How to Fill in a Golf Scorecard
By Steve Silverman
Learning how to keep score in golf is challenging but it can also be fun. Keeping track of the number of strokes taken would not seem to be difficult, however if you are in charge of keeping score for a group of four players it can get complicated. In addition to keeping an accurate scorecard, you may have to calculate handicap adjustments and match play scorekeeping.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Write down every player's score at the end of each hole. You have written down each player's name on the scorecard and you should try to keep track of the shots that your playing partners have taken. However, check with them at the end of each hole to make sure you are both in agreement. If you both come up with different numbers, go over the hole on a shot-by-shot basis. If you are wrong, go with the player's score. However, if you think you are right, you should go with the number of shots that you think the player has taken.
Add up each player's score at the end of 9 holes. That's the halfway point of your round. That's a perfect time to let each player know where he stands during the round. There should not be any disputes since you have been going over each hole as you play it.
Write down each player's United States Golf Association (USGA) handicap index number next to their name on the scorecard. Each player who turns in 10 scores or more to the USGA gets a handicap index. If a player's handicap is 8 and he has shot an 93 for the round, his net total is 85 (gross score minus handicap). If you are in a tournament or match, most players will use their handicap to determine their final score.
Learn how to keep track in a match play tournament. In match play, a golfer who wins the first hole gets a plus-1 on the scorecard. If golfer A shoots a 4 on the first hole and golfer B shoots a 7, golfer A is plus-1. If golfer B shoots a 5 on the second hole and golfer A shoots a 5, golfer B is plus-1 on that hole and the match is even through two holes. It doesn't matter that golfer A won the first hole by three and lost the second hole by only 1. The only thing that matters is who wins the hole. The match continues until one player is ahead by more holes than there are holes left to play. If player A is ahead by plus-4 after the 15th hole, the match is over because player B has only three holes left and if here were to win all three he would still be behind.
Keep track of the number of putts each player takes in the round. This is done by putting that number in the corner of the scorebox that is given for each hole. This is optional, but many golfers like to know how many shots it takes to reach the green and how many shots they take once they are on the green.
Tips & Warnings
Be pleasant when you are checking the scores of your playing partners. If you have to go over a hole or two on a shot-by-shot basis do not let it get turned into an argument. Stay calm and count shots accurately.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
