Big Fairways Start free
Match Play

Match Play

Hole by hole, one on one. A nine on the fourth costs you exactly one hole.

Up, down, or all square. That is the whole scoreboard.

Hole 1 Par 4 · 1 of 18

StandingPoints
The app runs the game
The app runs the game

Big Fairways walks you through every step, hole by hole. No rule sheet in your back pocket and nobody keeping a tally on a napkin.

Share the leaderboard
Share the leaderboard

Send one link and the whole group follows along from their own phone, live, while you play.

Play several games at once
Play several games at once

Run this alongside any other side game. The points stay separate and the math stays clean.

Every point is counted
Every point is counted

Points during the round, then one clean total per player at the end. Nobody does arithmetic on the drive home.

What is Match Play in golf?

Hole by hole, one on one. A nine on the fourth costs you exactly one hole. Up, down, or all square. That is the whole scoreboard. Match Play is played by head to head, or two on two, and Big Fairways scores it hole by hole so nobody in the group has to keep track.

How do you play Match Play?

Why golfers love it

Match play is the format that lets you go for the flag. In stroke play a seven ruins an afternoon. In match play it costs you one hole and you tee off on the next one still very much alive. It is the purest head to head golf there is.

How Big Fairways runs it for you

Pick Match Play when you set up the round, choose who is in, and start playing. The app prompts you at each step, keeps the running points, and lets you run other side games at the same time without the totals getting tangled. At the end you get one clean total per player and the shortest possible list of payments.

Send one link and your group follows the leaderboard live from their own phones, whether they are in your cart or watching from the clubhouse. Every round you post is saved to your own lifetime scorecard, which only you can see.

Common questions

What does three and two mean in match play?

It means the winner was three holes up with only two holes left to play, so the match ended on the sixteenth green.

What is a dormie in match play?

Dormie is when a player is up by exactly the number of holes remaining. They cannot lose the match, but they can still be caught and halved.

Can you play match play with handicaps?

Yes. Strokes are given on the hardest rated holes based on the difference in handicap, and Big Fairways applies them hole by hole for you.

Do you have to play for money?

No. Big Fairways counts points. What your group decides to do with those points afterwards is entirely up to the group, and the app never handles anyone's money.

Is Big Fairways free?

Yes, free while we build it. Every side game, the live leaderboard, the settle up totals and your lifetime scorecards are all included, and there is nothing to install because it runs in any phone browser.

More side games

Play Match Play this weekend

Set it up in four taps, send the link to the group, and let the app keep every point.

Start a round, free