole by hole on net; the lower wins the hole and equal scores halve it. The match ends when one side leads by more holes than remain, with the margin written as 3 and 2, 2 and 1 or 1 up.
Sides are usually the same size, two, three or four a side, but the format does not require it. It is common as a session in a team cup, where a club's two teams meet across singles, four-ball, foursomes and a scramble match, and as a knockout where scramble teams are drawn against each other in a bracket.
The team handicaps and the strokes
Each side's team handicap is the scramble handicap. For a side of two it is 35% of the lower Course Handicap plus 15% of the higher, rounded; larger sides use a tiered split of each player's Course Handicap, decided by the club, weighted toward the lowest. A side on 7 and 17 gets 2.45 plus 2.55, a team handicap of 5; a side on 12 and 26 gets 4.2 plus 3.9, which is 8.1, a team handicap of 8. The strokes are then taken on the difference: the higher side receives 3, on stroke index 1 to 3, and the lower side plays off scratch.
Because scramble handicaps are small, the differences are small too; most matches turn on one or two strokes and a lot of halved holes.
All square after eighteen
A scramble match that is level after eighteen holes is not decided by Parful. The match is held as all square with a tiebreak required, and the competition's tiebreak method, sudden death by default, says what happens next. The result is entered when the extra holes are played or the committee records a decision. Until then the cup session or the bracket cannot close. A half is not an available result for a scramble match; where a cup wants halves the committee records one by hand.
How Parful runs it
Choose Scramble match as a session format in a Parful Clubs team cup, or set a scramble competition's play type to a match play bracket. Each side scores on its own team card, one number per hole; Parful builds the two team handicaps from the players' Course Handicaps, takes the difference, places the strokes by stroke index and derives the match state as the cards fill in. Holes both sides have not yet scored are skipped rather than counted, so a match in progress reads correctly.
Scramble match play is a Parful Clubs format and is not offered on Events. Team cards carry no individual scores, so side games that read a player's own ball are unavailable; a Custom bet is the one side game the sides can carry. Nothing from the match is posted to a handicap record.
Worked example
A worked example: two sides of two, front nine
Side A, Gus and Hana, play off Course Handicaps of 7 and 17: 35% of 7 is 2.45, 15% of 17 is 2.55, team handicap 5. Side B, Ike and Jo, play off 12 and 26: 4.2 plus 3.9 is 8.1, team handicap 8. The difference is 3, so Side B receives a stroke on stroke index 1 to 3, which on this front nine is holes 2 and 4.
| Hole | Par | Stroke index | Side A gross | Side B gross | Side B stroke | Side B net | Hole | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Halved | All square |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | Halved | All square |
| 3 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Side A | Side A 1 up |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Side B | All square |
| 5 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Side A | Side A 1 up |
| 6 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Halved | Side A 1 up |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Halved | Side A 1 up |
| 8 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Side B | All square |
| 9 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Side A | Side A 1 up |
- Side A plays off scratch for the match. Its own team handicap of 5 is only the baseline the difference is taken from.
- If the match is level after the eighteenth, Parful holds it as all square and waits for sudden death or a committee result before the session can close.
Common variants
- Scramble stroke play
- The same one-ball team game ranked against the field on net or gross. Parful runs it as the scramble format on clubs and events.
- Texas or Florida scramble match
- A scramble match with a minimum-drives rule or a step-aside rule. Parful does not distinguish them in match play; the sides keep the rule on honor.
- Four-ball match play
- Two against two with every player on their own ball and the better ball counting. Parful runs it on clubs, cups and events.