Scramble vs. Best Ball
There is a common misconception among golfers that scrambles and best ball tournaments are the same. Some even say “best ball scramble,” but there really is no such thing. The guy (or gal) who came up with the terminology must have been drunk or crazy, because both are very misleading.
The one thing both formats have in common is that teams typically have 2 or 4 golfers, competing against other teams.
Now, you might think that in a best ball format, you would use the best ball out of your team. Nope! In a scramble format, you might think that each player is scrambling around the course. Wrong again!
In a scramble, each player hits their own shot from the tee. The team then chooses the best shot. Players whose shots were not selected, go pick up their ball and the entire team shoots their second shots from where this “best shot” came to rest, (typically) with the option of shooting from within a club length of this “best ball” spot (except on the green of course). You cannot, however, move from rough to fairway, or fringe to green. After the second shot, this process continues as many times as necessary until a ball is in the hole. The team score for each hole is how many “best shots” were needed.
In a best ball format, each player on a team plays their ball from where it ends up (no “best shot” or picking up and moving the ball to another location). It can be viewed as each player playing a typical round of golf, with their own score for each hole. The team score for each hole is the lowest score by any one player. As an example, a team of 4 players shoot 4, 5, 4, and 6 on a hole. The team score for this hole would be a 4 because it was the lowest score.
Both formats have advantages and disadvantages.
By playing in a scramble, teams are able to put up some low scores, because there is a good chance that 1 out of 4 golfers will have a pretty decent shot. One thing I do find in scrambles is that players do no play their typical golf game. If the first player to tee of hits one safely down the fairway, every player after usually tries to crank one a mile, leading to bad habits.
When playing a best ball format, each player gets to play their own game. This gives everyone the chance to know how they scored for the course, because each player has an individual score for each hole. The team scores are usually much higher with this format, because it’s not a collective effort for each shot, like in a scramble.
When playing in a scramble, “Drive for show, put for dough!” In order to win, your team must be able to make putts of a decent length.
7/28/2004 at 6:56pm
I have played in both and I agree that the names of them are misleading…I like both of them, but I like scrambles a bit more because it is a little bit more team oriented and that is something I like to have once in a while when golfing.
5/11/2005 at 2:09pm
I appreciate your attempt to educate people. I have been trying hard in my area to enlighten the uninformed for quite some time now. It appears to be somewhat regional as the current area that I live in calls the scramble a best ball whereas just 100 miles to the north where I used to live they had it right.
6/21/2005 at 3:00pm
I am planning a golf scramble for my work and I was calling it a “best ball scramble”. I am going to rename it now, thanks to you. Now I won’t sound drunk or crazy! I definitely think the names are deceiving and would make more sense if reversed. Thanks for the clarification.
8/29/2005 at 8:24pm
does anyone know any exciting games besides best ball or scramble that 4-5-foursome can play(something new we have tried them all
7/3/2007 at 9:20am
mike, we tried another scramble type of game and it worked out very well.You play it the same as the regular scramble except that the person that hit the best ball is not able to hit the next shot from where his /her ball landed , they will have to sit out that shot and after the second best ball is pick the person that hit that ball will have to sit out the next shot too, this continues untill the ball is in the hole .Even when putting what ever ball has been choosen to hit from the owner if that ball will sit out the next shot
3/21/2008 at 5:00pm
For small groups of just your normal four-some or five-some you could try Bingo, Bango, Bongo. Or First On, closest to, first in. which normally carries a small monetary value for each depending on your group. For larger groups try an Alternate shot or a jazzed up version of the four man best ball described something like :
each player on the team plays his own ball throughout the round. On each hole, a predetermined number of the lower scores is used.
One the first hole, the lowest net score among the four players counts as the team score. On the second hole, the two lowest net scores become the team score. On the third hole, the three lowest net scores become the team score. On the fourth hole, it’s back to the one lowest score, and so on throughout the round.
4/28/2008 at 5:49pm
We have played “Attrition Golf.” It works best with either 2 individuals or two teams playing each other. After each hole the winners are allowed to take one club out of the loser’s bag (excluding putters). Meaning if you lose a hole, you have a chance to have your driver taken away. You can only get the club back by winning another hole, at which time you can choose to either take away a club from the opposition or take back one of your clubs. Of course this works best with two players or teams of similar skill level. If you are playing with someone that is not of the same handicap, you may play some sort of adjusted scoring.