Stroke Play Format

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Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes.

In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the course of the round, or rounds.

The most professional tournaments are played using the Stroke Play scoring system.

In stroke play scoring, players record the number of strokes taken at each hole and total them up at the end of a given round, or rounds. 

The player with the lowest total is the winner. 

In handicap competitions, the players would subtract their handicaps from the total (gross) score to generate their Net scores, and the player with the lowest net score is the winner.

Scores are reported in relation to PAR for easy comparison with other golfers' scores. For example, a player whose score is three strokes over par after a given hole would appear as "+3" on the scoreboard.

If two or more players have the same number of strokes, it may be desired to determine an outright winner. Two of the more common methods are a playoff and scorecard count back.

Maximum Score is a form of stroke playwhere a player’s or side's score for a hole is capped at a maximum number of strokes set by the Committee, such as two times par, a fixed number or net double bogey.

(1) Player’s Score on Hole. A player’s score for a hole is based on the player’s number of strokes (including strokes made and penalty strokes), except that the player will get only the maximum score even if the actual score exceeds the maximum.A player who does not hole out under the Rules for any reason gets the maximum score for the hole.To help pace of play, players are encouraged to stop playing a hole when their score has reached the maximum.The hole is completed when the player holes out, chooses not to do so or when their score has reached the maximum.(2) Score Entered for Each Hole. To meet the requirements in Rule 3.3b for entering hole scores on the scorecard:

• If Hole Is Completed by Holing Out.
  • When Score Is Lower Than Maximum. The scorecard must show the actual score.
  • When Score Is Same as or Higher Than Maximum. The scorecard must show either no score or any score at or above the maximum.
• If Hole Is Completed Without Holing Out. If the player does not hole outunder the Rules, the scorecard must show either no score or any score at or above the maximum.

The Committee is responsible for adjusting the player’s score to the maximum for any hole where the scorecard shows either no score or any score above the maximum and, in a handicap competition, for applying handicap strokes.

All penalties that apply in stroke play apply in Maximum Score, except that a player who breaches any of these five Rules is not disqualified but gets the maximum scorefor the hole where the breach happened:

• Failure to hole out under Rule 3.3c,
• Failure to correct mistake of playing from outside the teeing area in starting a hole (see Rule 6.1b(2)),
• Failure to correct mistake of playing a wrong ball (see Rule 6.3c),
• Failure to correct mistake of playing from a wrong place when there is a serious breach (see Rule 14.7b), or
• Failure to correct mistake of making a stroke in the wrong order (see Rule 22.3). 

If the player breaches any other Rule with a penalty of disqualification, the player is disqualified.After applying any penalty strokes, the player’s score for a hole cannot exceed the maximum score set by the Committee.

A player’s round ends when the player:

• Holes out on their final hole (including correction of a mistake, such as under Rule 6.1 or 14.7b), or
• Chooses not to hole out on the final hole or already will get the maximum score on the hole.