How to Play a Box Tournament ('Man In the Box')

In the name of a "Box Tournament," also known as "Man In the Box," the box in question is the tee box. On every hole, one member of the four-person team is required to step up and provide one of the two scores on that hole that are combined for the team's score.

Box Tournaments are a familiar format, even if you might not know this particular name. They also go by Designated Hitter, 4-Player Baseball, Lone Ranger, and Choker Tournament, in addition to In the Box/Man In the Box and more names.

No matter what you call it, a Box Tournament is usually for four-player teams, and on each hole the scores of two of the players on the team are combined for the team's score. Which two players? One of them is the player whose turn it is to be "in the box," and the other is the low score among the other three golfers.

How do you know which team member is "in the box" on a given hole? It's the usual A-B-C-D rotation: Player A on Hole 1, Player B on Hole 2, Player C on Hole 3, Player D on Hole 4, then back to A and so on. These are the holes that each golfer gets:

• Player A: Holes 1, 5, 9, 13
• Player B: Holes 2, 6, 10, 14
• Player C: Holes 3, 7, 11, 15
• Player D: Holes 4, 8, 12, 16

Let's do an example using Hole 6. On the sixth hole, based on this rotation, Player B is "in the box." That means that Player B's score on Hole 6 — no matter what the score is — will make up half the team's score. Let's say Player A makes a 5, Player B a 5, Player C 4 and Player D 6. What is the team's score in this example? Nine. Player B's 5 must be used, and it is combined with the low score among the other three, which in this example is Player C's 4.

A four-player rotation in a Box Tournament leaves two leftovers, holes 17 and 18. Most commonly, teams in a Box Tournament are told to use their two low balls for the team score on those extra holes.

You can also play a Box Tournament with 3-player teams, which uses all 18 holes: Each golfer on a 3-player teams gets six turns "in the box."

More formats:

• The Ringer tournament explained
• How to play the 40 Balls format
• How the Criers and Whiners format works