How Match Play Works was authored by the USGA for USGA
Amateur Championships and was modified by the KCGA to explain how
team match play is scored and works.
Most players know about Stroke Play - every shot is counted and
added up and the player with the lowest score of all wins. But Match
Play (the oldest form of golf) is not as commonly understood. Perhaps
the following explanation will help.
In the Heart of America Four-Ball, there are two days of stroke
play qualifying to determine exactly the 32 Open Division teams
and 16 Senior Division teams who will make it to match play. The
"Match Play Tree" is then established -- much like a tennis
tournament or NCAA basketball - and players are seeded according
to how they played during stroke play.
Match play is a competition played by holes rather than total strokes
for the round. In the Heart of America Four-Ball, two opponents
play against each other and while there may be other teams on the
course, each group is its own match and has nothing to do with the
rest of the field. The winners of each match keep advancing until
there is only one team left. With 32 teams, this occurs after 5
matches and with 16 teams this occurs after 4 matches.
For example, let's look at the imaginary match between players
Team A and Team B below. A match always starts at "All Square,"
that is, the match is even, no one has an advantage or disadvantage.
Team A wins the 1st hole, so is "1 up." After Team A wins
the 2nd hole, Team A is then "2 up." (It doesn't matter
how many strokes the hole is won by, no more than "1 up"
can be the result of the scores from any one hole.)
The players halve the 3rd hole, so there is no change in the status
of the match. Team B then wins the 4th hole, which leaves Team A
only 1 up. Team B wins the 5th hole, so the match returns to All
Square ("AS"). Team B then wins the 6th hole, and takes
the lead 1 up. And so on.
Notice that a score does not have to be recorded in match play
(see the "x" on the 6th hole for A). The result of the
hole (won, loss, or halved) simply needs to be determined. In fact,
"conceding" is allowed. Team A, for example, can concede
the 6th hole to Team B without finishing it. Teams may also concede
that their opponents will hole out with their next strokes; therefore,
if Team B wants to concede a players on Team A's one foot putt on
the 7th hole for a 4, Team B can - and the player for Team A doesn't
have to putt.
The match goes on in this fashion until one player is leading by
a greater number than the number of holes left to be played. For
example, if Team B is 5 up with 4 holes left to play, the match
is over as Team A can not possibly come back. Team B is said to
have won the match, "5 and 4." If the players are still
All Square after the 18th hole, the match is continued hole by hole
until a winner is determined. So, if Team A and Team B play the
1st and 2nd holes again, halving both, and Team A wins the 3rd hole,
Team A is said to have won the match, "21 Holes."
We hope this will assist in your understanding of match play and
specifically the method of scoring that is used. Please contact
the KCGA if you have any additional match play questions.
