Foursomes, also known as alternate shot, is a pairs playing format in the sport of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. Golfers compete in teams of two, using only one

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

per team, and taking alternate shots until the hole is completed. Team members take turns in teeing off on each hole, i.e. one player will take the tee shot on odd-numbered holes, and the other on even-numbered holes. Foursomes is most commonly played as

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

, with each hole being won by the team that completes it in the fewest shots. This form of golf is often played in team golf competitions such as the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force ...

and the

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

. Foursomes can also be played in

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

competitions, with the winners being the team who have taken the fewest strokes to complete a set number of holes. Since 2000 this format has been used with alternating rounds of four-ball by the World Cup of Golf, and since 2017, again combined with four-ball rounds, by the Zurich Classic on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

Variations

Greensomes, also known as "Scotch foursomes", follows the same format as foursomes except that both players tee off on every hole. The better ball is chosen and alternate strokes are then played to complete the hole. This format is used at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, where two rounds are played on a par three course; in each round, nine holes are played as greensomes and nine as better ball. ''Bloodsomes'', or ''gruesomes'', follows the same format as greensomes except the opposition pairing choose which ball is played. ''Chapman'', also known as Pinehurst or American foursomes, is a combination of alternate shot and fourball. The pair each play a ball from the tee, play their partner's ball for the second shot, before selecting which ball to complete the hole with. The players then take alternate strokes, with the next (third) being played by the player who hit the chosen ball from the tee. It is named after American amateur golfer Dick Chapman, who collaborated with the USGA in devising the system.

References

{{Golf Golf terminology Rules of golf

Variations

See also

References