From Brent Kelley,
Your Guide to Golf.
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Definition: Bowmaker tournaments are very common in the U.K., where the term is widely used. The term "bowmaker" is rarely used in the U.S., but the format is a familiar one.

A bowmaker boils down to this: A team event in which members of the team are playing their own golf balls throughout, and a certain number of the team members' scores count on each hole.

The most common bowmaker format in the U.K. calls for 4-person teams with the two low scores per hole counting as the team scores. If on the first hole, members of your group score 4, 5, 6 and 7, your team score is 9 (4 plus 5, the two low balls).

Stableford is the most common choice for scoring bowmaker tournaments in the U.K., but other variations are known. Also, you'll sometimes find bowmakers that use 3-person teams with the best two scores per hole counting, or 4-person teams with the best three scores per hole counting.