Scramble: the team format, done properly

1. 1

   Everyone tees off

   Two to four players, one team. All hit; the team picks the best drive. The others pick up.

2. 2

   Play from the chosen ball

   Everyone drops within a club length of the chosen spot, no nearer the hole, keeping the lie (fairway stays fairway, rough stays rough; on the green, within a putter head). All play; pick the best; repeat.

3. 3

   Hole out, one score

   The first ball in the hole ends it. Write the team's score for the hole.

4. 4

   Apply the team handicap

   Net scrambles use a percentage of each player's course handicap, not the full numbers: 25/20/15/10 for four players, low to high. The scorer computes it.

Course handicaps 4, 8, 12 and 20: 1.0 + 1.6 + 1.8 + 2.0 = 6.4, team handicap 6. The low numbers are deliberate: a team always plays its best ball, so full handicaps would make a net scramble a lottery.

Order of play is the whole strategy. Off the tee, the shortest hitter goes first to get a ball in play, the longest last, free to swing. On approaches, the best wedge player goes last. On the green, the first putt is for information: whoever putts first reads it for the others, so send the player who putts worst first and the best last. And use the minimum-drives rule early: take the weak player’s drive on a short par 4, not on the 18th when you have no choice.

The allowances start from each player’s Course Handicap on the tee you play; the handicap calculator gives it from the Index. For a day with the same four playing against each other instead of together, see the other games.