Notes
about the game from Patty Ellis, Past Rules Chair
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Basic Competitions
So you’ve been playing for a while and now are feeling pretty good about your game… well, it’s time to start having some fun competing. Here are some common terms and games people play on the golf course:
Stroke Play: If you’ve watched an LPGA or PGA tournament on television, chances are you saw a Stroke Play Competition. Stroke Play is a game where each competitor’s total score is compared to the other competitors’ total scores. The lowest score wins. Most professional Stroke Play tournaments are played over 3 or 4 days so that the totals are cumulative for all rounds played. Our EWGALI Chapter Championship is a one day Stroke Play Competition.
Match Play: Most casual golfers play Match Play. It’s a competition where one player plays against another player (or a team of two players play against a team of two). Match Play separates each hole into a separate competition so that if on the first hole, you shoot a 5 and your competitor shoots a 6, you win that hole and lead the competition 1 to 0. The player who wins the most holes wins the match. The cumulative score for the round is meaningless in the match - you can shoot a 98 and win while your competitor can shoot a 92 and lose. The beauty of Match Play is that you can shoot a 13 on a hole and only lose that one hole – you’d still be very much in the match. If you shoot a 13 on one hole in stroke play, chances are you’d be out of the entire competition.
Handicaps: The essence of a handicap is to even out competitions so that players of less ability can compete with players of better ability. Handicaps are used in both stroke play and match play competitions. See the Handicap Posting Guidelines on the EWGALI.org website (under the Rules and Handicap section of Clinics and Education) for a descriptive narrative about handicaps and how to establish one.
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