How to Play Match Play in Golf
Head-to-head, hole by hole. Whoever's up the most when you're done wins.
What is Match Play?
Match play is the simplest bet in golf: just two players, going head-to-head one hole at a time. Lowest score wins the hole; a tie halves it and no money changes hands on that one.
Unlike stroke-play bets that add up your whole scorecard, match play only cares about how many individual holes you won. A blow-up hole costs you that one hole — not the match.
How scoring works
- Just two players, head-to-head.
- Lowest score wins the hole. A tie halves it — nobody owes anybody.
- Stakes apply per hole won, netted across the round into one final number.
- Only the hole matters, not your total strokes — a bad hole can't cost you more than that hole.
Scoring example
Alex and Sam play an 18-hole match at $5 a hole.
Over the round, Alex wins 5 holes, Sam wins 3, and the other 10 are halved. That's Alex 2 up. At $5 a hole, the two wins net against the losses — Sam owes Alex $10: the win margin (2) times the stakes, settled once at the end, not hole by hole.
See it in the app — pick from all 12 games, set your stakes, and Buddies scores it live.
Ready to play?
Download Buddies and let the app track every bet, hole by hole.
Download on the App StoreBuddies Bet Tracker is a scorekeeping and tally app. It does not process payments, hold money, or facilitate gambling. All settlements happen between players outside the app.