RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority from U.S. Provisional No. 63/527,407 filed Jul. 18, 2023, the disclosure thereof is incorporated by referenced herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of scoring a golf match between two teams of golfers or a group of teams of golfers.

BACKGROUND

Golf may often be played as a stroke play match in which players compare their gross or net score after handicap deductions to determine a winner. Match play, however, involves golfers playing head-to-head, hole-to-hole with the winner being the golfer winning the most holes. Team match play at the club, amateur and professional level is becoming more popular. Colleges are playing more matches among multiple schools. The interest in match play events like the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup, the President's Cup and the Solheim Cup are at an all-time high.

In match play one or two players play again each other or another player or team of two plays another team of two. The teams win a hole by having the lower or lowest score as compared to the other player or players. A net predetermined number of holes are played until one player or team has won more holes than there are holes to play. At this point, the match is over or “closed out” and the players stop playing. When such matches are part of a team event with multiple players and teams like the Ryder Cup, many players do not finish out the eighteen holes and cease contributing to their team. For example, if after fourteen holes one player or a team has won a net of five holes, or as commonly referred to “up 5-4”, the last four holes, holes fifteen through eighteen are not played, and that team is no longer playing in the match.

Thus, an alternative format to keep all players and teams engaged for all holes depending on how many are being played, would be desirable both from a player standpoint and also from a fan viewpoint particularly during high profile events like the Ryder Cup. These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides an improved scoring format for match play golf. The present invention provides a method for scoring a golf match play game between two teams of one or two players for a predetermined number of holes. The method includes assigning a point total N for each hole, playing a hole, keeping track of each players score and determining which of two teams has won the hole based on which player has the lower individual score for the hole, awarding or scoring three-quarters of N points to the winning team with the lowest score, one-quarter of N points to the losing team and one-half N points if the teams have an identical low score. The match is then continued, and each hole is played, and points awarded or scored for each hole for the predetermined number of holes until all of the holes have been played. The total number of points may then be added, and a winning team declared based on the team scoring the most total points, not necessarily based on whom won the most holes.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for scoring golf match play between one or more groups having multiple teams of one or two players for a predetermined number of holes. The method includes assigning a point total N for each hole, playing a hole, keeping track of each players score and determining which member of a particular team has won the hole based on which player has the lower individual score for the hole, awarding or scoring three-quarters of N points to the winning team with the lowest score, one-quarter of N points to the losing team and one-half N points if the teams have an identical low score. The match is then continued and each hole is played and points awarded or scored for each hole for the predetermined number of holes until all predetermined number of holes have been played. The total number of points among all teams may then be added and a winning group declared based on the group scoring the most total points.

In another embodiment, if after playing a hole and the team having the lower individual score has a score greater than two strokes, the team may be awarded all N points with the losing team getting zero points. For example, if on a Par 3 the lowest score is a two (birdie), and the best the losing team did was to score a four (bogie), then the winning team would get N points and the losing team zero.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example of a scorecard illustrating a match in which the two players tied using convention scoring, but player two would have won using one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail with respect to the description and methodologies provided herein. It should be appreciated that the invention can be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the embodiments of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, as used herein, “and/or” refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the terms “comprise,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “include,” “includes” and “including” specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

All patents, patent applications and publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of a conflict in terminology, the present specification is controlling.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method for scoring a golf match between two teams of one or two players is provided. The golf match will typically be nine or eighteen holes although a predetermined number of holes other than nine or eighteen may be agreed upon prior to starting the golf match. A point total “N” is assigned for each hole. In one embodiment, N is a factor of 4. It is recognized that the point total may be an agreed upon a number other than four.

Each hole may then play consecutively while keeping track of each player's score. After playing each hole, the team (single or two players) winning the hole may be determined. In one embodiment with respect to scoring, the winning team may be awarded or scored three-quarters of the N points while the losing team may be awarded or scored one-quarter of the N points. If the teams tie for the lowest individual score, each team may be awarded or scored half of the N points. Like the embodiment in which N points being a factor of four, the points awarded or scored per hole may be a different fraction of N or may be a predetermined arbitrary number. Such a change in the points may be based on the type of event being played (e.g., total number of teams) or skill level (amateur versus professional or low handicap golfer only versus all handicap golfers, for example).

The predetermined number of holes may be played out until all have been played. Then, the total number of points accumulated on each of the holes is added up, a winner is declared based on the team scoring the most points rather than the team having won the most net holes. Thus, if N is 4 and the total number of holes is nine, the total points awarded are 36 and total points awarded to the group is the number of groups times 36. Similarly, if total number of holes is 18, the total points to be awarded is 72 points, and the total points of the group to be awarded are the number of groups times 72.

The above describes a match in which there are only a twosome or a foursome playing the match. Alternatively, the golf match may be between one or more groups having teams of one or two players. For example, during Ryder Cup play, the first two days there are typically four-match sessions of what is called “four-ball” (best ball) in the morning and four-match sessions of what is called “foursomes” (alternate shot). The final day is twelve single matches. A win in a match results in a point to the group with a tie resulting in a half-point being awarded or scored. The winner of the Ryder Cup would be the team with the most total points, not the team that won the most matches.

Table 1 provides an example of a scorecard of a team of two players playing a conventional nine-hole match and Table 2 provides an example of a scorecard of a team of two players playing a match according to the invention.

TABLE 1

(CONVENTIONAL)

HOLE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Yardage
385
200
520
167
425
375
425
375
515

Team 1
4
2
5
4
4
3
4
3
X

Team 2
4
3
5
3
5
4
3
4
X

Par
4
3
5
3
4
4
4
4
5

Score
—
1 up
1 up
—
1 up
2 up
1 up
2 up
2 and 1

TABLE 2

(N = 4)

TOTAL

HOLE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
POINTS

Yardage
385
200
520
167
425
375
425
375
515

Team 1
4
2
5
4
5
3
4
3
5

Team 2
4
3
5
3
5
4
3
4
4

Par
4
3
5
3
4
4
4
4
5

POINTS
2
3
2
1
3
3
1
3
1
19

TEAM A

POINTS
2
1
2
3
1
1
3
1
3
17

TEAM B

Thus, Team 1 won holes 2, 5 6, and 8 and Team 2 won holes 4 and 7. In a continued match, the match would end on hole 8 because Team 1 has won two more holes than Team 2 and there is only one hole left to play, namely Team 1 wins “2 and 1”. Thus by winning the ninth hole, Team B would have played all of the nine holes and helped his/her group by scoring three points as compared to Team A's one point, thus scoring two extra points for Team B because of playing nine holes instead of eight holes. These two points may be critical to the overall group winner when all of the team scores are added up. Additionally, Team B was engaged for all nine holes because of having to play-out to determine number of points won and the net number of holes won.

Referring to FIG. 1, an alternative embodiment is illustrated. In this embodiment, if a player or team wins a hole by more than one stroke, the player or team is awarded all N points (4 points in this embodiment) instead of the three-quarter N points (3 points). In this manner, not only is the match played out to completion as in the other embodiments, but each individual hole is more likely to be played out since the team having the lower score is incentivized to maximize the points by wining the hole by two or more strokes while the losing team is trying to avoid getting zero points by losing by more than two strokes.

Under the conventional scoring system, Player 1 and Player 2 would have halved the match since they won an equal number of holes. Using the embodiment in which one player may win all N points (4 points), if they have a score of more than one stroke better than the other player, Player 2 because of getting 4 points on holes 3 and 13, wins the match by 4 points.

Although the present approach has been described herein with referenced to certain embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention defined by the appended claims is not to be limited by particular details set forth in the above description as may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope of the present approach.