Shots GivenHow match play works
In match play you play against your opponent one hole at a time. What matters is how many holes you win, not your total score.
Winning and halving holes
On each hole, the player with the lower score wins the hole. If the scores are the same, the hole is halved (tied) and neither player gains. Under Rule 3.2 of the Rules of Golf, the match is won by the player who is ahead by more holes than there are left to play.
How the score is stated
The match score is how many holes one player is ahead:
- All square: the players have won the same number of holes.
- 2 up: one player has won two more holes than the other.
- Dormie: a player is ahead by exactly the number of holes left, for example 2 up with 2 to play. The player behind must win every remaining hole just to halve the match.
- 3&2: the match finished early. The winner was 3 up with only 2 holes left, so the last 2 holes are not needed.
- 1 up: when a match goes to the last hole, the result is the winner's final lead, such as 1 up or 2 up.
Example: Jordan and Casey are all square after 15. Jordan wins the 16th to go 1 up with 2 to play, then wins the 17th to be 2 up with 1 to play. Jordan has won 2&1.
If the players are still all square after the last hole, the match is halved. A competition's committee can instead require extra holes, played one at a time until someone wins a hole.
Concessions
Only in match play, a player can concede to the opponent:
- The next stroke, for example a short putt. The opponent's ball is treated as holed with their next stroke.
- A hole, at any time before the hole is finished. The opponent wins that hole.
- The match, at any time before the result is decided. The opponent wins the match.
A concession is final. It cannot be declined or taken back.
Handicap strokes in match play
Handicaps let players of different abilities have a close match. The better player plays off scratch and gives the other player the difference between their handicaps as strokes (also called shots). For example, if Riley's handicap is 18 and Morgan's is 12, Riley receives 6 strokes.
Strokes are received on the holes with the lowest stroke index shown on the scorecard: index 1 is the hardest hole. With 6 strokes, Riley gets one stroke on each hole with index 1 to 6. A difference of more than 18 gives one stroke on every hole and a second stroke on the lowest-index holes. On a hole where you receive a stroke, one is taken off your score for that hole before the scores are compared.
The committee for a competition sets the handicap allowance (the share of the difference that is given). Check with your club if you are not sure.
How Shots Given scores it
- You enter each player's handicap as a whole number. The player with the higher handicap receives the full difference (100%) as shots. If the handicaps are the same, nobody gets shots.
- Shots go on the lowest stroke-index holes first. Above 18, every hole gets a shot and the lowest indexes get a second. On a 9-hole match, shots are spread over the 9 holes in index order the same way.
- On each hole you enter both gross scores. The app takes off any shots, and the lower net score wins the hole. Equal net scores halve it. Before you play a hole, the app tells you what each player needs, such as “a level score wins it for Riley”.
- The app shows the match state as you go: all square, 2 up with 5 to play, or 2 up, dormie.
- The match ends as soon as one player is up by more holes than are left, and the result is shown as, for example, 3&2. After the last hole it shows the winner's lead, such as 1 up, or “Match halved” if the players are level. The app does not score extra holes.
- The app has no concession button. To record a conceded putt or hole, enter the score the player would have had.
- At the end, both players can check their cards against each other with a short code. The app lists any differences, hole by hole, so you can fix them before you agree the result.
This page is a plain-language summary. The official Rules of Golf from the R&A and USGA, Rule 3.2, are the final word.