Four-Ball Golf: Rules, Scoring and When to Play It

Quick answer: Four-ball is a 2v2 match where all four players play their own ball for the whole hole. Each side takes its better score on that hole, and the two are compared. It is match play, so you win holes rather than counting a total.

How it works

Two players per side, four balls in play, everyone holes out (or is conceded).
On each hole, each side records only its better of the two scores.
The lower of the two side scores wins the hole. Equal scores halve it.
The match is won by whoever is up by more holes than remain.

Scoring

Four-ball is scored in holes, not strokes. A match sitting "3 up with 2 to play" is over — that is the "3&2" you hear on television. All square after 18 is a half, and each side takes half a point.

Handicaps are usually applied at 90% of the difference from the lowest player in the match, with strokes falling on holes by stroke index. That allowance exists because four-ball flatters high handicappers: they only need one good hole to count, so full strokes would over-reward them.

When to play it on a golf trip

Four-ball is the best opening team session on a buddies trip. Nobody is ever out of the hole on their own, a blow-up costs nothing if your partner is safe, and the pace stays sane. Put it first, before anyone has found their swing.

It is also the right call whenever your group's handicaps are spread wide. A 22 partnered with an 8 can genuinely contribute in four-ball, which is not true of alternate shot.

House rules worth agreeing first

Confirm the allowance (90% is standard) before the first tee, not on the third green.
Decide whether putts inside the leather are conceded, or nothing is.
Agree that a player picking up simply removes their score — their partner's still counts.

FAQ

Is four-ball the same as best ball? Nearly. "Best ball" is the general term for taking a team's best score; four-ball specifically means two-a-side, match play, four balls in play. In casual use they are swapped constantly.

Do both partners have to finish the hole? No. Once your partner is safely in for a score you cannot beat, picking up speeds play and changes nothing.

What handicap allowance should we use? 90% of the difference from the low player in the match is the common setting, and it is what most trips default to.

Run it without the spreadsheet

GolfTracker Trips scores this format across every round of a trip, alongside whatever
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