Teams of 2–4
👥How to play best ball (four-ball) — golf team format rules
Best ball (a two-player version is "four-ball") is the team format where you never have to pick up: everybody plays their own ball all the way out, and on each hole the team’s score is simply its best player’s score. It keeps everyone in every hole while rewarding the one who steps up.
The rules
Each player holes out (or is given a gimme) on their own ball. On every hole the team takes its lowest score — that’s the team’s number. In a four-ball match, two teams compare their best balls hole by hole, match-play style.
Handicaps usually run at a percentage of each player’s course handicap — 90% for a four-ball match, 85% for four-ball stroke play or Stableford (WHS Appendix C) — with strokes falling on the holes the card says.
The outing variant: 2 net best balls
For bigger teams the classic outing game is "2 net best balls" — teams of four, and on every hole the two lowest NET scores count toward the team. It keeps three of four players meaningful on most holes and produces a fair number across a wide range of handicaps.
How Swilkin runs it
Choose Best Ball (or "2 Net Best Balls") in Swilkin and it counts the right number of balls on every hole automatically, nets each player off their course handicap for the tees they are playing — or off a number you set by hand — and drives the live leaderboard. Stack a match, skins or dots on the same card and every one settles itself.