Gross Stroke Play: The Purist's Board on a Golf Trip

Quick answer: Gross stroke play counts every stroke you take over the round, with no handicap applied. Lowest total wins. It is the simplest scoring in golf and the least forgiving.

How it works

Play your own ball, count every stroke including penalties.
No handicap adjustment of any kind.
Lowest total across the round — or across the trip — wins.

Scoring

Add the strokes. Over multiple rounds, add the rounds. There is nothing else to it, which is exactly why it is the board people trust.

The catch on a buddies trip is that gross stroke play is decided entirely by raw ability. If your group spans a 4 and a 24, the 24 cannot win it and knows that from the first tee.

When to play it on a golf trip

Run gross as a secondary board almost always. It settles the "who actually played the best golf this weekend" argument that a net board can never quite answer, and the low-handicap players in your group care about it a great deal.

Very few trips should make gross the main competition. If yours is four single-figure players, ignore that advice — it is the right board for you.

House rules worth agreeing first

A maximum score per hole to keep pace up, even though it dents the purity.
Whether gimme putts are allowed at all. On a gross board they really should not be.
Whether every round counts, or the best two of three.

FAQ

What is the difference between gross and net? Gross is every stroke you played. Net subtracts your handicap strokes, so players of different abilities can compete.

Should a trip use gross or net? Both, side by side. Net decides the trip, gross decides the bragging.

Do gimmes ruin a gross score? Yes. If you are keeping a serious gross board, everything gets holed out.

Run it without the spreadsheet

GolfTracker Trips scores this format across every round of a trip, alongside whatever
else your group is playing, and rolls it all into one leaderboard for the weekend.
Start free at GolfTracker Trips — up to 8 players and 2 rounds, no card.