The Sunningdale Foursomes is an open
foursomes Foursomes, also known as alternate shot, is a pairs playing format in the sport of golf.
Golfers compete in teams of two, using only one ball per team, and taking alternate shots until the hole is completed. Team members take turns in teeing off o ...
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 ...
tournament contested at the
Sunningdale Golf Club,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
in March. It was first contested in 1934 and has been held annually since, except between 1940 and 1947. The event is open to all golfers. Players are handicapped based only on whether they are male or female, professional or amateur.
Format
The event is played over four days each March at
Sunningdale Golf Club and is open to all golfers. Any combination of male or female, professional or amateur, is allowed. The format is
foursomes Foursomes, also known as alternate shot, is a pairs playing format in the sport of golf.
Golfers compete in teams of two, using only one ball per team, and taking alternate shots until the hole is completed. Team members take turns in teeing off o ...
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 ...
, the field being limited to 128 pairs. For the first two rounds both the Old and New courses are used, but thereafter only the Old course is used. Players are handicapped based solely on whether they are male or female, professional or amateur.
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Handicaps
The handicaps have varied slightly over the years. The current handicaps are:
*Male professionals: +1
*Male amateurs: 0
*Female professionals: 2
*Female amateurs: 3
Before 2023 female amateurs received a handicap of 4,
All competitors play from the same tees. Currently pairs receive the full difference of the combined handicaps, so that two female amateurs will receive 8 strokes from two male professionals.[
]
Winners
Source:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunningdale Foursomes
Golf tournaments in England
Sport in Berkshire
Recurring sporting events established in 1934
1934 establishments in England