Best balls of four
Teams of up to four each play their own ball, and the team's best scores on each hole count.
How it works
Each player's handicap strokes come off their own score, so the team counts net scores unless the host sets gross.
On every hole the team adds up its best two net scores, or its best one, three or all four if you choose.
The lowest team total wins.
Good to know
- Teams with the same score on every hole share the place. Otherwise the tie is broken hole by hole, from the hardest hole to the easiest, net in a net game, and the lower team score wins. The host can choose the last holes or a shared place instead.
- If the host chooses the last holes, in a shotgun start the last nine means holes 10 to 18, whatever order you played them in.
- On a nine-hole round, the nine holes played are compared hardest first, and the last-holes choice uses the last 6, 3 and 1.
- Short teams: a team with fewer players than the balls that count counts every ball. If a player withdraws, their team plays on with the players left.
- Picking up: on a hole where fewer players have a score than the balls that count, the team has no score, so no total for the round.
- When teams count different numbers of balls, they're ranked on score to par.
A worked round
The best two net scores of four count on every hole, everyone getting 85% of their handicap.
The momentLevel after 11, Team B won 12, 13 and 15 by a stroke each, Hana's 2 on 12 among them. Jordan's 2 on 16 got one back, and Team B won by two.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Kasper | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sam | |||||||||||||||||||
| Jordan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ike | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team A | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 141 |
| Dana | |||||||||||||||||||
| June | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hana | |||||||||||||||||||
| Maya | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team B | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 139 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |
| Kasper | ||||||||||
| Sam | ||||||||||
| Jordan | ||||||||||
| Ike | ||||||||||
| Team A | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | |
| Dana | ||||||||||
| June | ||||||||||
| Hana | ||||||||||
| Maya | ||||||||||
| Team B | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Kasper | ||||||||||
| Sam | ||||||||||
| Jordan | ||||||||||
| Ike | ||||||||||
| Team A | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 141 |
| Dana | ||||||||||
| June | ||||||||||
| Hana | ||||||||||
| Maya | ||||||||||
| Team B | 8 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 139 |
| Hole | Par | Kasper | Sam | Jordan | Ike | Team A | Dana | June | Hana | Maya | Team B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 2 | 4 | 8 | 7 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 4 | 5 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||
| 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 7 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 8 | 5 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||
| 9 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 10 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 11 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 12 | 3 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||
| 13 | 5 | 10 | 9 | ||||||||
| 14 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 15 | 4 | 8 | 7 | ||||||||
| 16 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||
| 17 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 18 | 5 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||
| Total | 141 | 139 |
- KM
- Kasper
- SP
- Sam
- JB
- Jordan
- ID
- Ike
- A
- Team A
- DL
- Dana
- JW
- June
- HS
- Hana
- MO
- Maya
- B
- Team B
Net scores, each player's handicap strokes already off. A circle marks a birdie and a square a bogey. A dot marks the two scores that counted on each hole (when two are equal, either one counts the same). The Team rows add those two up, and the Total column adds the holes.
Handicaps
Players get 75% of their handicap when the team counts one ball, 85% for two, and the full handicap for three or four. The host can change the percentage when setting up.
Why that number? Each format has its own usual handicap allowance, set so a 20 and a 5 both have a fair shot.
House variations
Other ways to play it.
- One ball counts: the classic best ball. Choose it under More options on the Game step.
- All four count: a team medal. Choose it under More options on the Game step.