Format
Parful runs thisShamble
Also called Shamble golf, Scramble off the tee, Best drive then own ball.
A shamble is a team format that starts as a scramble and finishes as best ball: every player drives, the team plays from the best drive, and each player then plays their own ball to the hole. Each player keeps their own strokes, and the team score on each hole is the best one or two net scores.
At a glance
- Played as
- One chosen drive, then own ball; individual scores feed one team result
- Team score per hole
- The best one or two net scores, set by the competition
- Strokes
- Each player's own, by stroke index
- Team size
- Pairs on club competitions, fours on events
- Ties
- Countback on the team result
- Runs on
- Club competitions, events
Recommended allowance: 85% of each player's Course Handicap™, each player keeping their own strokes
On this page8
How a shamble works
Every player tees off. The team walks to the drives, chooses the one it likes best, and every player drops within a club length of that spot, no nearer the hole. From there the scramble ends. Each player plays their own ball to the hole and writes down their own gross score. The team score for the hole is built from those individual scores: the single best net score in a pair, the best two net scores in a four, or whatever count the competition sets.
The format gives a charity field the forgiving tee shot of a scramble and the genuine golf of an own-ball round. A weak driver is never punished off the tee, but every player has to get a ball into the hole.
Strokes and the team score
Because each player finishes the hole with their own ball, each player keeps their own handicap strokes, placed by stroke index. The default share is 85% of each player's Course Handicap™. Club pairs shambles count the better net ball on each hole; events count the best two net scores of four by default, and the organizer can count one, two or three. The club or organizer sets the share when they set up the day.
The team net for the hole is the sum of the counted balls. Over eighteen holes a four counting the best two is compared against twice par, a pair counting one ball against par. Ties go to countback on the team result, back nine first.
What a shamble card can carry
A shamble card is an own-ball card from the second shot on. The per-player facts that side games read, putts, sand saves, penalty strokes and hole events, are real from that point, so fewest putts, Snake, greenies and the other putting games run on a shamble outing. What a shamble cannot provide is a player's own tee shot, so games that depend on the drive, fairways hit, long drive and Wolf, are unavailable.
How Parful runs it
Choose Shamble when you set up a club competition or an event round. On a club competition the pair's per-hole rule defaults to the best single ball and each player receives the share of Course Handicap the club sets. On an event the team is four players, each player has their own card and their own strokes, and the leaderboard ranks teams on the best two net scores per hole, with the count adjustable from one to three in the round's rules. Countback is applied on the team result.
Parful does not record whose drive was chosen; that is kept by the team. Because each player holes out with their own ball, own-ball facts after the drive are recorded and the putting games run; tee-shot games are unavailable. Individual scores from a shamble are not posted to a handicap record, since the tee shot was not the player's own.
Worked example
A worked example: a four-player shamble, best two net scores, holes 1 to 6
Mo plays off a Playing Handicap™ of 5, Nia 9, Oli 14 and Pat 18, each by stroke index on their own card. Each cell shows gross minus strokes equals net. The team counts the best two nets on every hole.
| Hole | Par | Stroke index | Drive used | Mo (5) | Nia (9) | Oli (14) | Pat (18) | Best two | Team net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 7 | Mo | 4-0=4 | 5-1=4 | 5-1=4 | 6-1=5 | 4 and 4 | 8 |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | Oli | 5-1=4 | 6-1=5 | 5-1=4 | 7-1=6 | 4 and 4 | 8 |
| 3 | 3 | 17 | Nia | 3-0=3 | 4-0=4 | 3-0=3 | 4-1=3 | 3 and 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | Mo | 5-1=4 | 5-1=4 | 6-1=5 | 7-1=6 | 4 and 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 4 | 11 | Pat | 4-0=4 | 5-0=5 | 5-1=4 | 5-1=4 | 4 and 4 | 8 |
| 6 | 3 | 15 | Mo | 3-0=3 | 3-0=3 | 4-0=4 | 4-1=3 | 3 and 3 | 6 |
Swipe the table to see every column.
- On hole 3 Pat receives a stroke even on stroke index 17, because an 18 gets one on every hole, so a gross 4 became a net 3 and counted ahead of Nia's gross 4. Strokes are the player's own, not the team's.
- On hole 5 Oli's and Pat's net 4s tied Mo's; two of the three 4s count, and which two makes no difference to the total.
Common variants
- Bramble
- The same shape with a different name and, on Parful, a different card: a counted-score format where the best two net scores count. Parful runs it under its own name.
- Shamble with all four counting
- Every player's net score counts on every hole. Parful counts one, two or three scores on an event round, so a club playing all four keeps that count by hand.
- Shamble Stableford
- Each player's net score is converted to Stableford points and the best one or two point scores count. Parful offers Stableford shambles for club pairs.
- Scramble
- The team plays one ball all the way to the hole and keeps one card. Parful runs it as its own format with a team handicap.
Shamble questions
What is a shamble in golf?
A team format in which everyone drives, the team plays from the best drive, and each player then plays their own ball to the hole. The team score is the best one or two net scores on each hole.
What is the difference between a shamble and a scramble?
In a scramble the team picks the best shot every time and plays one ball to the hole. In a shamble only the drive is shared; from there every player plays their own ball.
How is a shamble handicapped?
Each player keeps their own strokes by stroke index, at the share of Course Handicap™ the competition sets. There is no single team handicap, because each player finishes the hole with their own ball.
How many scores count in a shamble?
Whatever the competition sets. The better ball counts in a pair; the best two of four is the usual rule for teams of four. Parful lets an event set the count from one to three.
Does a shamble count for handicap?
No. The tee shot was not the player's own, so the score is not acceptable for posting. Parful does not send shamble scores to a handicap record.
Can we play putting games in a shamble?
Yes. Every player putts their own ball, so fewest putts, Snake and the other putting games run. Tee-shot games such as long drive and Wolf do not, because the drive in play belonged to one player.