Ever tuned into a pro tournament or overheard chatter at your local club about medal play and just nodded along, not fully certain what it meant? You're not alone. Medal play is a fundamental format in golf, and grasping what it is completely changes how you approach the game. This guide will clarify exactly what medal play is, how it's different from other formats, and provide you with a coach's perspective on the strategy you need to succeed in it.
In the simplest terms, medal play is just another name for stroke play. It is the most common form of golf played around the world, from the PGA Tour to your Saturday morning round with friends.
Here’s the core concept: you play a round of 18 holes, and you count every single stroke you take. Every putt, every chip, every swing - even the whiffs and penalty strokes - they all get added up. Your final number at the end of the round is your score. The player with the lowest total score is the winner.
Think of it as the golf equivalent of a 10k race. In a race, you are judged by your total time from start to finish. In medal play, you are judged by your total score from the first tee to the 18th green. It’s a measure of your total performance over the entire round. In a formal competition, this format rewards the most consistent and skilled player over 18, 36, or 72 holes.
The name "medal play" has simple, historic roots. For centuries, club golf competitions were played for a physical prize. The most prestigious monthly competition at many golf clubs was often for, you guessed it, a medal. The format used for these prestigious events was stroke play, where every shot counted towards victory. Over time, the format itself became synonymous with the prize, hence the term "Medal Play" and the very common "Monthly Medal" competition you’ll find at clubs everywhere.
To truly understand medal play, it’s essential to contrast it with golf’s other primary format: match play. While both involve hitting a golf ball into a hole, the mindset, strategy, and even the pressure feel completely different.
In medal play, you are essentially competing against the golf course and the entire field of players simultaneously. Every stroke has the same weight, whether it’s your first drive on hole #1 or your final putt on hole #18.
Match play is a head-to-head battle. You are playing against a single opponent, and the goal is to win more individual holes than they do. A round is a series of 18 separate, one-hole contests.
As a coach, this is where I see golfers make the biggest gains. Shifting your mindset from 'how do I make a birdie?' to 'how do I avoid a double bogey?' is the foundational secret to scoring well in medal play. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and your strategy should reflect that.
The champion of a medal play tournament is often the player who was the most boringly effective. They didn't necessarily hit the most spectacular shots, but they certainly hit the fewest catastrophically bad ones.
What does boring golf look like?
Bad shots are inevitable. The best medal players are masters of damage control. They accept a bad shot, assess their new situation calmly, and make the smartest decision to prevent a bad hole from becoming a disaster.
Scenario: You've pushed your tee shot on a par-4 deep into the trees on the right. You can see a tiny, one-in-a-million gap through the branches back towards the green.
That bogey is a victory. You've saved two or three strokes over the hero shot. Over 18 holes, making one or two of these smart, conservative decisions is a huge difference maker.
When you enter a club's "Monthly Medal," you'll almost always see two types of winners: one for the Gross score and one for the Net score. Understanding the difference is vital for understanding competitive amateur golf.
This is as straightforward as it gets. Your gross score is the actual number of strokes you took to complete the round. If you hit the ball 88 times, your gross score is 88. This is how professional golfers are scored, and it recognizes the player who had the best "unassisted" round of golf that day.
This is what makes golf competitions fair and fun for players of all skill levels. Your net score is your gross score minus your course handicap. The handicap system is designed to be the great equalizer in golf.
Let's look at an example to see how it works:
In this medal play competition, even though Player A shot 11 strokes better in gross terms, it's Player B who wins the net competition because they played better relative to their own average ability. This system allows a 22-handicapper to have a legitimate and exciting competition against a friend who is a 10-handicapper.
At its heart, medal play is the purest accounting of your aolf game. It’s you against the course, with every single shot contributing to the final result. Adopting a medal play mindset requires patience, disciplined strategy, and an ability to manage the highs and lows of a round, prioritizing consistency and avoiding big mistakes above all else.
Knowing the right strategy is one thing, but executing it under pressure on the course is a different challenge. That’s really why we built our app. When you're standing on a new tee box or facing a weird lie, you can consult Caddie AI for personalized, strategic advice. It can analyze the situation, whether from your description or a photo of your ball's lie, and give you a smart recommendation that helps you avoid those scorecard-wrecking holes. Think of it as having a tour-level strategic coach in your pocket, helping you make the unemotional, smart decisions that lead to lower medal play scores.
Thinking about hosting a golf tournament fundraiser is the first swing, executing it successfully is what gets the ball in the hole. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from laying the initial groundwork months in advance to watching your happy golfers tee off. We’ll cover everything from securing sponsors and setting your budget to planning the on-course fun that makes an event unforgettable.
A golf handicap does more than just give you bragging rights (or a reason to demand strokes from your friends) - it’s the game’s great equalizer and the single best way to track your improvement. This guide breaks down what a handicap is, how the supportive math behind a handicap index a is, and exactly how you can get one for yourself. We’ll look at everything from Course Rating to Adjusted Gross Score, helping you feel confident both on the course and in the clubhouse.
The compression of a Pinnacle Rush golf ball is one of its most defining features, engineered specifically to help a huge swath of golfers get more distance and enjoyment from their game. We'll break down exactly what its low compression means, who it's for, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot lower scores.
Figuring out which spikes go into your new (or old) pair of Puma golf shoes can feel like a puzzle, but it’s much simpler than you think. The key isn't the brand of the shoe, but the type of receptacle system they use. This guide will walk you through exactly how to identify your Puma's spike system, choose the perfect replacements for your game, and change them out like a pro.
The Golf Genius app is one of the best tools for managing and participating in competitive golf events, but figuring it out for the first time can feel like reading a new set of greens. This guide cuts through the confusion and shows you exactly how to use the app as a player. We’ll cover everything from logging into your tournament and entering scores to checking the live leaderboard so you can enjoy the competition without any tech headaches.
Walking onto the first tee with sweaty palms, worried you’ll be a good partner to paly wtih...or even asked back again ...We’ve all been there - trust me! The real trick of feeling confortable... is about how you handle you’re ready to plsy. THIS guide explains the simple rules of the rode to show you hnow t play golf while staying calm relaxed and focused... an having much morse fun while you,',re aat it? You'll also play with confidence a dn make fiendsa while you're at i
Just ask a question or share a photo and Caddie gives personalized guidance for every shot - anytime, anywhere.
