Stableford is a scoring system used in golf. The Stableford competition is probably the most common event played at club level. It involves scoring points based on results at each hole.

Using the index for each hole, players firstly make a mental allocation of their full handicap over eighteen holes. For example, a player on a handicap of eighteen will add one shot to the par value of each hole. Therefore a par 4 becomes a par 5 for that player, or a par 4 with the index of 2 becomes a par 6 for a player with a 20 handicap or higher. The points scoring method is then calculated by allocating two points for a par, You will get one point for one over. If you do better than your handicap par you receive three points for one under, four points for two under, and so on. Players who exceed their own par by two strokes receive no points and wipe the hole. The player has the option of picking up their ball and starting all over on the next hole. At the end of the round, all points scored are added for each nine holes and totaled for the eighteen. The player with the most points is declared the winner.

The stableford competition has one major advantage, it means you can have one or two bad holes, and compensate for them during the other holes. A good guide for stableford is that 36 points for 18 holes will mean you have played to your handicap.

There are also derivative scoring rules based on the Stableford system.

Golf terminology

Stableford | Stableford | Stableford | Stableford (golf) | Stableford-telling | Poängbogey