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Scramble and best ball: the two team formats

In a scramble the team plays one ball: everyone tees off, you pick the best shot, and everyone plays again from there until it is holed. In a best ball everyone plays their own ball all the way through and the team counts the lowest score on each hole. One format produces a single score for the team, the other produces four and throws three away.

They get used interchangeably in conversation and they are not remotely the same experience. A scramble is four hours of your partners telling you where to aim. A best ball is four people playing their own golf who happen to be on the same side.

Scramble

Everyone on the team tees off. The team picks the best of those shots, everyone else lifts their ball and plays their next shot from that spot, within a club length and no nearer the hole. Repeat until the ball is in. One score for the team.

It is the format for charity days and corporate outings because the worst player on the team can have a terrible hole without it mattering. A four-man scramble team of club golfers will usually be six to eight under par, which feels extremely good and bears no relation to anybody's actual golf.

The rules worth agreeing first

• How many drives each. Without a minimum, the longest hitter plays every tee shot and the other three never swing a driver. Most outings require at least three or four drives from every player over eighteen.
• Putting. From where the ball is marked, not a club length to the side, and not re-spotting to a better line.
• Lies. Same condition as the chosen ball. A drive in a bunker means everybody plays from that bunker.

Scoring who actually contributed

A scramble produces one score, which tells you nothing about who did what. Groups that play scrambles regularly add a contribution count on top, giving a point for each of your shots the team used.

A workable version: a point if your drive was taken, a point if your approach was taken, and a point if your putt was the one that went in, with everyone who holed it from the same spot sharing the credit. Supply all three on a hole and you have carried it single-handedly, which is worth doubling.

It takes a few seconds a hole to record and completely changes the round, because the player who has not had a shot used since the third tee now has something to play for.

Best ball

Everyone plays their own ball from tee to green. On each hole the team's score is the lowest of its players' scores. Two sides, eighteen holes, one score per side per hole.

This is the format for a group who want a team game without giving up their own round. You still have a card at the end, you still had your own bad holes, but they only counted if your partner also had one.

Aggregate best ball

Straight best ball can leave a partner irrelevant for long stretches. The usual fix is to score two things on each hole instead of one: a point for the lowest single ball, and a point for the lowest combined team total. Suddenly the second score matters, and a partner grinding out a bogey while you make par is doing real work.

Both sides had a four, so the low ball is halved. B's second player made five to A's six, so B takes the combined point. Without the combined point that hole would have been a dead halve and the fives and sixes would not have mattered at all.

Splitting the sides

With four players there are only three possible pairings, and they produce very different matches. Work out the combined handicaps before you decide, because the obvious split is often the worst one.

Pairing the two best players together guarantees a one-sided match. The usual answer is to put the lowest handicap with the highest, which balances the sides on paper. The more interesting answer in a regular group is to rotate the pairings week to week, so the same two are not always together and nobody carries the same partner forever.

Handicaps in team formats

Scramble teams normally play off a fraction of the combined handicaps, because four players choosing the best of four shots are already far better than any one of them. A common club formula is a declining share: a large fraction of the lowest handicap and progressively smaller fractions of the rest.

Best ball is simpler. Each player gets their own strokes on the holes the stroke index says, plays their own net score, and the team takes the lowest. No team adjustment needed.

Questions that come up

What is the difference between a scramble and a best ball?

In a scramble the team plays one ball from the best shot each time. In a best ball everyone plays their own ball the whole way and the team counts the lowest score.

How many drives does each player have to use in a scramble?

Agree it before you start. Three or four each over eighteen holes is the usual requirement, and without one the longest hitter will play every tee shot.

Is a scramble the same as a best ball?

No, though the terms get mixed up constantly. If somebody says best ball and means one ball between four, they mean a scramble.

How do you break a tie in a best ball match?

Count back: compare the back nine, then the last six, then the last three, then the eighteenth. Agree the method before the round rather than in the car park.

What is a texas scramble?

A scramble with a minimum drive requirement built into the name, usually four tee shots from each player over eighteen holes.

Sides, scores and who contributed what, tracked hole by hole while everyone follows the match.