Harbor Hills Country Club

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Country Club Community Popular Golf Tournament Formats

In honor of this weekend's annual Harbor Hills Member Member Match Play Tournament we have compiled a list of the most popular Golf Tournament Formats.

1. Scramble
The Scramble is probably the most-common format for team tournaments. It can be played by 2-, 3- or 4-person teams, and involves choosing the one best shot following every stroke, with each team member then playing again from that one spot. Variants include the Texas Scramble, Florida Scramble and Ambrose.

2. Best Ball
In a Best Ball tournament, all members of each team play their own balls on each hole. At the completion of the hole, the lowest score among all team members serves as the team score. Best Ball can also be called Four Ball, and variations include 1-2-3 Best Ball.

3. Alternate Shot
Alternate Shot is a format for 2-person teams and is sometimes called Foursomes. The two players on a team alternate hitting shots, playing the same ball. Odds and Evens and Scotch Foursomes are other versions of Alternate Shot.

4. Modified Stableford
A Modified Stableford competition can be played by individuals or as a team tournament. In Modified Stableford, the idea is to have the highest score - because your score on each hole is worth a certain amount of points. A birdie, for example, might be worth 2 points. The International, played on the PGA Tour every year, is a Modified Stableford.

5. Chapman (Pinehurst)
When the Chapman System (a k a Pinehurst System) is the format for a tournament, it means that 2-person teams will be competing. Chapman is really a melding of several formats into one. In a Chapman event, teammates switch balls after their tee shots, select the one best ball after their second shots, then play alternate shot until the ball is holed.

6. Bingo Bango Bongo
This is one of the most popular formats for golf association tournaments and league tournaments. Bingo Bango Bongo rewards players for three things on each hole: being the first player in the group to get onto the green; being closest to the hole once all group members are on the green; and being the first player in the cup.

7. Flags
In a Flags tournament, all golfers begin the round with a set number of strokes (related to their handicaps), and they play until their strokes run out. The player who makes it farthest on his or her allotment of strokes is the winner.

8. Lone Ranger
Lone Ranger, also called Money Ball, Yellow Ball or Pink Ball, puts the onus on one player per team per hole to come through with a good score. Players in a group of four rotate as the "Lone Ranger;" on each hole, the score of the designated Lone Ranger is combined with the low score of the other three team members for the team score.

9. Peoria System
The Peoria System is a sort of 1-day handicap system for a stroke play tournament in which most of the players do not have established handicaps. It allows all players to, following the round, deduce something resembling a handicap allowance and apply it to their scores. Peoria involves totaling your score on preselected (but secret, until after the round) holes, then doing some multiplication and division.

10. Callaway System
Like Peoria, the Callaway System is a quasi-handicapping system that can be employed for a stroke play event in which most of the particants do not have handicaps. The Callaway System involves consulting a chart following the round to determine a handicap deduction and handicap allowance.