match play

golf

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

In golf, match play is a competition format where players or teams compete directly against each other, hole by hole. The winner is the one who wins more holes than their opponent. If a player is leading by more holes than remain to be played, they win the match. This contrasts with stroke play, where the winner is determined by the total number of strokes taken over the entire round or tournament. While historically popular for amateur championships, match play is now less common in professional golf, often limited to team events like the Ryder Cup.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

golf
Match and medal play
In match play the player and the opponent are playing together and competing only against each other, while in stroke play each competitor is competing against every other player in the tournament. In match play the game is played by holes, and each hole is won…
Read More
In match play the player and the opponent are playing together and competing only against each other, while in stroke play each competitor is competing against every other player in the tournament. In match play the game is played by holes, and each hole is won…
Read More

United States Amateur Championship
The championship, originally at match play (most winning holes), was changed to medal play (fewest strokes) in 1965 but returned to match play in 1973. From the 1960s on, the tournament had increasing difficulty in attracting top-flight contestants year after year because most promising young amateurs became professionals. Among…
Read More
The championship, originally at match play (most winning holes), was changed to medal play (fewest strokes) in 1965 but returned to match play in 1973. From the 1960s on, the tournament had increasing difficulty in attracting top-flight contestants year after year because most promising young amateurs became professionals. Among…
Read More