A tournament is not just a regular round with a trophy at the end. The format you choose decides everything: how fast the field moves, whether a 22-handicapper can still have his dignity in take while shaking hands with the club champion at the end, and whether your event is remembered as the best day of the season or the one nobody wants to repeat.
Pick the right one and a wide-open field of mismatched golfers turns into a genuine contest. Pick the wrong one and you get a five-hour grind that buries half your players by the fourth hole.
Selecting a Format
This guide covers twenty-one event-ready formats, sorted into the five buckets that actually matter when you are building a field.
First, the scramble-type games, the welcoming, high-scoring formats that carry charity outings and corporate days.
Second, the two-person partner formats, the Ryder Cup-style games that turn a foursome into two teams and reward golfers who can read each other.
Third, the team formats with a twist, built to keep the pressure rotating and the scorecard alive right to the 18th green.
Fourth, the scoring formats, the way you keep score across any field, from pure stroke play to points-based games that survive a blow-up hole.
And fifth, the field-leveling formats, the great equalizers that give a high-handicapper a real shot at beating the scratch player.
Before you read the full breakdowns below, flip through the interactive finder first. Then, jump down the page for the rules, the scoring, and the honest take on who each format is really for.
The Golf Tournament Browser
Use the finder below to look through your options. Once you’ve narrowed it down, tap any card to jump straight to its full official guide to understand setup, variations, and mistakes to avoid.
Scramble-Type Formats
These are the welcoming, high-scoring formats that run nearly every charity outing and corporate scramble on the calendar: easy to explain, fast to play, and forgiving enough that nobody on a mixed team feels like dead weight.
Scramble
Players: 2–4 (per team) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
The friendliest game in golf and the default for every charity outing on the planet. Everyone on the team tees off, you pick the best ball, and all players move to that spot and hit again, repeating until the ball is holed. One team score per hole means a single good shot from anybody covers three bad ones, so even a beginner can drain the winning putt and feel like the hero.
For tournaments, scale the difficulty by team size and add a minimum-drives rule (each player’s tee shot must be used a set number of times) to stop one bomber from carrying the whole card. Most events apply a percentage-of-combined-handicaps allowance to keep teams honest.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Scramble Official Guide →
Shamble
Players: 2–4 (per team) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
A scramble for the first shot only, then it’s every golfer for themselves. Everyone tees off, the team picks the best drive, and from that spot each player finishes the hole with their own ball. Tournaments usually count the best one or two individual scores per hole.
That dual nature makes it a fantastic outing format: the shared drive keeps pace and confidence up, but real golf decides the hole. Counting two scores instead of one rewards depth, so a team needs more than a single star.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Shamble Official Guide →
Worst Ball
Players: 1–4 (works solo or 2v2) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Brutal, but evens out skill
The scramble flipped on its head, and Tiger’s favorite practice game for a reason. Every player hits, the team plays the worst ball, and you grind out the hole from the spot nobody wanted. It’s a short-game and mental-game stress test where a single loose shot drags the whole team down, so consistency beats brilliance every single time.
As a tournament format it’s a niche, savage choice best reserved for low-handicap fields or a tough side bet. Pair it with generous strokes if you run it for a mixed group, because scores climb fast and patience runs thin.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Worst Ball Official Guide →
Two-Person Partner Formats
These are the Ryder Cup-style games: pair golfers up, set two teams against each other, and reward the duos who plan their way around the course instead of just playing their own ball.
Four-Ball
Players: 4 · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
The Ryder Cup staple and the easiest partner format to run. Two players per team, everyone plays their own ball the entire hole, and only the better of the two scores counts. The strategy is all in the partnership: when your buddy is buried on a par 5, that’s your cue to play safe and post a steady par, freeing them to take on the risky shot with nothing to lose.
It’s mixed-skill friendly because a higher handicapper only needs to come through on a hole or two to matter. Run it at full handicap allowance and the format does the leveling for you.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Four-Ball Official Guide →
Alternate Shot
Players: 4 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Rough, weak link hurts
The format that separates real partners from riding buddies. Each team plays one ball, alternating strokes until it’s holed, with players also alternating who tees off (one takes the odd holes, one the evens). Hit a perfect drive and you can only watch as your partner yanks the approach into the trees; every shot you take, you’re playing the lie someone else left you.
It’s the fastest format in golf and a tournament tradition, but it punishes a weak link hard, so it shines with evenly matched pairs. The standard WHS allowance is 50% of the combined course handicaps.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Alternate Shot Official Guide →
Greensomes
Players: 4 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
The sociable middle ground between Scramble and Alternate Shot, and a smart pick when you want partner golf without the carnage. Both players tee off, the team picks the better drive, then they alternate shots from there to the hole. The shared tee shot takes the sting out of a bad swing, so neither partner ever feels like they single-handedly torched the hole.
It plays faster than Alternate Shot and is far more forgiving for a mixed pair, since the weaker driver can swing freely knowing the strong one is the safety net. A common allowance is 60% of the lower and 40% of the higher handicap.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Greensomes Official Guide →
Chapman
Players: 4 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Medium
Alternate Shot’s strategic cousin, also known as Pinehurst. Both partners tee off, then they swap balls and each hits the other’s drive for the second shot. The team picks the better of those two positions, and from there it’s alternate shot to the hole. That opening switch is the wrinkle: every player has to handle their partner’s drive on every hole, so there’s no hiding a wild tee shot.
It’s a club-tournament favorite because it blends teamwork and skill without the all-or-nothing brutality of pure foursomes. The usual allowance is 60% low and 40% high.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Chapman Official Guide →
Gruesomes
Players: 4 only (2v2) · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Medium, partner dependent
The evil twin of Greensomes: same setup, opposite intention. Both partners tee off, but the opposing team chooses which of your two drives you must play, and they will almost always hand you the worst one. The partner whose ball was not picked plays the next shot, and you alternate from there. Don’t schedule this one with people you want to stay friends with.
The cruelty makes it a brilliant money game and a great equalizer, because even your best drive can be ignored. Keep field sizes tight and tempers loose.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Gruesomes Official Guide →
Aggregate
Players: 4 only (2v2, scales to 4-person teams) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
The 2v2 team format behind nearly every member-guest tournament. Both partners play their own ball all the way out, and you add their two scores together on every hole, lowest combined total wins. Because every stroke from both players counts, there’s nowhere to hide a blow-up hole, which is exactly why aggregate rewards boring, conservative, mistake-free golf over hero shots.
The WHS allowance is a full 100% (no reduction), which makes it genuinely fair across a mixed field. It also scales cleanly to four-person teams by summing every score or the best few per hole.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Aggregate Official Guide →
Team Formats with a Twist
These formats keep a full foursome together but move the pressure around, rotating who has to deliver and switching the rules mid-round so no team is ever truly out of it.
Yellow Ball
Players: 4 (3 also works) · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
A rotating-pressure team format that turns one player every hole into the designated “yellow ball,” and that player’s score must count for the team no matter what. With four players the rotation runs A-B-C-D and repeats, so each golfer carries the heat four or five times across the eighteen. The rest of the team usually contributes a best-ball score alongside the mandatory yellow-ball figure.
The genius is that everyone gets a turn in the spotlight, so the day never rides on one star, and protecting the yellow ball (literally, against loss in a hazard) adds a layer of strategy you won’t find in a standard scramble.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Yellow Ball Official Guide →
6-6-6
Players: 4 only · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent, variety levels skill gaps
Three formats in one round: six holes of Best Ball, six of Alternate Shot, and six of Scramble. The same foursome (two against two) plays all three segments, so a team that gets buried in one style has two completely different formats waiting to flip the scorecard. It’s a round of three matches stitched into one, and the variety keeps everyone engaged from the first tee to the last.
That rotation is exactly why it’s so kind to mixed-skill pairs: nobody is stuck in the one format that exposes their weakness for all eighteen holes. Play each six-hole leg as its own mini-match for maximum drama.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the 6-6-6 Official Guide →
SWAT
Players: 8+ (teams of 4) · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, balanced A-B-C-D teams
A big-field team game born at Oakmont and built for a whole outing at once. You split the field into balanced four-man teams, each with an A, B, C, and D player by handicap, and every foursome plays a best-ball Nassau (front nine, back nine, and total) against every other team on the course at the same time. It needs at least two foursomes and scales cleanly all the way to a packed field.
It is played at scratch with no gimmies, so the careful A-B-C-D seeding, not strokes, is what keeps it fair across mixed abilities. That setup is also what makes it fun: a D player draining a long putt can steal a hole from a stacked rival, so every seat on the team carries real weight.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the SWAT Official Guide →
Scoring Formats
These are the ways you actually keep score, the engines that sit under any field, from the purest stroke play to points-based games that shrug off a disaster hole.
Stroke Play (Medal Play)
Players: Any (singles or field) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, play it net
The purest and most traditional way to keep score: count every stroke across all 18 holes and the lowest total wins. There is nowhere to hide and no per-hole reset, so a double bogey on the first sticks with you to the last green. It is the format every major championship is built on, and the one your members already understand without a single word of explanation.
For a mixed field, run it net by subtracting course handicaps so a 15 can genuinely beat a 4. Flighting the field by handicap keeps it competitive, since players battle others of similar ability rather than the whole room. That one tweak turns the most demanding format into a fair one.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Stroke Play Official Guide →
Match Play
Players: 2 (singles) or 2v2 · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good, with strokes
Golf reduced to its oldest, simplest fight: you play hole by hole and each one is won, lost, or halved. The running tally is holes up, not total strokes, so a blow-up costs you only that single hole instead of your whole card. The match can close out before the 18th once a lead is bigger than the holes left, which is why the drama runs so hot down the stretch.
This is the classic bracket and club-championship format, the same one the Ryder Cup runs on. For a mixed pairing, give strokes off the low handicap on the right holes and a higher player stays in every match. Because one bad hole is contained, it is far more forgiving than a medal card.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Match Play Official Guide →
Stableford
Players: Any · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
A points game that fixes the worst part of stroke play. You earn points against par on each hole (one for a bogey, two for par, three for a birdie, four for an eagle), and the most points wins. The trick is that a blow-up hole simply caps at zero, so a triple bogey costs you the same as a clean bogey-or-worse and never tanks your whole round.
That floor is exactly why it is an outing favorite: pace stays brisk because a wrecked hole is just a pick-up, and morale holds because nobody is buried by one disaster. It runs cleanly off handicaps for a mixed field, and you can play it as a team by combining each player’s points.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Stableford Official Guide →
Modified Stableford
Players: Any · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
The Tour-style cousin of Stableford, tuned to reward attacking golf. The scale runs eagle +5, birdie +2, par 0, bogey -1, and double bogey or worse -3, so pars are merely neutral and the real money is in birdies. The negative numbers add a sharp edge: a careless mistake actually drags your total down rather than just stalling it.
That math turns the whole round into a birdie hunt, since playing safe for pars gets you nowhere fast. The PGA Tour proves it works at the Barracuda Championship, the one Tour event scored this way. For a mixed field, keep it net so the aggressive payoff is shared, not just handed to the longest hitters.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Modified Stableford Official Guide →
Quota
Players: Any · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
Stableford with a personal target bolted on. Before the round, each player is handed a quota, a points goal drawn straight from their handicap, so a scratch player chases a big number and a high-handicapper a small one. You then earn Stableford-style points all day, and the winner is whoever beats their own quota by the most rather than whoever posts the lowest score.
Because everyone is racing their own bar, it is a clean equalizer that lets a 20 genuinely outplay a scratch on the day. It works beautifully as an outing or a season-long points race, and the running quota gives players a clear, simple target to chase on every single hole.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Quota Official Guide →
Skins
Players: 2–4 (per group) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Every hole is its own prize. To win the skin you need an outright low score, and if two players tie, that skin carries over and stacks onto the next hole, so the pot can swell to four or five at a time. One clutch birdie late can scoop a fortune that has been building for an hour, which makes the back nine genuinely electric.
That carry-over drama is the whole appeal, and the dramatic late swings keep everyone alive until the final putt. Run it net for a mixed group so strokes fall on the right holes and the high-handicapper can grab a skin too. It works as the main event or as a side game riding alongside your real format.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Skins Official Guide →
Field-Leveling Formats
These are the great equalizers, the formats built to give a high-handicapper a real, honest shot at beating the scratch player on any given day.
Three Blind Mice
Players: Any · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, play it net
Play a normal stroke-play round, then let pure luck do the leveling. After every card is in, three holes are drawn at random and tossed out for the whole field, and your best 15-hole total wins. You never pick the holes, the draw does, so a birdie can vanish exactly as easily as a triple bogey, and nobody knows which scores will survive until the cards are signed.
The trick is to draw after the round so nobody can coast on holes they think will be dropped. Run it net, or use a stacked draw weighted toward the harder holes, to tighten up a mixed field. It works as a full club or league event and adds a jolt of suspense to an ordinary medal round.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Three Blind Mice Official Guide →
Three Little Pigs (Lemon Drop)
Players: Any · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
The most forgiving format in golf, and the skill-managed cousin of Three Blind Mice. Here you throw out your own three worst holes and count the other 15, so a blow-up hole quietly disappears and a single disaster never sinks your round. The difference from its random cousin is simple: you choose the holes to drop, the draw does not, which rewards knowing your own scorecard.
That safety net keeps a high-handicapper firmly in the hunt all day, which is what makes it so kind to a mixed field. Play it gross or net to taste. The Lemon Drop variant forces you to toss your worst par 3, par 4, and par 5, so nobody can simply dump three brutal par 5s and call it a round.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Three Little Pigs Official Guide →
Bingo Bango Bongo
Players: 3–4 (per group) · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Excellent
Three points up for grabs on every hole, and not one of them goes to the low score. There is Bingo for the first player on the green, Bango for closest to the pin once everyone is on, and Bongo for the first ball in the hole. A short hitter who plods to the green in order can rack up Bingos all day, so the points spread out across the group instead of piling onto the best player.
That is exactly why it shines for mixed skill: every ability level can score and everyone stays involved on every shot. The one rule that keeps it honest is honor and order of play, since the player farthest from the hole always goes first, so you cannot jump the queue to snatch a Bingo or a Bongo.
Read the full rules, scoring, and strategy in the Bingo Bango Bongo Official Guide →
Setting Up Your Tournament
Once you have a format in mind, the rest of the event needs a plan. Our complete guide to how to run a charity golf tournament covers the timeline, budget, sponsors, on-course contests, and day-of logistics from start to finish. A few essentials to line up alongside your format pick:
Picking the games is the fun part. Before you lock them in, though, sort out a fair field, clear rules, and good pace, because those three things decide whether your format actually delivers the day you pictured.
If the field has mixed or unknown handicaps, a one-day system builds a fair number from each player’s own card: look at System 36, Peoria, and Callaway. For picking the right method, see fair handicapping for mixed groups, then run the numbers with the free golf handicap calculator. Brush up on golf etiquette to protect your pace, and keep the golf penalties guide handy for any rules questions on the day.
Further reading: if you want to go deeper, our breakdown of Scramble vs Shamble (all 17 scramble formats) covers the full scramble family, and Best Ball vs Better Ball vs Four-Ball untangles the best-ball naming once and for all.
Frequently Asked Questions
A four-person scramble is the runaway choice for charity events. It’s the easiest format to explain to a field full of casual and beginner golfers, it keeps pace fast because the team only needs one good ball per shot, and the high-scoring fun factor means even players who shoot 110 leave happy. If you want a touch more individual involvement, a shamble is the next step up.
In a scramble, the team picks the single best shot after every stroke and everyone plays from that spot until the hole is done, so only one team score is recorded. In a shamble, the team only shares the best drive: after the tee shot, each player finishes the hole with their own ball, and one or two individual scores count. A shamble is essentially a scramble for the tee shot followed by real golf the rest of the way. Check out our full breakdown of every scramble type format (there are more than 15 of them!).
It depends on the format. Four-ball and aggregate typically run near full allowance (95–100%) since each player holes out their own ball, while alternate shot uses 50% of the combined course handicaps because two players share one ball. Greensomes and Chapman commonly use 60% of the lower handicap plus 40% of the higher. Always confirm the WHS-recommended allowance for your exact format before the first tee.
For a field with wildly different abilities, a scramble or 6-6-6 is hard to beat. A scramble lets a beginner’s occasional great shot count while hiding their bad ones, and 6-6-6 rotates through three formats so no pairing is ever trapped in the one style that exposes its weakness. Both keep weaker players involved and stop a single golfer from sinking the team.
For a 36-hole or two-round day, vary the format between rounds to keep things fresh: a relaxed scramble in the morning to warm everyone up, then a competitive four-ball or aggregate match in the afternoon once the field is loose. For a single round with built-in variety, 6-6-6 packs three formats into eighteen holes. Just be sure to settle scoring and handicap allowances for every segment before play begins.
Final Thoughts
There’s no single best tournament format; there’s only the right one for your field. A corporate day full of once-a-year golfers needs the welcoming chaos of a scramble. A buddy trip of single-digit handicaps will get far more out of the strategy and needling of alternate shot or a gruesomes money game. Match the format to the people, and the leaderboard takes care of itself.
Use the browser at the top of this page to shortlist a couple of contenders, then click through to the full guide for each before you lock in your draw. Nail the format, set fair handicap allowances, and you’ll run the event people ask you to organize again next year.
