formatshandicaps
Greensomes vs Shamble: One Ball or Two
Greensomes, shamble, scramble and foursomes explained — which formats play one ball, which play your own, and the handicap allowance each one takes.
Both of these formats start the same way: everybody hits a drive and the team takes the best one. That shared opening is why clubs mix them up, print the wrong allowance on the card, and end up with a member-guest decided by a formatting error.
The difference is one sentence:
In a greensomes, the team plays ONE ball after the drive. In a shamble, everybody picks up their own ball and plays it in.
Everything else — the allowance, the pace, who it suits, what it feels like — follows from that one fact.
Greensomes
Also called Scotch foursomes or modified alternate shot.
- Both partners tee off.
- You choose the better drive. The other ball is picked up.
- The player whose drive was not chosen plays the next shot.
- From there you alternate shots with the one ball until it’s holed.
One ball, one score for the pair. It’s alternate shot with the misery taken out of the tee shot — you always have a ball in play, which is the thing that ruins straight foursomes for amateurs.
What it feels like: fast, tense and genuinely partnered. You’re either walking to your ball or watching your partner over a shot you set up. There is nowhere to hide and nothing else to do.
Allowance: 60% of the lower handicap + 40% of the higher, combined into one number for the
pair. So a 6 and an 18 play off (6 × .6) + (18 × .4) = 10.8, rounded to 11 — as a team, for
one ball.
The two things to settle first:
- Who plays the second shot is not optional in the Rules — it’s the partner whose drive was not selected. Groups that let either player hit are playing something else (that’s a “Pinehurst” variant, and it has the same 60/40 allowance).
- Par 3s. Both still tee off, you still take one, and the other player plays the second. It feels wrong the first time. It’s correct.
Shamble
Also called scramble drive, Texas scramble with your own ball, and — in most of America — just “the member-guest format.”
- Everybody tees off.
- The team takes the best drive. Everybody moves their ball to that spot.
- From there, each player plays their own ball into the hole.
- The team’s score for the hole is the best of those balls — usually the best net ball.
Two, three or four players, everyone with their own score. It is a better ball with a free tee shot bolted on the front.
What it feels like: generous and fun. Everybody plays a full round of golf, nobody gets blown out by one bad drive, and the scores come in low enough that guests feel like golfers. That is exactly why clubs use it for member-guests and charity days.
Allowance: because everyone plays their own ball, the pair does not get a combined handicap — each player gets their own course handicap at a four-ball allowance, and most committees run 85–90% (90% in a match, 85% on a stroke-play card). Some cut it further, because the shared drive already flatters the field. There’s no published WHS row for shamble specifically, so post your number in the terms of competition and nobody can argue it later. (The full allowance chart.)
The two things to settle first:
- How many balls count? Best one is standard. Best two of four is a real and much better choice for a 4-person shamble, because it stops the whole team riding on one hot player.
- Do you all tee off on par 3s? Yes — and then you’re just playing better ball on that hole, since there’s no drive to share. Some clubs skip the drive selection on par 3s entirely. Say which.
The other two in the family
| Format | Balls after the drive | Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Foursomes (alternate shot) | One, strictly alternating, alternate tee holes | 50% + 50% combined |
| Greensomes | One, alternating after the chosen drive | 60% + 40% combined |
| Shamble | Everyone plays their own | Each player, four-ball allowance |
| Scramble | One, and you all hit every shot | 25/20/15/10 combined (4 players) |
The pattern worth carrying away: one-ball formats get a combined team handicap. Own-ball formats get individual allowances. That single rule tells you which column of the allowance chart you’re in, and it’s the thing the card usually gets wrong.
Which one should your event run?
Run a shamble if your field has guests, beginners, or anyone who plays four times a year. Pace is fine (everyone’s already in the fairway), everybody gets a full round, and the scores look good on the board. It’s the safest format in club golf for a reason.
Run a greensomes if your field can play and you want an event that feels like a competition rather than a party. It’s the fastest format there is — one ball per pair, so a full field gets round in well under four hours — and it’s superb for a ladies’ or mixed pairs day.
Run a scramble if the point is the fundraiser and half the field is there for the goodie bag.
Don’t run straight foursomes unless you know your field. Alternate shot with amateurs produces at least one pair who stop speaking on the 11th tee.
Where the app fits
All four are real formats in Swilkin, and each one carries its own handicap treatment rather than a shared “team” setting. The one-ball formats combine partners’ course handicaps at the published shares — 50/50 for foursomes, 60/40 for greensomes, 25/20/15/10 for a four-person scramble, heaviest share on the lowest handicap. A shamble is handled as what it actually is: a better ball with a shared drive, so every player keeps their own course handicap and their own ball.
And if you build a one-ball side bigger than the Rules publish a share for — a six-man scramble, say — it tells you on the screen that the split is your committee’s call rather than quietly inventing a number and presenting it as the format’s answer.
Set up a pairs event · can we play a scramble? · free for golfers.
Running a member-guest? Member-guest formats that actually work and how to run a club golf tournament.