Definition: "Halved" is a golf term used in match play (but not stroke play) to indicate a tie score on either an individual hole or a completed match.
Two golfers are playing match play. On Hole 1 of their match, both players record scores of 4. A 4-4 tie. They have "halved" the hole. Similarly, if two players end their match tied, they have "halved" the match.
The term "halve" can also be used a verb, as in, "Nicklaus needs to halve this hole to take the match dormie."
The terms "halved" and "halve" derive from "half." If both players tie, then neither has won the hole, they have split it, or to put it another way, each earned half of the hole.
See Match Play Scoring, part of our Match Play Primer, for more about the vagaries of match play.
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Examples:
1. He's putting to halve the hole. 2. They halved their match.
