Golf tournament formats explained: scramble, best ball, Stableford, and more

Quick answer

A scramble is the most forgiving team format — all players hit from the best shot — making it ideal for mixed-skill charity events. Best ball is more competitive: each player plays their own ball and the team takes the lowest score per hole. Individual stroke play is the traditional format where every shot counts. Stableford converts scores to points so one bad hole doesn't ruin the round. Most casual events use scramble; most competitive club events use stroke play or best ball.

What is a scramble?

In a scramble (also called captain's choice or ambrose), all players on a team hit from the tee. The team picks the best drive, and every player hits their next shot from that spot. This continues until the ball is holed. The team records one score per hole — not four individual scores. Because weaker players always hit from the best available shot, skill levels can mix freely without dragging the score down.

A four-person scramble team typically shoots 8–14 under par on a 72-par course. That means a scratch golfer and a 24-handicapper can compete on the same team and have a great time. This is why the scramble is by far the most popular format for charity tournaments, corporate outings, and club fundraisers.

What is best ball (four-ball)?

In best ball, each player plays their own ball for the entire hole. At the end of the hole, the team records the lowest score among all players. A birdie by any team member counts as the team score for that hole, even if the other three players made double bogey. Unlike a scramble, players aren't helping each other shot by shot — each person plays independently throughout.

Best ball is more demanding than scramble because players have to execute on their own, but it still protects teams from catastrophic holes as long as one player saves par. It's the standard format for two-person partner competitions like the Ryder Cup's four-ball sessions and many club competitions.

What is individual stroke play?

Individual stroke play is the format most people think of as "regular golf": every shot counts, and your total for the round is your score. The player with the fewest strokes wins. It's the purest test of golf but also the most unforgiving — one bad hole can put a player out of contention.

For tournament events with mixed handicap fields, individual stroke play is usually run on a net basis (see below). Gross stroke play — no handicap adjustment — is reserved for competitive, low-handicap fields.

Gross vs net scoring: how handicaps work

Gross score is the raw number of strokes taken. Net score adjusts for handicap, allowing players of different skill levels to compete fairly. A player with a 12 handicap gets 12 strokes subtracted from their gross score to give their net score. Those strokes are allocated by hole difficulty — the player gets a stroke on the 12 hardest holes (ranked 1–12 by stroke index), not evenly.

Stroke index (also called handicap index) is printed on every scorecard. Hole 1 on the stroke index is the hardest hole; a player with a single-digit handicap gets their stroke(s) on those high-ranked holes. For team formats like scramble, organizers often use a percentage of the team handicap — for example, 90% of the lowest handicap on the team.

What is Stableford scoring?

Stableford converts hole scores into points. The most common system: eagle = 4 points, birdie = 3, par = 2, bogey = 1, double bogey or worse = 0. The highest point total wins (rather than the lowest stroke count). The key advantage: a blow-up hole — a triple bogey — costs you 2 points versus par instead of 3 or 4 strokes. This keeps the round competitive for everyone until the last hole.

Net Stableford adjusts the par target on each hole by the player's stroke index allocation before calculating points. A 12-handicapper playing a stroke-index-5 hole has an effective par of 4 (the actual par) plus nothing — but on a stroke-index-1 hole they play to an effective net par of 5 (par + 1 handicap stroke). This levels the field better than any other format for varied handicap groups.

What are skins?

A skins game assigns a monetary value (or prize) to each hole. The player or team that wins a hole outright — with no ties — wins the skin. If two or more players/teams tie, the skin carries over to the next hole, which can make late holes very valuable. Skins can run alongside any main format as a side game.

What are flights?

A flight is a competitive division within the tournament. The most common way to divide flights is by team handicap: A-flight for low handicappers, B-flight for mid, C-flight for high. Each flight has its own winner and prizes, so a team of 30-handicappers is competing within their own group rather than against scratch players.

Flights are optional for casual charity scrambles — many events run single-flight and award net prizes instead. Flights become more important as the field grows beyond 20 teams or when you have both very competitive and very casual golfers in the same event.

Which format should you use?

Format support in tournament software

Most tournament software handles scramble and individual stroke as core formats. Net and Stableford scoring are common but require handicap data — either manual entry or GHIN sync. Formats like match play, Ryder Cup, alternate shot, and round-robin are a step up in complexity and are supported by a smaller set of platforms.

ScrambleSync supports scramble, best ball, and individual stroke formats, with gross, net, and Stableford scoring, flights, skins, closest-to-pin, and longest-drive side games. Handicaps are entered manually today; live GHIN sync is on the roadmap. Golf Genius and Squabbit advertise 30+ formats including match play and Ryder Cup if you need that depth.