Guide

Scoring a shotgun or staggered start

Most youth matches don’t send every group off the first tee. The two common alternatives change one thing for the person holding the card: the round doesn’t start on hole 1. The counting is the same. Where the numbers go is not.

Shotgun start

Every group starts at the same time, each on a different hole. On nine holes with six groups, the groups start on six different holes. A group that starts on the 4th plays 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, then 1, 2, 3, and finishes on the 3rd. Everybody finishes at about the same time, which is why school matches use it.

When there are more groups than holes, two groups share a starting hole. They’re usually called 4A and 4B. The A group tees off first, and the B group waits until the A group is clear. Par 5s are the usual holes to double up, because they have room.

Staggered start

Groups go off one after another, a few minutes apart, from the 1st tee. On a longer match the field may be split between the 1st and the 10th. A group starting on the 10th plays 10 through 18 and then 1 through 9.

Where the scores go

Write each score in the box for the hole you just played. Not the next empty box. This is the mistake that matters: a group that starts on the 4th and writes its first score in the hole-1 box ends the day with every number one column off. The total still adds up, so nobody notices until the scores are compared hole by hole.

• Circle or mark your starting hole on the card before the first swing.
• Say the hole number out loud as you write: “Five, on the fifth.”
• When you reach the last hole of the course, the next box is hole 1.
• You’re finished at the hole before the one you started on.

Pars and pick-up limits

Pars follow the hole number, so they come round in a different order. If your league picks up at double par, the limit changes with each hole’s par, so check the par as you reach each tee. Don’t carry over the last hole’s limit.

Ties

Leagues that break ties by comparing scores over the last few holes usually mean the last holes by number, not the last holes a group played. Ask your coach which. Either way it only works if each score is in its proper box.

How GolfJot handles it

When a scorekeeper types the coach’s code, the next screen asks which hole the group starts on. Tap it, and the card starts there: start on the 4th and it runs 4 through 9, then 1 through 3, with each hole’s own par and pick-up number. Every score is kept against its real hole number, so there is no wrong box to put it in. Setting a card up without a code works the same way: pick the holes, then the starting one.

In the coach area, the pairing builder gives each group its starting hole for a shotgun start, shown on every group so it can go on the card. If there are more groups than holes, it says so, because two groups will share a starting hole. Scores come in hole by hole, whatever order the groups play them in.