A 6-6-6 tournament, also famously known as Devils &, Angels or a Chapman, mixes up the day's competition by changing formats every six holes. It’s one of the best ways to keep a group of golfers engaged, but its unique structure means you can't just slap a standard handicap on and call it a day. This guide will walk you through exactly how to handicap a 6-6-6 golf tournament to make it a fair and fun event for everyone, from die-hard competitors to casual weekend players.
Before we can handicap it, let's make sure we're on the same page. A 6-6-6 is three tournaments packed into one 18-hole round. Normally played with two-person teams, the format changes every six holes. While the specific formats can be swapped around, a classic 6-6-6 consists of:
The beauty of this format is how it shifts the dynamic of the team. A high-handicap player might be a huge asset in the scramble section, where their best shots can save the team, but a potential liability in alternate shot, where every single shot counts.
Your World Handicap System (WHS) handicap is brilliant for individual stroke play. It's a reflection of your demonstrated ability or potential score. But when you start mixing in team formats, its direct application gets a little messy.
Think about it: in a Best Ball format, you have two chances to make a good score on a hole. In a Scramble, you get to choose the best of two shots every single time. And in Alternate Shot, you're only hitting half the shots. A player’s individual handicap doesn’t neatly transfer to these situations.
Just combining two players’ handicaps (e.g., a 10 and a 20 make a 30 handicap team) isn’t truly fair. That system gives a huge advantage to the higher handicappers in the scramble and best ball while punishing them in alternate shot. The goal is to find a system that accounts for the unique challenges of each six-hole segment.
There are a few ways to approach handicapping a 6-6-6 tournament, ranging from super simple to officially sanctioned. Which one you choose depends on your group and how seriously you're taking the competition.
If your 6-6-6 is just for bragging rights among friends, you might not need complex calculations. This is all about fun and moving at a good pace.
If all players in the group have similar skill levels (for example, everyone is between a 10 and 15 handicap), the easiest way to play is straight up, with no strokes given. You're simply playing gross scores for each format. The lowest score wins. This works well for a casual bet but can fall apart if there are big skill gaps in the field.
For a slightly fairer approach that doesn't require a spreadsheet, you can use a basic team handicap. Add both players’ Course Handicaps together and divide by two. This gives you a single team handicap for the entire round. (Note: A player’s Course Handicap is their Handicap Index adjusted for the difficulty of the specific course and tees being played.)
Example: Player A has a 10-course handicap and Player B has a 24.
(10 + 24) / 2 = 17 Team Handicap
The team gets 17 strokes for the 18-hole round. You'd mark these on the scorecard on the 17 toughest holes (handicap holes 1 through 17). While this is simple, it doesn’t quite solve the fairness problem, as it values all formats equally.
For a club event or a serious group game, you'll want to use the handicap allowances recommended by governing bodies like the USGA. This method treats each six-hole stretch as its own mini-tournament, with a handicap calculated specifically for that format. This is the most equitable way to run a 6-6-6 tournament.
In this system, you’re not competing for an overall 18-hole score. Instead, you're trying to win each six-hole segment. You can award points for first, second, third, etc., in each segment, and the team with the most points at the end wins.
Let's walk through an example. Imagine we have two teams competing:
Here's how we'd calculate their strokes for each 6-hole competition.
The USGA recommends a lower allowance for a scramble because choosing the best shot gives teams a big advantage. For a two-person scramble, the formula is:
35% of Player A's Course Handicap + 15% of Player B's Course Handicap (A is the lower handicap player).
Since this segment is only 6 holes long, they get 1/3 of their 18-hole allowance.
You apply these strokes on the two hardest-rated holes within the scramble section (e.g., if holes 1-6 have handicap ratings of 5, 11, 3, 17, 9, 13, you’d apply the strokes on the holes rated 3 and 5).
For Best Ball (or Fourball), players get a higher percentage of their handicap since they are basically playing their own ball. The standard allowance is:
85% of each player's Course Handicap.
In match play style, the lowest handicap player (Alex at 8) would play off scratch, and the others would get 85% of the difference. But for a stroke play competition format like this, it's easier to give each player 85% of their total handicap.
Again, let's find the allowance for the 6-hole segment:
You mark these strokes on the team's scorecard based on individual players. On each hole, the strokes apply to the player who gets them, and the team takes the lowest net score.
Alternate shot is tough, and the handicap reflects a simple combination of the partners' skills. The allowance is:
50% of the team's combined Course Handicaps.
For this six-hole stretch:
Setting up a 6-6-6 tournament might take a little extra prep work, but using the correct format-specific handicaps makes it one of the most balanced and exciting events you can play. By treating it as three separate competitions, you ensure every team has a fair shot to win, no matter the mix of player abilities.
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