Scramble, shamble, best ball… what does it all mean?

If you are sometimes confused by these terms, you are not alone. One of the amazing things about golf is that you can play golf in so many different formats. On the other hand, it can be a bit overwhelming and confusing when people casually toss out these golf format terms in conversation. Have you done the all knowing nod, when actually you don’t really know what they mean? Don’t worry - I’ve got you. Never confuse these golf formats again.

Formats in the game of golf

When you watch golf on TV, the vast majority of the PGA and LPGA tournaments are playing a format called Stroke Play. Literally, the number of times they hit the ball with any club in their bag is the score. The winner is the player with the least strokes.

Off the top of my head, there are at least 10 different formats I can think of, and there’s easily a dozen or more that I’m not thinking of. Today we will just focus on a few common formats. These terms are ones I’ve had trouble keeping straight in the past, and they are common enough that you are likely to see these formats on flyers and advertisements for charity or company golf outings.

Scramble & Best Ball: Are they the same thing?

No, Scramble and Best Ball formats are not the same thing.

Let’s start by looking at the scramble format. In a 4 player scramble, each player tees off on the tee box and the team decides together which shot is the best one. For example:

• At the tee box, players A, B, C and D tee off

• The team chooses player B’s shot

• Players A, C and D pick up their golf balls, and all go to the spot where Player B’s ball landed

• Players A, B, C and D hit their golf balls from where Player B’s ball landed

• The team chooses player C’s shot

• Players A, B and D pick up their golf balls, and go to the spot where Player C’s ball landed

• Players A, B, C and D hit their golf balls from where Player C’s ball landed

• This repeats until the ball is holed out.

Every hole is played the same way. The 4 player scramble team has one records one score at the end of this format. Players do not have individual scores in this format (and also, you can’t record scramble rounds in your GHIN handicap tracker just in case you were wondering.)

Best Ball

Best ball formats typically consist of 4 players that form 2 teams. Now, Players A & B are on Team 1, and Players C & D are on Team 2. Example:

• Hole 1

  • Player A scores 3; Player B scores 4. Team 1 score is 3.

  • Player C scores 5; Player B scores 4. Team 2 score is 4.

  • Team 1 wins the hole.

• Hole 2

  • Player A scores 6; Player B scores 5. Team 1 score is 5.

  • Player C scores 6; Player D scores 5. Team 2 score is 5.

  • The teams tie this hole.

This repeats for all the holes of the round. Best ball is often played in the match play format. Match play means each individual hole is played as its own match to be won, lost or tied by the teams. The teams record the best individual score for each hole, and they are either up, down or tied versus the other team. In the example above, Team 1 is “one up” on Team 2. Whichever team wins more holes wins the game.

Or this format could also be played in Stroke Play. In that case at the end of the round there are 2 team scores and the team with the least strokes wins.

Shamble

The Shamble format is a fun combination of scramble and best ball.

In a 4 player Shamble, the players tee off and the team chooses the best drive. The other 3 players pick up their ball, and all players hit their next shot from the spot of the best drive. All 4 players play their own ball from that point on. The team score is the lowest score of the individual players.

This format combines team dynamics and individual skill.

Takeaway

Even though in a Scramble format the team chooses the “best shot,” the Best Ball format is a completely different format.

Everyone has different opinions on golf game formats. While I think scrambles are fun and I’m pretty relaxed during them, I know other people feel a lot of pressure to perform for their team in a scramble and they don’t necessarily look forward to it.

Have you played any of these formats? What do you think of them? Tell me in the comments!