Accenture Matchplay Scoring

The Accenture Matchplay Championship is one of few tournaments on the professional golfing circuit that use the match play scoring system. Other tournaments that use this system are the biennial Ryder Cup – which is contested between teams made up of American and European golfers, the biennial Presidents Cup – which is made up of teams representing America and non-European or International players, and the HSBC World Match Play Championship – an invitational event on the European Tour.

Women’s Professional golf held its first match play event in 2005 with the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship.

Match Play Scoring Basics

In stroke play, a scoring unit is a stroke. In match play, the scoring unit is the hole. Players are paired against each other and the competitor with the lowest score on a particular hole wins the hole outright. If the golfers tie, the hole is halved.

Matchplay rules dictate that a running tally is kept between the two competing players on a course. At the start of a match, the scores are all “square” or equal. The score is recorded as one player takes the lead over another. For example if the result is stated as ‘Ernie Els won 3 and 2′, it means that he was 3 holes ahead with 2 holes left to play. If players are still all square at the 18th hole, a sudden death playoff ensues.