How many times have you been fascinated by a game but then, observing it, you weren’t able to understand the rules and decided to drop out? Well, the game of golf can be very fascinating, but in inexperienced people’s eyes there may be hurdles that prevent a full understanding. One of these is scoring method.
The base
Contrary to what people think, scoring is pretty simple and allows to compare different skilled players’ scores. The game consists of 18 holes, for each a number of standard strokes, called par, is assigned to excellent players. To low skilled players are assigned extra strokes, called handicap, which number corresponds to their level and their play qualities measured in previous matches.
Learn Stableford and know how to calculate your score
There are two different methods to calculate score, named Stableford and Medal. The first one is mostly used in amateur matches. The Medal, instead, is used both in amateur matches and in professional ones. While pro players do not have the handicap, thus having a limited number of strokes to reach the hole, the amateurs are granted a number of advantage strokes. A practical example for Stableford: If a course has a par of 72 (standard number of strokes to complete the course) and if an amateur player who has handicap 18 completes the course in 90 strokes, the net score is calculated by subtracting the player’s handicap from the played strokes (in this case 18), the net result will therefore be 72, while if the same player takes 89 strokes, after subtracting 18 the score becomes 71, meaning that the player had a better shot than his/her handicap and, which is the same thing, in the par. In case of the Stableford system, a score is awarded for each hole reached with one stroke more than the par, to which an additional point is added for each stroke less. Example, for a par 5 the player gets a point if he/she reached the hole in 6 strokes, two points if in 5, three if in 4 and so on. The course’s par is compared to the player’s skill. On 18 holes a handicap 36 has two more strokes than the standard on all holes (a par 5 becomes 7, a 4 becomes 6 and a 3 becomes 5), a handicap 18, a stroke on all holes. For intermediate handicaps, suppose 24, the player has two strokes on the 12 most difficult holes (all holes have a different difficulty index, ordered from 1 to 18) and a single stroke on the 6 easier holes. Whoever completes the course with 36 points, plays his/her handicap, if the points are different, the player played better or worse than his/her handicap. Who reaches the highest score, wins the match.
Now you’ve all the information you need to correctly calculate the golfer’s score, you can use it for the next match. It is unlikely you will not get passionate about golf.
