Last Updated on March 17, 2024 by Britt Olizarowicz
I’ve played a lot of serious golf in my life, which can be stressful. As a golf professional, I played in many tournaments where the pressure was incredibly high. I love a good golf scramble format at this stage in my golf career. If you’ve ever wondered what a golf scramble is and how you can shoot a lower score, you are in the right place. There is an absolute strategy for playing a scramble and going low, and it has nothing to do with the overall handicap of your team members.
What Is A Scramble In Golf?
A four-person scramble in golf involves the following steps:
- All four players tee off
- The best of the shots are selected
- All four players hit their second shots from this location
- The best second shot is chosen
- All golfers hit their third shot from this location
- Continue the process until the ball is in the hole
Four-person scrambles allow you to play from the best location on each of your shots. The team score is just a single score for the hole. A scramble tournament is a great option for new golfers or charity events where people are not familiar with what it takes to play an entire round of golf.
Scramble Rules
The rules of the scramble can vary from one tournament to the next. However, you will typically have to mark the ball you choose to play, and all players will drop their golf balls within one club’s length of this spot. In addition, the condition that the ball is in must remain the same. For instance, if you choose a shot in a bunker, everyone will have to hit this shot out of the bunker. You can’t use one length to move your golf ball out of the bunker.
One additional scramble rule you may encounter is the minimum drive rule. This one states that the team must use two drives from every player. Therefore, the longest hitter is not the one who is always getting their shot chosen. Check out my scramble tips below for how to handle this.
What Are The Benefits of A Scramble in Golf?
The benefits of a scramble in golf include more fun, a faster pace of play, increased team participation, and a more inclusive format for golfers of any level. I think playing a scramble every once in a while is a great way to work on your game, put a little pressure on yourself to make some great shots with everyone watching and see how low you can shoot!
Faster Pace of Play
The scramble format does not require you to play your own ball for the 18 holes. Therefore, you won’t have to find that shot that could be out of bounds or hit a penalty shot for something that went in the water. In fact, in most scrambles, you shouldn’t even have a bunker shot that you need to hit. These things all speed up the pace of play.
Better Team Participation
Golf is an individual sport. That’s one of the things I like about it. However, when you play in a scramble, you are a member of the team. Everyone needs to play well to get the best tee shot and best position on the green, and somebody needs to sink that putt. Sometimes, it’s the 35 handicap that sinks the 40-footer for birdie, and that makes scrambles so much fun.
More Inclusive Format
Even if you are not the best player, you can still play in a scramble and have fun. You may be surprised that, at times, you have the best drive or you make a long putt to put your team in a great position. Poor shots are forgotten about in a four-person scramble because there is always somebody who can get the team in a good place.
It’s Fun!
Scrambles are fun. Even as a low handicap golfer, I find that the scramble is the best way to play a competitive and interesting round with higher handicaps, and we can all work together to shoot as low as possible. Stroke play can be grueling, and a scramble is a great way to break things up.
Gross vs. Net Scramble Golf
Golf scrambles are often played as a gross event. This means that the number of shots it took to get into the hole is your score for the hole, with no handicap adjustment.
However, if you are playing a scramble at a country club (not just a charity event), the tournament organizers likely have the handicap of every player. This is when a net division may also be added to the event.
The formula for figuring out the handicap in a team format scramble ensures that the higher handicappers’ big handicap does not play too much into the formula. There is no real universally accepted scramble team formula. However, the one that I’ve found to be most common is:
- 20% of Player A
- 15% of Player B
- 10% of Player C
- 5% of Player D
Again, this can be adjusted based on the tournament committee or individual golf course hosting the scramble event.
Scramble Alternatives and Variations
Now that we have the basics of a traditional scramble down, here are a few other scramble formats you may come across. Also, let’s just get this point across right now: the best ball format and the scramble are not the same. The best ball format requires every golfer to play their shot from tee to green. When you get to the green, the individual scores of the lowest player are counted. The terms best ball and scramble get confused quite often.
2 Man Scramble
Played the same way as a four man scramble. The two players choose the best shot and play their next shot from there until the ball gets in the hole. Scoring won’t be as low because it’s only two players compared to a typical scramble with four players.
Texas Scramble
The Texas Scramble is the format that requires everyone to contribute a certain number of drives. Typically, it is two drives from every player, but this can be increased to three drives from every player, making it a little more difficult.
Shamble
The shamble is like a mix between a scramble and a best ball event. All players drive and then move their ball to the spot of the best shot. However, from this position, everyone plays their own ball into the hole. The lowest score of the individual player will be the team score. If you slice a lot of tee shots, you may enjoy this format!
Florida Scramble
A Florida scramble is another variation on a traditional scramble. In this format, the golfer whose shot was selected as the best has to sit out the next shot. What typically happens here is the players who often shoot low scores are pretty much stepping in on every other shot to save the team. It’s harder than a traditional scramble.
Strategy for Shooting Lower Scores In A Scramble
If you have made it this far, you are essentially an expert in all the special rules and formats of scrambles. However, now you need some of the strategies to go low. These are all within the proper rules of a scramble tournament, but you can save a lot of strokes this way.
1. Always let the player with the highest handicap go first, if they hit a good shot it takes a little pressure off the rest of the team and people can get aggressive.
2. If you must use a minimum number of tee shots, get that done right away! If your D player hits a shot on a par 5 that is in the fairway and you can’t get to the putting green in two, just use it!
3. Watch every putt, this is information and data you can use by the time the fourth player goes the ball should have a real chance to go in.
4. The golfer who has the most power should always go last on the tee box. If there is a safe drive, they can go for it.
5. Keep the same order for 18 holes. There is a lot to be said about routine in golf; keep the routine if you want to go low.
Final Thoughts
I recently played in a three club scramble at my golf club. It’s just like it sounds: a scramble format where you can only use three of your golf clubs. The game of golf is fun and enjoyable, but when you can play with these different formats and make the events more inclusive, it’s the perfect match for a charity golf tournament or a fun round with friends. What do you think, are you pro scramble?
