| The Callaway System (or Callaway Scoring System) is a sort of 1-day handicapping system, and allows a "handicap allowance" to be determined and then applied to each golfer's score. All competitors tee off and play stroke play, scoring in the normal fashion with one exception - double par is the maximum score on any given hole (i.e., on a par 4, 8 is the maximum score). Following the round, gross scores are tallied. Based on each golfer's gross score (using the double par maximum), each golfer tallies up a prescribed number of worst scores from their scorecard, then applies a second adjustment that may add or subtract additional strokes. The result is a total that is something similar to a net score using real handicaps. A couple points: - The higher a competitor's gross score, the more holes that player will be deducting;
- Holes deducted begin with the highest score; if a player gets to deduct one hole and his highest score is an 8, then an 8 is what gets deducted;
- Scores on the 17th and 18th holes may not be deducted, even if one (or both) of them are the competitor's highest score.
- Even after high scores are added together for the allowance, the second adjustment must be made; this adjustment might add or subtract 2, 1 or 0 strokes from a player's Callaway handicap.
- Once the appropriate number of high scores has been tallied, and the second adjustment is made, the player is left with a net score.
The chart below should make things much easier to grasp. Look over the chart, then look below the chart for an example. | Gross (using double par max.) | Handicap Deduction | | | | 70 | 71 | 72 | Scratch | | 73 | 74 | 75 | | | 1/2 of Worst Hole | | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | Worst Hole | | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 1 1/2 Worst Holes | | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 2 Worst Holes | | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 2 1/2 Worst Holes | | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 3 Worst Holes | | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 3 1/2 Worst Holes | | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 4 Worst Holes | | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 4 1/2 Worst Holes | | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 5 Worst Holes | | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 5 1/2 Worst Holes | | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 6 Worst Holes | | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | Handicap Adjustment | This chart applies to a par-72 course. If par is different, simply add or subtract the number of strokes - corresponding to the difference in par - from the Gross Scores. For example, if par is 71, then subtract 1 from each of the Gross Scores listed above. Also, half scores are rounded up. If a player is deducting half of 7, then that 3.5 is rounded up to 4. And finally, the maximum a golfer can deduct under the Callaway System is 50 strokes. OK, an example of the Callaway System in action: Tiger shoots 64. No deductions or adjustments are made because Tiger's score is lower than the scores listed on the chart. Adam Scott shoots 71, which is on the chart, and the column to the right ("Handicap Deduction") shows that a player shooting 71 plays at scratch - no adjustments. Paul Rains, however, shoots 97. Find 97 in the chart above, and we see that its row (going across) corresponds to a handicap deduction of "3 Worst Holes." So the Golf Guide finds the three worst holes on his scorecard. The Golf Guide's three worst holes are a 9, an 8 and a 7. Total those up and we get a handicap deduction of 24. Now we apply the second adjustment. Go back to 97 in the chart above; follow the column down to the "handicap adjustment" on the bottom line. The column for 97 corresponds to a handicap adjustment of -1. That means we're going to substract a stroke from our handicap deduction of 24. So our final, adjusted handicap allowance is 23. And our net Callaway System score is 97 minus 23, or 74. So using the chart is a matter of finding the gross score, looking across the row for the handicap deduction, then looking down the column for the adjustment. | Four-Ball Aggregate Stableford | | | | A team version of single stableford where all scores count on every hole. Each player must record a score on each hole and the scores of both players are added together for the total points each hole. The result for the round is then calculated and recording by adding the total point scores for each hole. The points scoring system is the same for a single stableford. The highest point score wins the competition. | | Four-Ball Best-Ball Stableford | | | | The team version of a single stableford. The scoring is the same as the single event but only one player can score for each team on a hole. The score is the best result in the team. When the two partners score the same result then the score is marked for the player who holes out first. If a player cannot beat the partner's score the ball is picked up to speed up play. The stableford points only are tallied and the highest score wins. Only one player and one marker from each team need sign the card. | Four-Ball Best-Ball Stroke Played the same as the single version but you have a partner. The best nett score on each hole is used and only the gross and the best nett need to be scored on each hole. Once a player cannot beat his partner's nett score, then the ball should be picked up. If both players record the same nett score, then the player who first holed-out is marked on the card as scoring. Both player's names and handicaps must be on the card. The card need only to be signed by one marker and one player from each pair. The lowest point score wins. Matchplay Definition: "Match play" is a competition format in which the round is played with the goal of winning individual holes. For example, on No. 1, you score 4 and your opponent gets a 5 - you win the hole. Number of Competitors: If an odd number of competitors exist for a round of the matchplay the last card remaining in the draw will advance through to the next round. A competitor can only advance once throughout the competition without playing a match. Scoring Scoring is kept by comparing the holes won by each player. If each has won the same number of holes, the match is said to be "all square". If you have won 4 holes and your opponent has won 3, you are said to be "1-up" while your foe is "1-down." Final score reflects the margin of victory and the hole at which the match ended. If the match goes the full 18 holes, the score would be 1-up or 2-up. If it ends before the 18th, the score would look like "3-and-2" (the winner was 3 holes up with only two holes to play, thus ending the match early). When a match is dormie , the final score can sometimes appear odd. For example, a player wins 5-and-3; that is, the winner was 5 holes up with 3 holes to play. Then why didn't the match end with four holes to play? Because the match was dormie with four holes to play - the leader was 4 holes up with 4 holes to play. Winning the next hole produces a final score of 5-and-3. A state of dormie on hole No. 17 - 1-up with 1 to play - is what produces a final score of 2-up. The proper way to allocate strokes in one-on-one match play is to subtract the lower handicap from the higher, then assign the difference to the weaker player. For example, if Player A's 10 is subtracted from Player B's 14, leaving 4. Player B now takes strokes on the top 4 handicap holes (Match Index), while Player A plays from scratch. Square at the conclusion of 18 holes - both players go through to next round. If it is square at the conclusion of 18 holes in the Final another game is scheduled. | Each player scores stableford points on a hole based on their handicap and the stroke index for the hole. During the round, each player and marker has to calculate the points allocated to each score on a hole based on the stroke index. A player on a handicap of 12 receives a shot on the 12 hardest holes, while a player on a 27 handicap receives 2 shots on 9 holes and 1 shot on 9 holes, based on the course index. | SCORE | Points with no
shots | Points with one
shot | Points with two
shots | Points with three
shots | | 3 under par | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | | 2 under par | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | | 1 under par | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | | PAR | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | 1 over par | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 2 over par | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 3 over par | - | - | 1 | 2 | | 4 over par | - | - | - | 1 | | > 4 over par | - | - | - | - | You mark both the stroke score and stableford points on the card, and the highest point score wins. Only the stableford points are tallied. | Single Stroke Single Stroke or Medal play is the simplest of all variations. The game requires all strokes to be counted and players are unable to pick up the ball without penalty. The score for the 18 holes is tallied and the handicap is deducted from that total. The lowest score wins, both for gross and nett.
Scores are recorded only as plus (+), Minus (-) or halved (0). The easiest way to understand it is to compare it with stableford scoring. | STABLEFORD POINTS | VERSUS PAR RESULT | | 3 points or greater | Plus (+) | | 2 points | 0 | | Less than 2 points | Minus(-) | The scores are recorded by marking down the player's stroke score with the appropriate symbol (+/ -/ 0). If a player is unable to score a Plus (+) or Half (0) then the player should pick up and mark the hole as Minus (-). The final score is calculated by comparing the pluses and minuses as they negate each other. Thus a player with 6 pluses and 3 minuses would score 3 for the round. The highest score wins the competition | | | | | |
