Golf games
Parful runs thisBetter Ball and Aggregate
Also called Taft, Taft System, Best Ball and Aggregate.
Better Ball and Aggregate, also called the Taft System, is a four-player game between two fixed pairs in which every hole carries two separate points: one for the pair with the lower better ball, one for the pair with the lower combined total. A tied category awards nothing. The pair with more points after the round wins.
- Players
- Exactly 4, two fixed pairs in one group
- Points a hole
- 2: one for the better ball, one for the aggregate
- Ties
- A tied category awards no point; the other can still be won
- Scoring basis
- Gross or net, chosen when the game is created
- Maximum
- 36 points over eighteen holes
- Wins
- The pair with more points
How Better Ball and Aggregate works
Two pairs play each other over the round, everyone with their own ball. On each hole a pair produces two numbers: its better ball, which is the lower of the two partners' scores, and its aggregate, which is the two scores added together. Each number is compared with the other pair's, and each comparison is worth one point to the pair with the lower figure.
The two points are independent. A pair can win the better ball with a birdie and lose the aggregate because the partner made a triple, and the hole then splits one point each. When a category is tied nobody gets that point; it is not halved and it does not carry. Over eighteen holes there are 36 points available, and the pair with more at the end wins.
The game is usually called the Taft System in the United States; Best Ball and Aggregate is the same thing. Played net, each score is reduced by the strokes received on the hole from the player's Course Handicap™ before the better ball and the aggregate are worked out; played gross the raw scores are used.
Why the second point changes the game
Plain four-ball rewards one hero and lets the partner pick up. The aggregate point removes that: both scores count on every hole, so the partner who is out of the hole still has to grind for a bogey rather than a double. That is what makes it a good game for pairs of unequal ability; the stronger player wins better-ball points and the weaker one decides the aggregate.
A pair that has already lost the better ball on a hole can still take the aggregate if both hole their short putts, and a pair with the better ball in hand will often play the second ball safe to protect the combined total.
Try it
Can we play Better Ball and Aggregate in our format?
Derived from the same compatibility rules the scorecard uses, so it cannot drift from the product.
Own ball, individual
Available
Four-ball, best ball, counted scores
Available
Shamble, bramble, cha cha cha
Available
Scramble, foursomes, greensomes, chapman
Needs a score per player; this format keeps one per side
How Parful scores it
Better Ball and Aggregate is a private challenge a member can start from the group scorecard on a club outing. It needs exactly four players from one group, split into two pairs that are fixed when the game is created and do not change during the round. The person starting it chooses gross or net and can attach a stake per point.
On each hole Parful takes the four hole scores the group is already keeping, works out each pair's better ball and aggregate, awards each point to the lower figure and leaves a tied category unawarded. The standings show each pair's total split into better-ball and aggregate points, and recompute on every score entered. A hole counts only when all four players have a recorded score; a pickup or a missing score skips the hole until it is filled in. A correction reruns the game from hole one and can flip one category without touching the other.
The game needs each player's own hole scores, so it is available on individual rounds, four-ball and counted-score formats, and shamble-style rounds. It is not available on a scramble, foursomes or any format with one score per team.
Worked example
A worked example: six holes
Ana and Ben play Cal and Dee, net. For each pair the better ball is the lower score and the aggregate is the two scores added together. Each comparison shows Ana and Ben first.
| Hole | Ana | Ben | Cal | Dee | Better ball | Aggregate | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 v 4, tied | 9 v 9, tied | None |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 v 5, Ana and Ben | 10 v 10, tied | Ana and Ben 1 |
| 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 v 4, Cal and Dee | 10 v 10, tied | Cal and Dee 1 |
| 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 v 4, Ana and Ben | 9 v 8, Cal and Dee | 1 each |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 v 5, Ana and Ben | 9 v 11, Ana and Ben | Ana and Ben 2 |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 v 4, Cal and Dee | 11 v 11, tied | Cal and Dee 1 |
- Hole 4 shows the two points splitting: Ana's 3 won the better ball, but Ben's 6 handed the aggregate to Cal and Dee, whose two 4s added to 8 against 9.
- Hole 5 is the only hole where a pair took both points. On hole 6 Cal's 4 won the better ball while Dee's 7 pulled the aggregate back to a tie.
Common variants
- Halved categories
- Some groups give each pair half a point when a category is tied, so every hole is worth exactly two points. Parful leaves a tied category unawarded; nothing is scored for a tie.
- Better ball only
- Drop the aggregate and the game is ordinary four-ball. Parful runs that as the four-ball competition format and as casual match play between two players; it is not scored as Better Ball and Aggregate.
- Money per point
- Pairs attach a stake per point and settle on the difference. Parful can carry the stake as a wager on the game, shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money.