Aggregate is a 2-person team format where both partners play their own ball and you add their scores together on every hole. Lowest 18-hole total wins.
It’s the format being ran at almost every member-guest, club anniversary tournament, and weekend charity scramble. It’s super simple to score, but brutal to actually play if one partner is having an off day because both scores count. So, both players have to show up.
At a Glance
Two players. Two balls. Two scores added together on every hole. Lowest combined total over 18 holes wins.
Plays gross or net, stroke play or match play. Scales to 3-person and 4-person teams in larger fields, but the 2-person version is the default. Boring, conservative golf wins. Every time.
MORE TEAM FORMATS WORTH RUNNING
If aggregate’s too straight for your group, here’s where to go next:
- Daytona Golf — Vegas style scoring (points form a 2 digit number – two 5s become 55) with a par-based penalty that punishes blow-ups twice as hard
- Low Ball Low Total — best ball and aggregate on the same hole, two points up for grabs
- Vegas Golf Game — partners’ scores form a 2-digit number against the other team
Game Setup
To play aggregate you need two teams of at least two. Each player plays their own ball from tee to green and posts their own score the same way they would in a regular round. Aggregate doesn’t change how golf is played, it simply changes how it’s scored.
Handicap allowance. The World Handicap System’s Appendix C calls this format “Total Score of Partners” and recommends 100% of Course Handicap for both players in stroke play and match play. Not 85%, not 90%, not 95%. Full strokes. The reason: both scores already count, so there’s no piggyback risk like in better-ball.
Convert each player’s Handicap Index using our super simple and free golf handicap calculator before the first tee shot.
Tee assignments are standard and per the tournament rules. Each player tees off in their normal turn order, with honors leading, per standard golf etiquette.
How to Play (Rules & Scoring)
Both players play the hole out. At the end of the hole, write down both individual scores, then add them together. That sum is the team’s score for the hole. Repeat for 18 holes. Add up all 18 team totals. Lowest combined number wins.
Example. Par 4. Player A makes a 4. Player B makes a 6. Team score for the hole: 10. Across from them, Team B’s players card a 5 and a 5. Team B’s hole score: 10. Push on that hole.
Net scoring. Apply each player’s strokes to their individual score first, then add the two net scores together for the team total. The handicap is applied to the player, not the team.
Tiebreakers. Standard committee countback is recommend: best back 9 wins, then back 6 (if the back 9 are tied), then back 3, then last hole, then card playoff or sudden death. Most clubs print the tiebreaker method with the rules.
Common Aggregate Variations
Aggregate Stableford. Same setup, but use stableford points instead of strokes. Combine both partners’ points on every hole. This caps the damage on disaster holes. A double bogey is worth 0 points instead of an 8 dragging down the team.
4-Person Aggregate. Add all four scores on every hole instead of two. The default format for charity scrambles and corporate outings where the field needs a bigger team count and a lower scoring bar.
Match Play Aggregate. Lower combined team score wins the hole, ties halve. Same hole-by-hole logic as singles match play, but the team total is what’s being compared.
COMMON MISTAKE
Treating aggregate like best ball. In best ball, one player can mail in a hole and the team’s fine. In aggregate, a mailed-in hole shows up on the scorecard. The mindset that wins in better-ball is the mindset that loses in aggregate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Best ball (or better ball / four-ball) takes the lower of the two partners’ scores on each hole. Aggregate adds them together. In best ball, one player can hit the ball into the lake while their partner makes par and the team still gets par. In aggregate, that lake ball goes straight onto the card.
The WHS recommends 100% of Course Handicap for both players in stroke play and match play. This is laid out in Appendix C of the Rules of Handicapping. Full strokes are used because both scores count — there’s no inflation risk like in best-ball formats.
Yes. The format scales — every player’s score gets added together for the hole. 4-person aggregate is the standard charity-outing format, common in fields where teams need to be bigger and the bar lower.
Committee countback in order: back 9, back 6, back 3, back 1, then card playoff or sudden death. The order should be specified in the tournament’s Terms of Competition before play begins.
Final Thoughts
Aggregate is the format that gets played the most and gets explained the least. Now you’ve got the actual rules, the handicap allowance most clubs blow, and the strategy that wins.
If you’re running a tournament this season, pencil aggregate in for one round and watch how fast it changes the way your field plays.
