Teams of 2
🔁How to play alternate shot (foursomes) — one ball, two players
Alternate shot — the Ryder Cup calls it foursomes — is the format that makes or breaks partnerships: two players, ONE ball, taking turns hitting it until it’s holed. There’s nowhere to hide and no bad shot you don’t have to clean up together. It’s the purest team golf there is.
The rules
Partners decide who tees off on the odd holes and who takes the evens — that order holds all day regardless of who hit last. After the tee shot they alternate every stroke, including putts, until the ball is holed. One score per team, per hole.
Handicaps in foursomes run off the combined team — the standard allowance is 50% of the pair’s combined course handicaps.
The gentler cousin: greensomes
Greensomes softens the format: BOTH partners tee off, you pick the better drive, and then you alternate shots from there. It takes the pressure off the tee while keeping the shared-ball drama the rest of the way. Its allowance is 60% of the low handicap plus 40% of the high.
How Swilkin runs it
Choose Alternate shot (or Greensomes) in Swilkin and it scores the one team ball hole by hole, applies the combined-team handicap allowance for you, and feeds the live board — ideal for a Ryder-Cup-style session where every match is on the wall.