Match Play

[provisional]

I find watching match play much less boring than stroke play. They are showing way more golf shots by the various competitors. The programming just seems to move a long a little quicker. The one on one, every hole is important, concept is what I like a bout it. No room for mistakes. I still have a few favorites playing, but for the most part I am enjoying the quality golf shots (and the stinkers) these pros are hitting.

I guess as a last resort, stroke play has it's televised merits.

 

[Dent]

Although match play is very exciting, TGC is covering wayyyy too many putts and not enough drives and approach shots. I rarely think they show a drive.

 

[Golf Chick]

What's the difference between match play and stroke play?

 

[Hawk]

What's the difference between match play and stroke play?

Stroke play is based on the total amount of strokes during the entire round of golf. The lowest score wins (or leads, depending on how many rounds are in a tournemant).

Match play is decided on a hole-by-hole basis. In this tournemant, two players square off and the person with the lowest score on a hole "wins" that hole. The person that wins the most holes wins the match.

Check this out for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_play

 

[Harry Longshanks]

Check this out for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_play

While technically correct, did anyone else find that explanation unnecessarily complicated?

Stroke play is what you see on TV most of the time - the Masters, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, etc. Players compete against the entire rest of the field for four rounds with the winner decided by the lowest total score.

I guess if I had to explain match play, I would liken match play to March Madness (the NCAA colledge basketball tournament) since that seems to be a well-known reference point. Players are seeded in a bracket (just like march madness) with the top seed in a division playing one-on-one against the bottom seed in that division.* Players do not carry over their pars, birdies and bogeys from one hole to another. Instead, the two players compete on a hole-by-hole basis. Their scores relative to par are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is who plays better on that hole.

That is, on hole #1, a player can win, lose, or tie the hole. If a Player A take 3 strokes to get in the hole while Player B (his opponent for that match) takes 4 strokes to get int he hole, then Player A is "1 up" (or you could say that Player B is "1 down.") If both players get the same score on hole #1, then the players are "all square." In normal match play, players only get credit for winning a hole outright. No points are awarded for tying a hole.** So if Player A is "1 up" after hole #1 and the players tie hole #2, then Player A is still "1 up."

The winner is decided by the player that is 1 up (or more) after 18 holes. There are a lot more nuances (such as being "dormie" or winning after 16 holes because the player is 3 up and there aren't enough holes left for the opponent to close the gap - aka "3 & 2"), but those are the basics.

There aren't many match play championships left anymore because they are longer and can't take as many players into the field. There are a few like the U.S. Amateur that use stroke play to narrow the field down to 64 players and then match play to determine a winner.

Well, maybe wikipedia wasn't as unnecessarily complicated as I thought. I just complicated the whole thing pretty good myself. Oh well.

*For example, in the NCAA Tournament there are 4 divisions: North, South, East, and West, with each division having 16 teams, seeded 1-16. In the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, there are four divisions: Bobby Jones, Gary Player, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan, with each division having 16 players seeded 1-16.

**In some match play, such as the Ryder Cup, players are each awarded 1/2 a point for tying a hole.

 

[_JL_]

Put simply, it's 1 on 1 instead of every man for himself. Winners move on, losers go home. Last man standing wins.

 

[Sean]

I'm a big fan of match play. I like to watch it and I like to play it.

 

[C-Tech]

I agree it is great to watch on TV. I am not too sure I would want to be on the grounds the last day. 40K people trying to view 2 matches will make it very hard to see the golf or golfers. Unlike a stroke play event where you can sit in one spot and see everyone pass, if you do that on Sunday, you will have a very boring 4 hours with a 15 minute interlude of players and spectators going by.

 

[Harry Longshanks]

Forgot the most important thing: Love match play. Especially U.S. Ams. Nothing like being able to watch every single shot of the finalists.

 

[ClairefromClare]

I agree it is great to watch on TV. I am not too sure I would want to be on the grounds the last day. 40K people trying to view 2 matches will make it very hard to see the golf or golfers. Unlike a stroke play event where you can sit in one spot and see everyone pass, if you do that on Sunday, you will have a very boring 4 hours with a 15 minute interlude of players and spectators going by.

This is why I volunteer as a walking scorer! Walking 18 holes in the rough is really really hard, even without a crowd. Much better to be inside the ropes.