Golf Games: Stableford Scoring

For a different way to score your game, try the Stableford System.

In Stableford scoring, points are awarded based on the player’s score in relation to a “fixed score.” The fixed score is par, plus any handicap points that are being given. Scoring is as follows:

2 or more over: 0 points
1 over: 1 point
Even: 2 points
1 under: 3 points
2 under: 4 points
3 under: 5 points
4 under: 6 points

At the end of the day, the player with the HIGHEST point total is the winner.

This system isn’t very much in the United States. On the PGA Tour, a modified version once was used in a tournament called “The International<” held in Castle Pines Colorado. That tournament, however, died in 2007.

The advantage of the Stableford system is that it speeds up play and makes for a much tighter game. Here’s an example. Player A gets a 4 on a par 4, but his opponent, B, gets an 8. In regular scoring, B is now 4 shots behind A. On the next par 4 hole, A gets another Par, and B gets a bird. A now has 8 and B 11. He’s still three shots out.

In Stableford scoring, however, that’s not the case. Play A gets a par and 2 points. B gets a quadruple and gets no points. So at this point, he’s only two points out. On the next par 4, A’s par scores another 2. But B’s bird scores 3. So A has 2+2 = 4 and B has 0+3 = 3. Here’s it’s still anyone’s match.

Scoring this way speeds up play because once a double bogey reached, you can pick up the ball.

The Stableford System was invented by Dr. Frank Barney Gorton Stableford (1870–1959), to deter golfers from giving up on their round after just one or two bad holes. It was first used informally at the Glamorganshire Golf Club, Penarth, Wales, in 1898, and first used in competition at Wallasey Golf Club in Wallasey, England, in 1932.