Guides

Golf tournament formats explained: scramble, stroke, Stableford, best ball

Picking a format is the first real decision when you set up an event. Here's what each one means and which fits your group, in plain English.

Scramble (team): everyone in the group tees off, you pick the best shot, and everyone plays from there. It's the friendliest format for mixed-ability fields — fast, social, and forgiving — which is why most outings use it.

Stroke play (individual): every golfer counts every stroke on their own ball. It's the truest test and the standard for a club championship, but it plays slower and punishes a bad hole.

Stableford: you earn points per hole (more for birdies, fewer for bogeys) instead of counting total strokes, so one blow-up hole doesn't wreck a round. Great for keeping casual players engaged to the 18th.

Best ball: each player plays their own ball and the team takes the lowest score on each hole — a middle ground between scramble and individual that rewards good play without the pressure of stroke play.

Gross vs net: gross is raw score; net subtracts each player's handicap so a 20-handicapper can beat a scratch golfer. For a wide range of abilities, use net — and add flights to group similar handicaps so everyone competes for a prize. ScrambleBoard supports all of these; you pick when you create the event. See how it works.