Stableford

What is Stableford scoring in golf?

Stableford is a golf scoring format in which every hole pays points on your net score instead of counting strokes. The table is the one in Rule 21.1b of the Rules of Golf: a net double bogey or worse, or a hole with no score at all, pays nothing. A net bogey pays one, a net par two, a net birdie three, a net eagle four, an albatross five. Most points at the end wins, and thirty six points is playing to your handicap.

The whole point of the format is that a bad hole cannot ruin a round. A ten and a six both pay nothing, so once a hole has gone you pick up, save everybody five minutes, and get to the next tee with your card intact. It is why clubs run it, why it suits a mixed group, and why it is the format most golfers have played without ever looking up the table.

Players	Anybody. One player against the card, or a whole field.
The table	Net double bogey or worse 0, bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4, albatross 5.
Which table	Rule 21.1b, the official one. Big Fairways plays no other.
A blow up	Zero. Nothing is taken away. Pick up and move on.
Par for the round	Thirty six points is playing to your handicap.
Handicaps	Yes. Everything is on the net score, strokes by stroke index.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, with the running total on every tee.

How do you play Stableford?

You play a normal round and every hole pays off the table. Here is the whole game in five steps.

1. Play the hole and post your score. The app takes the strokes off by stroke index.
2. Look up your net score on the table: bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4, albatross 5.
3. A net double bogey or worse is zero. Once a hole has gone that far, pick up and walk to the next tee.
4. Add the points up as you go. The app keeps the running total on every tee.
5. Most points at the end wins. Thirty six is playing to your handicap.

Why does a double bogey pay nothing in Stableford?

Because that is what makes the format kind. In stroke play a ten on one hole follows you around for seventeen more. In Stableford a ten and a six pay exactly the same, nothing, so once the hole has gone you have no reason to grind it out. Pick up, keep the group moving, and the next hole starts fresh. It is also why Stableford suits a field of mixed abilities: nobody's round is wrecked by one hole, and the winner is the player who made the most good holes rather than the fewest bad ones.

Which Stableford table does Big Fairways use?

The official one, Rule 21.1b of the Rules of Golf, against net par: double bogey or worse nothing, bogey one, par two, birdie three, eagle four, albatross five, and one more point for every stroke past that. There is a Modified Stableford, the table the PGA Tour uses at the Barracuda Championship, where par is nothing and a bogey costs a point. Alex looked at it and chose the official table only, so that is the one on this page, in the walk above, in the simulator and in the app.

What is an example of Stableford scoring?

A player with a stroke on the first makes a five on a par four: a net four, a net par, two points. On the second, no stroke, a birdie three on a par four: three points. On the third a seven on a par three with no stroke: a net quadruple bogey, nothing, and the last two shots need not have been played. On the fourth, a stroke, a bogey five on a par four: net par, two points. Four holes, seven points, and the seven on the third has already been forgotten.

Why is thirty six points playing to your handicap?

Because a net par on every hole pays two, and eighteen twos is thirty six. A round of forty means you played four shots better than your handicap that day, a round of thirty means six worse. It is the quickest way to read a Stableford card, and it is why club players talk about a good round as thirty eight rather than as a score.

What is the best Stableford strategy?

Stableford pays for good holes and forgives bad ones, so it rewards a different kind of golf than stroke play. A few things win Stableford more often than a low score does.

• Pick up early. Once you cannot make a net bogey, the hole is worth nothing and every shot after that is wasted time. Pick up and think about the next tee.
• Take on the flag. A net birdie is three and a net double is nothing, so the downside of going for it is one point, the same as a bogey. Stableford rewards the aggressive line.
• Know your stroke holes. A bogey with a stroke is a net par, two points. Your stroke holes are where the points are.
• Chase the two on every hole. Eighteen net pars is thirty six. Steady twos with the odd three win most Stableford days.
• Watch the running total. The app shows it on every tee. Knowing you need two on the last two holes changes the shot.

What are the wrinkles in Stableford?

• No score is a zero, not a gap. A hole you pick up on pays nothing and the card carries on. In the app it is an absent score, not a mistake.
• Net all the way. Everything is against net par, strokes by stroke index. A gross day makes net and gross the same.
• Only the official table. Modified Stableford, where a par is nothing and a bogey costs a point, is not in the app.
• Past albatross. Four under on a hole is six, and the table keeps paying one more per stroke.
• Settling. Every pair settles the gap in their points at Settle Up.

How does Stableford compare with other golf side games?

Stableford is a scoring format rather than a match game: everybody plays against the table and the most points wins. Here is how it lines up against the rest. Every one of them is scored in the app, and you can run several at once on one card.

Game	Players	In one line
Stableford	Any	Points for every hole, most points wins, a blow up costs you nothing.
Midnight	Any	Twelve holes count, your best eleven plus the last. Lowest card wins.
Elevens	Any	Eleven holes count, your best ten plus the last. Seven throwaways.
Skins	Any	Win the hole outright to take the skin. Ties carry over or die, your call.
Nassau	2 or 4	Three matches in one: front nine, back nine and the full eighteen, with presses.
Wolf	4	The Wolf picks a partner after the tee shots or goes alone for double.
Vegas	4	Two teams, scores paired into a number, low number wins the difference.
Banker	3 or more	One player takes on everybody else each hole. Presses allowed.
Junk	Any	Points for the little things: sandies, greenies, woodies and more.
Match Play	2	Head to head, hole by hole, up or down.
TILT	Any	Points on the net score with a multiplier that climbs on birdies and resets on a par.
Train	Any	A net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays until two bogeys in a row.
Mulligans	Any	Your handicap strokes become do overs, then everybody plays gross.
Gridiron Golf	4	Two on two played like football. Win the hole to march the ball, reach the end zone to score.
Hammer	2 or 4	Either side can double the hole while it is being played.
Nines	3	Three players, nine points a hole, split five, three and one.
Hi Lo	4	Two on two. A point for the best ball and a point for the worst.
Snake	Any	Three putt and the snake is yours until somebody else does. No points.
Bingo Bango Bongo	Any	First on, closest, first in. Three points a hole, played gross.

Looking for the full list? Every side game the app scores, each with rules and a demo round, is on the golf side games page.

What do the Stableford words mean?

The table

Net double bogey or worse 0, bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4, albatross 5. Rule 21.1b.

Net score

Your score on the hole after the handicap stroke comes off. The table reads the net.

Thirty six

Eighteen net pars. Playing to your handicap.

Pick up

Stopping on a hole that cannot pay. It scores zero, which is the same as finishing it badly.

Modified Stableford

The Tour table with minus points for bogeys. Not the one the app plays.

What should a group agree on before playing Stableford?

• What a point is worth.
• Full handicap or a percentage. The app plays full net by default.
• Whether a picked up hole needs a score written down. In the app it does not.

The table is the Rules of Golf table and the app plays it exactly, so there is nothing else to settle. That is the appeal.

Why do golfers love Stableford?

Stableford is the format that lets you have a bad hole and a good day. The nine on the sixth is forgotten by the seventh tee, the birdie on the twelfth is worth more than a par, and the number at the end means something to everybody at the bar: thirty eight is a good day, thirty is not, and nobody needs to ask what you shot.

How does Big Fairways score Stableford for you?

Pick Stableford when you set up the round and start playing. The app takes the strokes off by stroke index, reads the table on every hole, carries the running total on to every tee, and treats a picked up hole as a zero. The board has a sortable points column and the results screen shows every player's total.

Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end every pair settles the gap in their points, you get one Settle Up list, and every round posts to your own lifetime scorecard, which only you can see. Send one link and the whole group follows the leaderboard live from their own phones.

Common questions

More golf side games