How to Play Best Ball in Golf: Rules, Format & Strategy Guide

Best ball is the team golf format that lets you play your own game while knowing your partner has your back. Every player hits their own ball on every shot, and the team simply takes the lowest score on each hole. It is the most popular team format in recreational golf for good reason: the rules are dead simple, the pace of play stays fast, and even a struggling player can be the hero on any given hole with one great shot.

Whether you are signing up for a charity tournament, organizing a weekend outing with friends, or just looking for a way to make a four-ball round more interesting, best ball is the format to know. It works equally well as a casual game between two pairs or as the backbone of a 100-player fundraiser. This guide covers the rules, scoring, strategy, and every variation you need to run a best ball game from first tee to 19th hole.

What Is Best Ball?

Best ball is a team golf format where every player on a team plays their own ball throughout the entire round, and on each hole the team's score is the lowest individual score among its members. If you are on a two-person team and you make a 5 while your partner makes a 4, the team records a 4 for that hole. Your 5 is simply discarded. At the end of 18 holes, the team with the lowest cumulative best ball total wins.

The format is used at every level of the game. The PGA Tour's Zurich Classic features two-person best ball rounds. The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup include four-ball sessions (the official name for 2v2 best ball). Nearly every charity tournament and corporate outing uses some version of best ball because it keeps all players engaged while producing competitive team scores. It is also one of the most common weekend competitive formats among regular foursomes.

What makes best ball so appealing is the safety net it provides. In stroke play, a triple bogey on one hole can torpedo your round. In best ball, your partner might make a par on that same hole, erasing your disaster entirely. This creates a playing experience that is less stressful than individual formats while still requiring each player to perform. You cannot coast. Your team needs contributions from both players to compete, and the best teams are the ones where both players are consistently giving the team a good look at birdie.

Basic Rules of Best Ball

The rules of best ball are straightforward, which is one of the reasons the format is so widely used. Here is the complete setup:

1. Form teams. Players divide into teams, typically of two (the most common format) or four. Teams can be pre-assigned or drawn randomly.
2. Everyone plays their own ball. Unlike a scramble, each player hits their own tee shot, approach, chips, and putts. There is no sharing of shots.
3. Record the best score. After each hole, the team's score is the lowest individual score among its members. If one partner makes a 3 and the other makes a 5, the team score is 3.
4. Apply handicaps (if using). In net best ball, each player receives their full handicap strokes on the appropriate holes. The team's best ball is determined using net scores.
5. Compare team totals. At the end of the round, add up each team's best ball scores across all 18 holes. The lowest total wins.

Best ball can be scored as stroke play (cumulative total over 18 holes) or match play (holes won and lost between two teams). In stroke play best ball, the team with the lower 18-hole total wins. In match play best ball, teams compare their best ball on each hole, and the team with the lower score wins that hole. The team that wins the most holes wins the match. Both formats are widely played and each has its own strategic nuances.

One practical note: if a player is having a terrible hole and their partner has already secured a good score, the struggling player can pick up their ball to save time. Since only the best score counts, there is no reason to putt out for an 8 when your partner already has a 4 in the bag. This speeds up play considerably and is one of the format's hidden advantages.

Best Ball vs. Scramble: The Key Difference

This is the most common source of confusion in golf formats, and it comes up in virtually every tournament sign-up conversation. Best ball and scramble are both team formats, but they work in fundamentally different ways. Understanding the distinction will save you from showing up to a tournament with the wrong expectations.

Best Ball

Each player plays their own ball from tee to cup. The team takes the best individual score on each hole. Every player hits every shot independently. If your partner stripes one down the middle and you slice into the trees, you play your ball from the trees. Your partner's great drive does not help you directly. It only helps the team's score.

Scramble

All team members hit from the same spot on every shot. After everyone hits, the team selects the best shot, and all players move to that location and hit again. This continues until the ball is holed. In a scramble, a 30-handicapper benefits directly from a scratch player's tee shot because they get to hit their second shot from wherever the best drive landed.

Why It Matters

The practical difference is enormous. Scramble scores are dramatically lower because every shot benefits from the best player's position. A decent foursome might shoot 15-under in a scramble but only 5-under in best ball. Best ball is the more demanding format because each player must execute their own shots from their own positions. It rewards genuine individual skill more than a scramble does, which is why it is the format used in professional team events.

2-Person Best Ball (Four-Ball)

The most common competitive format is 2-person best ball, officially called "Four-Ball" because four balls are in play (two per team). Two teams of two players compete head-to-head, either in match play or stroke play. This is the format used at the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, and the Saturday rounds of the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic.

In match play four-ball, teams compare their best ball on each hole. The team with the lower best ball wins the hole. If both teams have the same best ball score, the hole is halved. The match is tracked in the standard match play format: "1 Up," "All Square," "2 and 1," and so on. A match can end early if one team leads by more holes than remain.

In stroke play four-ball, each team records their best ball on every hole and adds them up over 18. The team with the lower total wins. This is the more common format for tournaments and outings because it allows many teams to compete simultaneously rather than in head-to-head brackets. Both formats produce excellent competition, but match play four-ball is widely considered the more exciting spectator format because of its hole-by-hole drama.

4-Person Best Ball

In a 4-person best ball, all four players on a team play their own ball and the team takes the single lowest score on each hole. This format is common in charity tournaments and large outings. With four players contributing, the team's best ball score tends to be very low because the probability of at least one player making birdie on any given hole increases significantly. A strong four-person best ball team can shoot 12 to 18 under par for 18 holes.

Some 4-person formats require that a minimum number of players' scores count during the round (for example, at least two different players must contribute the team's best ball on at least 4 holes). This prevents a single dominant player from carrying the entire team and encourages everyone to stay engaged and contribute.

Scoring Example: Team A vs. Team B

Here is a four-hole best ball example showing how team scores are determined. Team A is Mike (8 handicap) and Dave (18 handicap). Team B is Tom (10 handicap) and Sarah (14 handicap). All scores shown are gross for simplicity.

Hole 1: Mike and Sarah both make par. Each team's best ball is 4. The hole is halved. Note that Dave's double bogey and Tom's bogey are irrelevant because their partners covered them.

Hole 2: Dave comes through with a par on the par-3, matching Tom's 3. Both teams record a 3 and the hole is halved again. This is a perfect example of why you never count anyone out in best ball: the 18-handicapper contributed just as much as the 10-handicapper on this hole.

Hole 3: Mike birdies the par-5 with a net 4, giving Team A a best ball of 4 against Team B's 5. Team A wins this hole. Neither Dave nor Sarah nor Tom contributed to the scoring here, but Mike's individual brilliance was enough to win it for his team.

Hole 4: Sarah fires a birdie 3 on the par-4. Neither Mike nor Dave can match it, and Tom's par is not enough either. Team B wins the hole on Sarah's individual effort. After four holes, Team B leads on cumulative best ball score, 15 to 16.

Strategy Tips for Winning Best Ball

Best ball rewards a different kind of teamwork than a scramble. You are not collaborating on shots, but you are making strategic decisions based on what your partner is doing. The best teams think together even though they play separately. Here is how to gain an edge.

1. Play Off Your Partner's Position

This is the single most important strategic concept in best ball. If your partner hits the fairway and is sitting pretty for an easy approach, you have freedom to be aggressive with your own shot. Go for the tucked pin, attack the par-5 in two, or take the risky line off the tee. The logic is simple: your partner has the safe score covered, so your risk has no downside for the team. Conversely, if your partner is in deep trouble, play conservatively to guarantee the team has at least one respectable score on the hole.

The rhythm of alternating aggression based on your partner's lie is what separates great best ball teams from good ones. When both partners are playing safe all the time, you are leaving birdies on the table. When both are being aggressive simultaneously, you risk both making bogey with no safety net. The art is in the choreography.

2. Communicate Before Every Hole

A quick conversation on the tee can make a significant difference. "I'm going to hit driver here and try to get up near the green. Can you hit a safe iron to the fairway?" This kind of simple coordination ensures that at least one player is always playing for par while the other is hunting for birdie. Without communication, you might both play the same strategy and end up both in trouble or both playing safe.

3. Know Which Holes Suit Each Player

If your partner is a long hitter, the par-5s are their holes to attack. If you are the better iron player, the par-3s are your chance to shine. Understanding each player's strengths and knowing when those strengths align with the course layout allows you to plan your aggression more intelligently across the full 18 holes. The best teams have complementary games where each player carries the other on different types of holes.

4. Pick Up When You Are Out of the Hole

If your partner has already made birdie and you are lying 4 on a par-4, pick up your ball. There is no benefit to finishing the hole, and the time you save adds up across 18 holes. Faster play keeps everyone fresh, maintains the group's rhythm, and avoids slowing down the field. This is both a strategic and an etiquette consideration.

5. Putt Aggressively

In individual stroke play, three-putting is a disaster. In best ball, if your partner already has a tap-in par, you can ram your 20-footer at the hole with full confidence. Miss it by four feet? No problem. Your partner's par is already secured. This shift in putting mentality creates more made birdies over 18 holes than you might expect. The team that putts aggressively when the partner is safe will consistently outperform the team that lags every putt.

6. Manage Handicap Strokes Wisely

In net best ball, know which holes each player receives strokes on. If your partner gets a stroke on a particular hole, their net score has extra value there. You can afford to play more aggressively on that hole because your partner's net par (effectively a bogey gross) is likely good enough to hold the team's position. Conversely, on holes where neither of you receives a stroke, both players should focus on making a clean par.

Popular Best Ball Variations

The core best ball format has been adapted in dozens of ways. Here are the most popular variations you are likely to encounter:

Better Ball (2-Person)

"Better ball" is the technically correct name for 2-person best ball. You are choosing the better of two scores, hence the name. In practice, "best ball" and "better ball" are used interchangeably, and everyone knows what you mean. The official Rules of Golf (as maintained by the R&A and USGA) call the 2v2 format "Four-Ball" because four balls are in play. Do not let the terminology confuse you: better ball, best ball, and four-ball all describe the same basic format when two players form a team.

Four-Ball Match Play

This is the format used in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Two teams of two compete head-to-head in match play, comparing best ball scores on each hole. Concessions are allowed (you can concede your opponent's short putt), and the match can end early if one team is up by more holes than remain. This is considered the most exciting version of best ball because every hole is a standalone contest with real competition.

Shamble

A shamble is a hybrid between best ball and a scramble. All players hit a tee shot, and the team selects the best drive. Then everyone moves to that spot and plays their own ball from there to the hole. The team takes the best score. This gives weaker players the benefit of a good tee shot (the scramble element) but still requires them to hit their own approach and putt (the best ball element). Shambles are very popular at outings because they keep everyone in play off the tee while still rewarding individual short-game skill.

Modified Best Ball (Two Scores Count)

In this variation, the team must count the two lowest scores on each hole rather than just the single lowest. With four players, this means the team's hole score is the sum of the two best individual scores. This raises the overall score and requires more players to contribute, preventing a single dominant player from carrying the team. It rewards depth and consistency over individual brilliance.

Best Ball with Skins

Combine best ball teams with a Skins side game. Each hole is worth a skin, and the team with the lower best ball wins the skin for that hole. Ties carry over. This adds the excitement of carryovers and big-carryover holes to the team format and gives teams something extra to play for beyond just the overall match or stroke total.

Frequently Asked Questions