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Nassau in golf: the three matches, and how a press works
A nassau is three separate matches played over one round: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall eighteen. Each is an ordinary match, won by whoever is up the most holes when it finishes, and each counts the same. One good nine can win you a third of the day even if you lose the other two.
It is the oldest and most durable format in golf, and the reason it survives is that it keeps a round alive. Lose the front nine badly and you still have two matches running. The press, which is where most of the arguments start, exists for exactly the same reason.
The three matches
Over eighteen holes a nassau runs three matches at once:
- Front, holes 1 to 9
- Back, holes 10 to 18
- Total, all eighteen holes
Each is scored as match play, not stroke play. On every hole somebody wins the hole or it is halved, and the margin within a hole does not matter. Winning a hole by one shot and winning it by four are the same thing. A match stands at however many holes one side is up, and whoever is up when the nine ends has won that match.
The total match is not a tiebreak and it is not the sum of the other two. It is its own match run across all eighteen holes, and it can be won by somebody who lost both nines, if they lost them narrowly and won enough holes along the way.
Over nine holes there is only one match, because there is no second nine to split off.
The press
A press opens a brand new match, starting on the next hole and running to the end of whichever nine it was called in. It does not change the match already in progress. That match keeps running to its own finish, exactly as before.
This is the single most misunderstood thing about a nassau. A press is not a double, it is not a do-over, and it does not wipe out the deficit. It is an additional match laid on top, over the holes that are left.
What it looks like in practice
You are three down after six holes on the front. You press. The original front nine match is still three down with three to play, and you will probably lose it. But a second match has just started that runs over holes 7, 8 and 9 only, and it begins all square. Win two of those three and you have won the press, while still losing the front.
Who is allowed to press
The side that is down. That is the whole convention and it is worth being firm about, because a press called by the side that is ahead is not a press, it is just pressing an advantage, and the player who is already losing has no reason to accept it.
When the press starts
On the next hole that has not been played. Not the hole you are standing on halfway down the fairway, and not retroactively from where things went wrong. This matters, because it decides how many holes the new match has to run, and a press with two holes left is a very different thing from a press with seven.
Presses on presses
A press is a match like any other, which means it can be pressed too. Lose the first three holes of your press and you are entitled to press that. In a bad nine it is possible to have three or four matches running at once, all on the same holes, all with different start points.
This is where keeping track on paper falls apart, and it is the real reason groups abandon presses rather than any objection to the idea.
Automatic presses
Many groups drop the asking entirely and agree a rule up front: any side that goes two down is pressed automatically, starting the next hole. Some use three down. It keeps the pace up and removes the slightly awkward business of having to ask, which some players never do even when they should.
The trade is that automatic presses multiply fast. Two down triggers a press, and if that press goes two down it triggers another, and a thoroughly bad nine can end with four matches running at once.
Playing a nassau with handicaps
Match play handicaps work on the difference between the two players, not on their full allowances. If you are a 14 and your opponent is an 8, you receive six strokes, falling on the six holes with the lowest stroke index on the card. Your opponent receives none.
Those strokes apply to every match running, including every press, because a press is a match over the same holes. A stroke on hole 7 counts in the front match, the total match, and any press that happens to be live on hole 7.
Adding it up at the end
Count each match separately. Every match is worth the same, whether it is the total, a nine, or a press called on the sixteenth tee that ran for three holes.
| Match | Holes | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | 1–9 | Lost, 3 down | −1 |
| Press on the front | 7–9 | Won, 2 up | +1 |
| Back | 10–18 | Won, 1 up | +1 |
| Total | 1–18 | Halved | 0 |
| Day | Two matches to one | +1 |
A halved match is worth nothing to either side. It is not carried over, it is not split, it simply did not produce a winner.
Questions that come up
Does a press double the stakes?
No. It adds a match. The original match carries on and is settled on its own. People say "double or nothing" about presses, but that is not what is happening, and treating it that way will cost somebody more than they agreed to.
Can the player who is ahead press?
By convention, no. Only the side that is down may press. If your group wants to allow it, agree that before the round rather than on the twelfth tee.
How many presses can there be?
There is no limit. Each press is its own match and can itself be pressed. In a bad nine three or four live matches at once is common.
Can you press on the last hole?
A press needs at least one unplayed hole to run over, so a press called after the last hole has been played has nowhere to go. Called on the eighteenth tee it is a one hole match, which is a perfectly ordinary way to finish.
Does a nassau work with more than two players?
The classic nassau is one against one. Four players usually run two separate nassaus, or play it as teams with the best ball of each side deciding the hole.
Let The Card run the nassauEvery match and every press tracked hole by hole, including presses on presses, with the strokes applied where they fall.
The Card is provided strictly for entertainment purposes, and may not be used for betting, wagering, or gambling of any kind. Nassau is described here as a points format, and the word press describes an additional match within that format. Points have no monetary value.
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