SUUNTO Golf - Manual (Page 19)

GOLF GUIDE
19
DID YOU KNOW?
Although a one hole playoff is played in almost every profes-
sional tournament, things are different in Majors. The Masters
Tournament has a one hole playoff, but The US Open uses an 18
hole playoff system. In The British Open a 4 hole playoff is used
and the winner of The PGA Championship is determined by a 3
hole playoff.
STROKE PLAY – SCRATCH
AND HANDICAP
In a modern golf we are used to follow stroke play competitions in television be-
cause a major part of golf tournaments uses this scoring system. In the early days
of golf things were different; a format called match play was much more widely
used.
Stroke play is a round of golf in which the score is kept by counting strokes. A
stroke is a swing a golfer takes at the ball and counts toward total score. The ob-
ject is to use as few strokes as possible in playing all holes of a tournament and in
the end the one with lowest total score wins.
Stroke play is called scratch play when competitions are played without handicap.
If players are tied after the final hole in scratch play competition, a play-off be-
tween all leading players is organized. Usually a one hole playoff with sudden
death format is played when earlier it was common to play a full 18 hole playoff
round to determine the winner.
A golf handicap is a fine system created that player from all levels can compete
against each other on equal terms. Handicap is a numerical measure of an ama-
teur player’s playing ability which can be used to calculate a net score from the
actual number of strokes used. Handicaps are administrated by golf clubs and
golf associations but they are not used in professional golf. In handicap stroke
play playoff is seldom used. The winner is usually determined by final 9, 6 or 3
holes.