How to Play a Throw-Out Tournament
The basics of a Throw-Out Tournament are probably familiar to many golfers, even if you don't recognize that name. Other common formats that use the same principle — throw out an agreed-upon number of your worst scores — go by names like Three Blind Mice and Three Little Pigs, If Only, and Best Holes.
In a tournament setting, the tournament organizers will tell players how many of their worst holes will be thrown out at the end of the round. It can be any number, though one to six holes is the most common range, and three holes is the typical number. We'll use three holes for the following example.
You enter a Throw-Out Tournament and are told that your three worst scores won't count. At the end of the round, check your scorecard and circle or cross out your three worst holes. Now throw 'em out — when you add up your score, those three holes don't count. Your score on the other 15 holes is added up, and that determines how you finish in the tournament standings.
If only your one worst score is thrown out, then the other 17 scores are added; if your two worst, then the other 16 holes count, and so on.
What scoring format is used in a Throw-Out Tournament? Anything the organizers want, so long as it involves stroke play scoring. Individual stroke play, two-person better ball, groups of four with two low balls as the team score. Anything along those lines works. All the "Throw-Out" name really tells you is that a certain number of your worst scores won't count in the end.
The Throw-Out format is also easy to use as a gambling game within a group of two, three or four golfers competing against each other. Just agree before play begins on the number of scores to throw out at the end of the round.
A Throw-Out Tournament can be played using gross scores or net scores. If handicaps are used, the typical formula is to reduce players' course handicaps in proportion to the number of holes being thrown out. For example, if three holes are set aside at the end, the proportion is 15/18ths (or 83-percent) of course handicaps.
Related articles:
- How to play a Progressive Best Ball tournament
- How to play the Waltz game
- '40 Balls' format explained
Johnston, Scott. The Complete Book of Golf Games (affiliate link), 1995, Mustang Publishing.
Southern California Golf Association, Tournaments For Your Club, United States Golf Association, https://www.scga.org/pdfs/volunteers/1941/tournaments_for_your_club.pdf.
