Match Play:

• 2 players are playing against each other, with each person trying to get the lowest score each hole
• Players will either win, lose or tie the hole
• TIP: newer golfers (or if you’re struggling a bit with your swing, as we often are) it can be fun to play Match Play for the simple reason that you can concede a hole – which means you don’t have to putt out on every single hole
• Conceding a hole: you may concede a hole at any time. This means that you are telling the other player that they just won the hole. In that situation, you would both pick up your balls and move on to the next hole
• At the start of each round, the players will declare their current handicap from the Golf Canada website/app, then some simple math is done to find out how many strokes need to be given
• Example:  Player A's handicap is 17, Player B's handicap is 23   You subtract the higher handicap from the lower handicap (in this case 23-17) to get a difference of 6.  If you are playing 18 holes, then player B gets 6 strokes given to them.  If you are playing 9, divide the result by 2 (in this case, 6/2=3) so player B would receive 3 strokes
• These strokes are applied to the hardest holes on the course (you can find this on the scorecard)
• You need to have a membership with Golf Canada to have a handicap that can be used for Match Play. You only need a total of 54 holes to establish a handicap - that’s 3 x 18 holes, 6 x 9 holes or any combination that adds up to 54 holes. After each game (even the ones you’re not happy with 🙂), enter your hole by hole score in the Golf Canada system.  It takes care of the math to minimize the impact of the ‘blow up’ holes we all have (max 10 strokes or net double bogey rule)
• After you have played the hole, if Player A scores a 5 and Player B scores a 6, Player B had a one stroke given to them on that hole, their score is reduced to a 5 – so the players tied the hole (using the 9 hole example above, a stroke would be given to the higher handicap player on the 3 hardest holes on the 9 holes)
• If you’re tied after 9 holes, let the pro shop know and you should be able to continue playing (starting at hole # 1) until the first hole that breaks the tie.

Where to find the handicap ranking on a golf card (look for Ladies Handicap line): The most difficult hole is #1 and so on.  If you’re playing 9 holes it’s the most difficult holes in that 9. The handicap advantage goes to the player with the higher handicap index #. Using the example above Player B has an advantage on the three hardest holes on the front 9. On this card it’s hole # 4 (second hardest hole on the course), hole #8 (third hardest hole) and hole # 5 (fourth hardest hole on the course). The first or hardest hole is on the back 9 so it doesn’t count.