How the Low Ball-High Ball (or High-Low) Format Works

Low Ball-High Ball (also known as High-Low) is a golf format for groups of four golfers. It can played as a tournament format, but is more common as a 2-vs.-2 team game played within a quartet.

How does the 2-vs.-2 game work? It's right there in the name: On each hole, the two sides compare the low balls (the lowest score on each team), and also their high balls (the highest score on each team). That means, obviously, that all four golfers in the game are playing their own balls into the hole (normal stroke play, in other words).

How is the game scored? The awarding of points:

• The side that has the better low-ball score earns one point;
• The side that has the better high-ball score earns one point.

Here's an example: Our four golfers pair off so that Golfers A and B form one team and Golfers C and D partner on the other side. On the first hole, Golfer A scores 7, B 4, C 5 and D 6. How do the sides' low balls compare? Golfer B had a 4 and Golfer C had a 5, so Team A-B wins the low ball point. How to their high balls compare? Golfer A scored 7 and Golfer D scored 6, so Team C-D wins the high ball point.

There will be plenty of ties along the way for the low ball or the high ball. Most groups call ties a wash — no point awarded. But you can, if you prefer, carry points over to the next hole(s) in the event of ties.

There is also an alternate way of scoring:

• Stick with 1 point earned for the best of the low balls.
• But switch to subtracting 1 point from the team with the worse high ball.

Another twist you can try if you wish: Some groups play Low Ball-High Ball (or High-Low) so that winning the low ball point with a birdie or better doubles the point (earning 2 points rather than 1).

Low Ball-High Ball as Tournament Format

You can also use the basics of Low Ball-High Ball (meaning: a side's low score and high score are what counts on each hole) to use this format for tournaments. A Low Ball-High Ball tournament employs 4-player teams, with each member of the team playing his or her own ball throughout.

On each hole, the team's best score (low ball) is combined with its worst score (high ball) as the team's score. Note that we're talking about strokes, not points, here. If your team's best score on Hole 1 is a 4, and its worst score on Hole 1 is a 6, then the team's score on that first hole is 10.

A tournament of this kind often goes by the name Whack and Hack, and you can click on that link to read more about it. Similar games are the 4-Point Game (and its synonym, 2-1-1), and a Bowmaker Tournament is similar but uses Stableford points rather than stroke totals.

Sources:
Johnston, Scott. The Complete Book of Golf Games, 1999, Rowman & Littlefield.
Kapriskie, Ron. Golf Digest's Complete Book of Golf Betting Games, 2007, Doubleday.
The Quick Series Guide to Golf Games, 1998, Luxart Communications.