ScorchSuomeksiStableford scoring explained
Stableford awards points per hole based on your net score against the par of the hole, and a disaster hole costs you nothing worse than zero. It is the format most club competitions are played in.
The points table
| Net score against the par of the hole | Points |
|---|---|
| 2 over or worse | 0 |
| 1 over (bogey) | 1 |
| Par | 2 |
| 1 under (birdie) | 3 |
| 2 under (eagle) | 4 |
| 3 under (albatross) | 5 |
The comparison is always against the net score, meaning the score after handicap strokes, not the gross strokes. That is why an 18-handicap player scores two points with a five on a par 4.
How handicap strokes are allocated
Your playing handicap is spread across the holes by stroke index. Index 1 is the hardest hole on the course and index 18 the easiest. A playing handicap of 12 gets one stroke on the holes indexed 1 to 12. A playing handicap of 22 gets one stroke on every hole and a second stroke on the holes indexed 1 to 4.
Subtract the strokes falling on that hole from the strokes you took, then compare what is left to the par of the hole using the table.
A worked example
Playing handicap 12. Hole 5 is a par 4 with stroke index 3, so one handicap stroke falls on it. The player takes six.
- Gross 6, one handicap stroke, net 5.
- Net 5 is one over par, a bogey.
- From the table: 1 point.
For the same player hole 17 is a par 3 with stroke index 16, so no stroke falls on it. A three there is a par and two points.
What 36 points means
36 points over 18 holes is exactly two points a hole, which is a round played to your handicap. More than that is better than your handicap, less is worse. Club competitions are usually won somewhere between 36 and 40.
The advantage of Stableford is that one wrecked hole does not wreck the round. Zero is the worst a hole can cost you, so you can pick the ball up the moment no points are available and walk to the next tee. That is also why competitions use it: it keeps play moving.
Stableford in Scorch
Scorch records strokes hole by hole and does not compute Stableford points for you, because the catalog holds no stroke index and Scorch has no access to your handicap. Keep the strokes in Scorch and read the points off the table using the indexes on the club card.
Common questions
- How many Stableford points is a par?
- A par is two points. A bogey is one, a birdie three, an eagle four and an albatross five. Two over par or worse scores zero.
- Is Stableford scored gross or net?
- Net. Subtract the handicap strokes that fall on the hole by stroke index first, then compare that number to the par of the hole.
- Can you pick up mid-hole in Stableford?
- Yes. Once no points are available on the hole you can pick up and move on. The hole scores zero and play speeds up.
- Is Stableford the same as pistebogey?
- Yes. Pistebogey is the Finnish name for Stableford and the points table is identical. The format is named after Dr Frank Stableford, who devised it in the 1930s.
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