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 the competition or during tournaments. A typical golf tournament consists of 3 rounds of 18 holes.
The rounds are played in groups of 3 or 4 players from different universities who play against each other according to either the ‘shot-gun’ format (everyone starts at a different hole) or the ‘tee-times’ format (everyone starts at the same hole. ).
The 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 complete a specific round, counts towards the final result. You may therefore never pick up the ball in stroke play. In stroke play, the winner of the game is the one who ultimately took the fewest strokes to complete the round.
A match play match is a different type of game form than a stroke play match. In match play, each hole played is a match in itself. The golfer (or duo / team) who has played the fewest 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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