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Whether you want to play an informal golf game with fellow players or introduce beginners to the sport, golf scrambles can be the perfect activity. Scrambles are team-based tournaments where players continually take shots and then choose the best ball out of the team, using their team’s overall best scores (rather than playing golf solo). In this article, we’ll explain exactly what golf scrambles are and how they work, with an in-depth overview of golf scramble rules and strategies!
Golf Scramble Rules: A Quick Overview
- Split players into teams of 2, 3, or 4 (with 4 being the most common arrangement).
- Have all team members tee off at the first hole.
- Choose the team’s best tee shot, then move your balls to that spot and play from there.
- Continue choosing the best shot and playing from there until a ball gets in the hole.
- Repeat the process at each hole, recording the best score at each hole.
- Add up the team’s scores at each hole at the end. The team with the lowest score wins!
Steps
Rules of a Golf Scramble
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Form teams of 2, 3, or 4 players and choose captains for each. The standard arrangement for a scramble is teams of 4. Still, there’s no official limit (or minimum) for the number of players on a scramble team—so you can decide what to do, possibly based on the number of players available. Generally, 3 and 4-player teams tend to go through rounds more quickly.[2]
- The main difference between 2-player teams and 4-player teams is that 2-player teams (and 3-player teams) usually play each round together, whereas 4-player teams often play separately.
- So, with a 2 or 3-player team, you can watch your opponents and trade competitive quips as you play—and with a 4-player team, you’ll likely be with your own teammates the whole time.
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2Have each player hit from the tee and choose the best shot. Start the scramble at the tee for the first hole; each team member must shoot the ball from the tee. Then, pick the best shot based on where each ball landed. Everyone on the team must take shots again—but they must all do it from the chosen ball’s spot. Keep playing this way until the lowest score for the hole is achieved![3]
- Each hole in the scramble goes the same way: everyone tees off their balls, then the best ball is chosen, and all team members take their next shot from that ball’s position.
- When shooting off the green, players must play within a scorecard of where the ball stops (although you could allow a club length instead).
- When shooting on the green, players must play within a putter’s head of where the ball stops. You can leave a mark next to the ball’s position if necessary.
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3Count one ball (and one score) per hole for each team. Take the best (lowest) score for each hole and add them up at the end of the scramble to determine your team’s overall score. The team with the lowest score—meaning they took the fewest number of shots to get the ball into each hole—wins the golf scramble![4]
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4Solve ties by drawing a random hole number. At the end of the scramble, if there’s a tie, simply have the organizer draw the number of a random hole. Then, compare the team’s scores on that specific hole; the team with the lowest score is the official winner. However, if there’s still a tie after a hole is picked, the tournament organizer may call for teams to progress from that hole until there’s a tie-breaker.
- You can also speed things up by playing for Bogey to determine a tie (meaning the goal is to get one over par for a hole).
- For example, the first team to get a ball in the hole in 3 strokes on a 4-par hole would get a Bogey!
Expert Q&A
Tips
References
- ↑ https://golftournament.studentlife.uconn.edu/scramble-rules/
- ↑ https://campusrecreation.wvu.edu/files/d/74e20053-ec0f-4647-a571-6f350f561106/2-person-golf-scramble-rules.pdf
- ↑ https://www.harpercollege.edu/foundation/events/golf/scramble-rules.php
- ↑ https://www.harpercollege.edu/foundation/events/golf/scramble-rules.php
- ↑ https://theleftrough.com/texas-scramble/
- ↑ https://elitegolf.co/popular-formats/
- ↑ https://www.clubupgolf.com/golf-scramble-strategy/
- ↑ https://theleftrough.com/golf-scramble-strategy/
- ↑ https://theleftrough.com/golf-scramble-strategy/