Golf games
Parful runs this30/40 Balls
Also called 40 Balls, Thirty Forty.
30/40 Balls is a team game between two groups. Over 18 holes a three-player group must count exactly 30 of its scores and a four-player group exactly 40, at least one on every hole, chosen hole by hole before moving on. The lower total of counted scores relative to par wins.
- Players
- Two groups of 3 or 4 players each, 6 to 8 in total
- Quota
- Exactly 30 counted scores for a three-player group, exactly 40 for four
- Per hole
- At least one score counted on every one of the 18 holes
- Decision
- The group confirms which scores count after each hole, before the next
- Winner
- Lowest total of counted scores relative to par; equal is a tie
- Scoring basis
- Net by default, gross as an option
How 30/40 Balls works
Two groups play against each other over a full round, everyone playing their own ball on a normal card. After each hole the group decides which of its scores count. At least one must count on every hole, and more can when the group likes. Over the 18 holes a three-player group must count exactly 30 scores and a four-player group exactly 40; not 29, not 41.
The quota is what makes the game. Counting three good scores on the first hole feels free, but every score counted early is one fewer available later, and every remaining hole still needs one. Count too many early and the group is forced to count bad scores late; count too few and it runs out of holes.
Every hole is played. This is not a race to 30; the quota is only reached on the eighteenth.
How the winner is decided
Each counted score contributes its difference from par: a counted birdie minus one, a counted par zero, a counted bogey plus one. The group's result is the sum over all 30 or 40 counted scores, and the lower total wins. Equal totals halve the game.
Scoring relative to par is what lets a three-player group play a four-player group: raw totals cannot be compared when one side has ten more scores in its sum, but distance from par can. Seven under beats four under by three whichever team counted more balls.
Try it
Can we play 30/40 Balls 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
Keeping the quota reachable
At any point the group has counted S scores with R holes left to confirm. The remaining quota, 30 minus S for three players, must be at least R, because every hole still needs one, and at most R times the number of players, because that is all the scores there are. A choice that breaks either bound is not allowed.
For a three-player group the safe zone is simple: the scores still to find must be between one and three per remaining hole. Groups that bank generously early tend to discover with eight holes left that they need exactly eight more, one poor score after another.
How Parful runs it
A member creates 30/40 Balls between their own group and one other group on the outing; the groups need not be playing together. One acceptance from the other group activates the game, both rosters are frozen at that moment, and each group's quota is set from its size: 30 for three players, 40 for four, any other size refused.
After each hole the group confirms which scores count. Every selected player needs a saved score on the hole, the scorer cannot move to the next hole until the group has confirmed, and a selection that would make exactly 30 or 40 impossible is refused with the arithmetic shown. A confirmation is locked when made; a manager can correct it later with a recorded reason.
The bank stores who was counted, not the number. The counted value is always the player's current score on the card, so a corrected hole score flows through without anyone re-banking. The standings show each group's total relative to par and its progress, for example minus 7 with 30 of 30 balls; a winner is declared only when both groups have confirmed all 18 holes on exactly their quota. Net is the default; gross can be chosen at creation.
The game is 18 holes only and needs every player recording their own hole score: individual, four-ball and shamble outings, not scramble or alternate shot. A wager can be attached; Parful shows the settlement and never moves money.
Worked example
A worked example: a three-player group banking its first six holes
Lee, Max and Nia are a three-player group with a quota of 30. Net scores. The last column shows how many scores the group still needs and the range the remaining holes allow.
| Hole | Par | Lee | Max | Nia | Counted | Counted so far | To par so far | Still needed (allowed range) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Nia 3, Lee 4 | 2 | -1 | 28 (17 to 51) |
| 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | Max 5 | 3 | -1 | 27 (16 to 48) |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Lee 3, Max 3 | 5 | -1 | 25 (15 to 45) |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | Max 4, Nia 4 | 7 | -1 | 23 (14 to 42) |
| 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | Lee 4 | 8 | -1 | 22 (13 to 39) |
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Lee 4, Max 5, Nia 5 | 11 | -2 | 19 (12 to 36) |
| 7 to 18 | various | played | played | played | 19 more scores | 30 | -5 | 0 (quota met) |
- On hole 6 all three scores were counted: Lee's 4 was a birdie and the two pars cost nothing, but they used up two balls.
- Had the group counted all three scores on each of holes 1 to 7, it would have 21 with 11 holes left and only 9 still needed, fewer than one per hole. Parful refuses that seventh confirmation.
- Group 2 counted ten more scores, but the comparison is to par, so 40 balls at 3 under lose to 30 balls at 5 under.
Common variants
- 40 Balls
- The same game named for a four-player group. On Parful the quota is set from the group size at activation, so four players play 40 Balls and three play 30 Balls under the same rules.
- Raw total instead of to par
- Some clubs compare the raw sum of counted strokes, which only works when both groups are the same size. Parful compares to par for every matchup, so this variant is not scored as such.
- Two-player 20 Balls
- Two-player teams counting exactly 20. Parful requires groups of three or four, so this variant is not scored.
- Nine-hole 15/20 Balls
- Half the quota over nine holes. Parful runs 30/40 Balls over 18 holes only.