A stroke play or low net score tournament is a conventional tournament style wherein handicaps are applied to players' scores at the end of the round to determine finish positions. This is the nearly universal type of tournament played in golf clubs around the country in their regular outings. It's also the type of tournament played nearly every week on the PGA tour.
The outing coordinator will determine the handicaps to use for each player. Normally this is the USGA handicap for the player from the Golf Handicap Information Network (GHIN). Members of the HAF League are members of the USGA and keep their handicaps in GHIN. There are alternative methods of determining the handicap the coordinator may choose to use. As examples among many potential methods, the outing coordinator may choose to use the Peoria system, calculate a handicap from the player's last 3 rounds (which is the minimum to determine a handicap using the USGA formula) or accept an estimate based on another League member's estimate of how well a person plays.
The outing coordinator will determine how many places will be awarded for the tournament. This is usually based on the number of entrants for the tournament, from a single winner for a small number of participants to 5 or more places for a large tournament. The outing coordinator will also determine if the tournament is being played for money and, if so, what the entry fee will be and how the places will be paid. The method of determining the handicaps, setting of handicaps, number of places, entry fees and monetary awards will all be announced by the outing coordinator in advance of the tournament.
On the day of the tournament, each player will simply record their own hole scores (number of strokes made on each hole) for their own round as they would for any regular round of golf. Cart mates/members of the same group will usually write down one another's scores, too, for verification.
At the end of the round, players will total their scores and turn their scorecard in to the outing coordinator. The outing coordinator will check the player's math and compare their scorecard against those kept by others in the group. Once the final gross score for a player is determined, the outing coordinator will record it and subtract the player's handicap from it to determine their net score.
All players in the tournament will then be ranked from lowest net score to highest. Places will be awarded based on the method predetermined by the outing coordinator. Ties are typically split although the outing coordinator can determine a tiebreaking method that would be announced when the tournament is announced.
In an outing of 18 people, 16 people decide to play in the Low Net Score tournament. The two that are not particpating play alongside those that are. They will pay no entry fee and may not win prizes.
Don is acting as the outing coordinator. The tournament is being played for prizes. Don uses the USGA handicaps of the partipants. He chooses to work with those that don't have USGA handicaps by estimating their handicap from their last 3 round scores using the USGA's formula. Don calculates the playing handicap for each player from the USGA's formula based on the tees he chooses for men and ladies and the handicap allowance he chooses (usually 100% for a stroke play tournament). Don collects $20 from each partipant for a total prize pool of $320. Don decides to split prizes in the event of ties.
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45% | 30% | 15% | 10% |
The handicaps for each person, which are posted by Don on the League's Web site, are as follows:
|Player|Handicap|
|Anna|10|
|Bob|6|
|Carol|18|
|Don|12|
|Evelyn|25|
|Francisco|7|
|Georgia|16|
|Hank|11|
|Imelda|9|
|Javon|17|
|Keiko|15|
|Luis|28|
|Melinda|22|
|Nick|31|
|Olivia|8|
|Pops|40|
On the day of the tournament, everyone plays their round accoring to the Rules of Golf and records their scores for each hole. The other members of their group also record one another's scores for confirmation. Once the round is completed, the players turn their scorecards in to the outing coordinator. After verifying and tallying the scores, the final results are as follows.
| Player | Handicap | Gross | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 16 | 85 | 69 |
| Don | 12 | 85 | 73 |
| Javon | 17 | 90 | 73 |
| Olivia | 8 | 81 | 73 |
| Carol | 18 | 92 | 74 |
| Francisco | 7 | 81 | 74 |
| Hank | 11 | 85 | 74 |
| Imelda | 9 | 83 | 74 |
| Keiko | 15 | 89 | 74 |
| Anna | 10 | 85 | 75 |
| Bob | 6 | 81 | 75 |
| Evelyn | 25 | 100 | 75 |
| Luis | 28 | 103 | 75 |
| Melinda | 22 | 98 | 76 |
| Pops | 40 | 118 | 78 |
| Nick | 21 | 101 | 80 |
In this tightly bunched field, Georgia came out on top and wins $144 ($320 x 45%). The remaining prize pool of $176 is split between Don, Javon and Olivia in the 3-way tie for 2nd, getting $58.33 each. Don keeps the remaining penny as an administrative fee. 😀