The original form. A hole-by-hole contest in which each hole is won, lost, or halved, and the side ahead by more holes than remain wins. Includes singles (one against one) and predates all stroke-based scoring.
Foursomes
The earliest partnership format, played as match play. Two-player sides share a single ball and hit alternate shots. Dominant in the featherand gutty-ball eras partly because alternate-shot play consumed fewer expensive balls.
Stroke play (medal play)
Total strokes over the round or rounds decide the result, allowing many players to compete simultaneously. First referenced at St Andrews in 1759; the term “stroke play” entered the R&A rules only in 1913, “medal play” having been standard before.
Bogey competition
Each player competes against a fixed standard (“ground”) score rather than an opponent, winning or losing each hole against that figure while all compete at once. Dates to about 1891 and forms the conceptual bridge between match and stroke logic.
Stableford
Points awarded per hole against a fixed target (a net par scoring two, and so on), so a single ruined hole costs only that hole rather than the card. Trialled unsuccessfully at Glamorganshire in 1898; the first true competition was held at Wallasey on 16 May 1932.
Four-ball
A match-play variant in which partners each play their own ball and the better score on each hole counts for the side. Long played informally; established as a formal championship format in the twentieth century (added to the Ryder Cup in 1963).
Scramble
A team format in which all members play each shot from the best-positioned of the group’s previous shots. Informal and largely American, spreading from the mid-twentieth century.
Skins
A hole-by-hole betting format in which each hole carries a value (a “skin”) won outright only if the hole is not tied, with tied values carrying forward. Twentieth-century informal play, popularized by televised events from the 1980s.