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How to Pick Fair Teams for a Golf Game
Fair sides for a four-ball, a scramble or a cup: pair low with high, snake the order in bigger groups, draw A-B-C-D for scrambles, give each game its own teams.
Lopsided teams kill a game by the 4th hole. Picking fair sides takes a minute on the first tee, and it starts with everyone’s handicap index.
In a foursome: low with high
Sort the four by index. The best and the worst play together; the middle two play together. Then add up each pair. If one pair’s total is well below the other’s, swap the middle players and check again.
In a bigger group: snake the order
Sort everyone by index and deal them out like a draft. With three teams: 1, 2, 3, then 3, 2, 1, then 1, 2, 3 again. Straight dealing (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3) gives the first team the best player every round of the deal. The snake evens it out.
For a scramble: A, B, C, D
Split the field into four bands by handicap. Each team draws one player from each band. It is the standard way to build scramble teams for an outing, and nobody has to pick their friends last.
Watch the gap, not only the total
Two pairs can add up to the same number and still play differently: a scratch player with a 30 against two 15s is not the same game. Play it once. If it was one-sided, change it next week.
Every game can have its own teams
A foursome can play a 2v2 best ball and a skins game for all four at the same time. The Nassau can be one pairing and a side match another. Teams belong to the game, not the round, so pick sides game by game.
Rotate if you play every week
The same partners every Saturday gets stale, and so does losing to them. Change pairings each week, or swap partners at the turn.
How Swilkin handles it
On Start a round, add your golfers, then pick a team game such as Best ball (four-ball) or a scramble. In the game’s block, tap a name, then the team it goes on. With four or more golfers and their indexes known, Balance by index snakes the sides for you. Teams don’t have to be even. Add another game and it gets its own sides.
For an event, the field’s teams draw balanced by handicap or at random.
Set up teams in a game · split teammates into playing groups · the best games for your group size.