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Two Rounds of 90, Twelve Points Apart: The Case for Stableford

Stroke play calls two 90s a tie. Stableford can put them 12 points apart. Why the points format forgives a blow-up hole, and which groups it suits.

The CutNovember 4, 2026 · 4 min read

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How to play Stableford

Points-based scoring. Birdie = 3 pts, Par = 2 pts, Bogey = 1 pt.

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Total strokes for the round. Standard tournament format.

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Aggressive points: eagle +5, birdie +2, par 0, bogey -1, double -3.

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Two golfers shoot 90 on the same par 72. In stroke play that is a tie. In gross Stableford, one of them wins by 12 points, because a bad hole can only cost so much. For a group with a wide spread of games, that gap is the best argument for the format.

What's Happening

Stableford scores each hole in points against par. Double bogey or worse is 0, bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4. Highest total wins. In a net game you take your handicap strokes first, so the points run against your net score.

Frank Stableford devised the system because players were tearing up their cards after a few bad holes. Wallasey Golf Club in England dates the first Stableford competition to 16 May 1932.

Once a hole reaches double bogey, nothing more counts against you. Under the Rules of Golf, a player in a Stableford competition who does not hole out gets zero points for that hole, and the Rules encourage players to stop playing a hole once their score can only earn zero. Pick it up, walk to the next tee.

The Take

Stroke play charges full price for every disaster. A 9 on a par 4 is five strokes over, and those five strokes ride in your total all the way to the 18th green. Stableford caps the same hole at zero points, two fewer than a par earns. The worst hole of your day costs you what a double bogey costs.

Run two rounds of 90 through both formats, scored gross:

The steady 90: 18 bogeys. Stroke play: 18 over. Stableford: 18 points.
The streaky 90: 12 pars, 2 birdies and 4 holes at five over. Stroke play: also 18 over. Stableford: 24 points for the pars, 6 for the birdies, 0 for the four blow-ups. That is 30 points.

In stroke play the four blow-ups cost the streaky player 20 strokes against par. In Stableford they cost 8 points against par, two a hole, and every good hole in that round still counts in full.

Stroke play rewards the round with the fewest mistakes. Stableford rewards the round with the most good holes.

The format suits a group with a few players whose rounds come with a disaster or two. A triple on the 3rd does not end anybody's day, so the whole group stays in the game deep into the back nine. Pace gets better too, because the player who is out of points on a hole picks up instead of grinding out an 8.

The steady player who never makes a double loses some of that edge, since avoiding disasters matters less when disasters are capped. If your group is full of grinders who shoot the same number every week, stroke play rewards them for it, and Stableford mostly hands the streaky player a cushion.

The Proof

The two rounds side by side:

The four blow-ups cost the streaky round 20 strokes in stroke play and 8 points in Stableford. The 12 pars and 2 birdies count in full either way.

Both rounds are the same score. The format decides which one wins, so pick the one that fits your group.

The Cut

Stableford and Modified Stableford are both formats you can pick for a round on caddie.fun, and the app tallies the points as the scores come in, so nobody has to work out what a net double bogey is on the 14th tee.

Start a Stableford round with your group →

What's Happening

Frank Stableford devised the system because players were tearing up their cards after a few bad holes. Wallasey Golf Club in England dates the first Stableford competition to 16 May 1932.

The Take

Run two rounds of 90 through both formats, scored gross:

The steady 90: 18 bogeys. Stroke play: 18 over. Stableford: 18 points.

The streaky 90: 12 pars, 2 birdies and 4 holes at five over. Stroke play: also 18 over. Stableford: 24 points for the pars, 6 for the birdies, 0 for the four blow-ups. That is 30 points.

In stroke play the four blow-ups cost the streaky player 20 strokes against par. In Stableford they cost 8 points against par, two a hole, and every good hole in that round still counts in full.

Stroke play rewards the round with the fewest mistakes. Stableford rewards the round with the most good holes.

The Proof

The two rounds side by side:

The four blow-ups cost the streaky round 20 strokes in stroke play and 8 points in Stableford. The 12 pars and 2 birdies count in full either way.

Both rounds are the same score. The format decides which one wins, so pick the one that fits your group.

Two Rounds of 90, Twelve Points Apart: The Case for Stableford

Related game formats

How to play Stableford

How to play Stroke Play

How to play Modified Stableford

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Ready to play?

Two Rounds of 90, Twelve Points Apart: The Case for Stableford

What's Happening

The Take

The Proof

The Cut

Related game formats

How to play Stableford

How to play Stroke Play

How to play Modified Stableford

More from The Cut

What a Good Caddie Notices That You Don't

The Saturday Game a Course Can Trust

The Fastest Group Usually Wins the Bets. That's Not a Coincidence.

Ready to play?

What's Happening

The Take

The Proof

The Cut