How to Mark a Golf Scorecard
By Bill Herrfeldt
There's a lot to learn about the game of golf, including the complexities of keeping score. A scorecard contains a ton of information, including the players' names, their handicaps, their scores for each hole and their cumulative totals for each nine holes they play. And if there is a match involved, all the more reason why you must be accurate.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Familiarize yourself with the basic information on most golf scorecards. First, there is the yardage of each hole and the degree of difficulty of each, which will be used for each player depending on his handicap. Write the names of the players in the boxes on the left side of the score card, and in parentheses, write each player's handicap.
Ask your playing partners at the end of each hole what they had on the hole and write that on your scorecard. If there are only two of you playing, offer to keep your partner's score and have him keep yours. At the end of the round, trade cards and make sure the other person wrote down the correct information. If he did, sign the card and submit it for update of your handicap.
Learn how to deal with handicaps. In most games, you simply need to reduce the totals for each player by his handicap to arrive at a "net" score.
Learn the variations of playing golf, because they will affect the way you keep score. For example, in "match play," the lowest score on each hole will win a point, regardless of how high the losing score was. On the bottom of most cards, there is an area where you can keep a running total of the match; and on any hole, you can tell from the card who is leading. In the game of "skins," the lowest score on a hole wins. If a tie occurs, the winnings will be rolled over to the next hole; and when someone wins, the number of holes it took for that player to win is so noted on the scorecard.
About The Author
Bill Herrfeldt specializes in finance, sports and the needs of retiring people, and has been published in the national edition of "Erickson Tribune," the "Washington Post" and the "Arizona Republic." He graduated from the University of Louisville.
