Stableford is played according to the rules of the counting game, with a full handicap. The Stableford competition is becoming increasingly popular nowadays, as the flow of play can be guaranteed during a tournament with a large number of participants. The advantage for the players is that very poorly played holes carry less weight than in a pure counting game, for example. If no more points can be scored, the player simply picks up his ball on the hole and continues playing on the next hole.
Scoring is based on points:
Double bogey (two or more over par) = 0 pointsBogey (one over par) = 1 point
Par = 2 points
Birdie, one under par = 3 points
Eagle, two under par = 4 points
Albatross, three under par = 5 points (only for par 5)
This scoring system applies to both gross and net. The winners - gross and net - are the players with the highest scores. The player's counter only ever enters the gross number of strokes on the scorecard. These are calculated by the scorekeeper after the scorecard has been submitted. If the player has reached a number of strokes for which no more points are awarded, he picks up his ball as already mentioned and enters a line on his card.
History of the Stableford
The Stableford counting game is named after its inventor, Dr. Frank Stableford. He invented the game back in 1898. However, it took until 1932 for it to be officially used for the first time and even until 1968 for it to be included in the rules of golf.
Net score in the Stableford tournament
In the net scoring of the Stableford tournament, each player receives "handicap strokes". Each of these strokes increases the real pair by one stroke and thus ultimately also the Stableford score. The handicap strokes are always distributed in the order from the most difficult to the easiest hole. This means that if you have an unbalanced handicap, you receive more strokes on the difficult holes than on the easier holes. If a golfer reaches a total of 36 points, he has played his handicap.
