College golf is probably slightly different from the “normal” golf you are used to here in the Netherlands. The biggest difference is that you are not only golfing for yourself, but also for the university and the team you are in.
The average team consists of 6-10 golfers, as a team you compete against teams from other universities in competition or during tournaments. A typical golf tournament consists of 3 rounds of 18 holes.
Rounds are played in groups of 3 or 4 players from different universities playing against each other using either the “shot-gun” format (everyone starts at a different hole) or the “tee-times” format (everyone starts at the same hole).
Scores can also be determined in two different ways: stroke play or match play. In stroke play, every stroke, including the penalty strokes a player needs to finish a round, counts toward the final score. Thus, you may never pick up the ball in stroke play. In stroke play, the winner of the game is the player who ultimately needed the least number of strokes to finish the round.
A match play match is a different type of game format than a stroke play match. In matchplay, each hole played is a game (match) in itself. The golfer (or duo/team) who has played the least number of strokes (including penalty strokes) on an individual hole has won the hole. For each hole won, the golfer receives 1 point. The golfer who has won the most holes at the end of the round of golf is the winner.
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