Irish Four Ball

Definition: The term and the tournament format "Irish Four Ball" is very popular in Australia. In Irish Four Ball, teams of four golfers - each playing his or her own ball throughout - use a Stableford or Modified Stableford scoring system. The scores of a predetermined number of team members per hole are combined for one team score. For example, if the low two scores are being counted on a given hole, and those scores are 0 and 1 (Stableford, remember), then the team score on that hole is 1.

There are many variations to an Irish Four Ball (sometimes called Irish Stableford). Many Irish Four Balls use the two low balls per hole throughout the tournament. A more popular variation calls for the number of scores per hole to vary throughout the round in this fashion:

Holes 1-6: One low ball
Holes 7-11: Two low balls
Holes 12-15: Three low balls
Holes 16-18: All four scores

(Some using the above format eliminate the one-low ball option, and play six holes each using two low balls, three and four.)

Another variation determines scores based on the type of hole being played:

Par 3 Holes: Two low balls
Par 4 Holes: Three low balls
Par 5 Holes: All four scores

Another common Irish Four Ball variation is to stipulate that teams consist of two men and two women.

So there are many variations, but the basics are that teams consist of four, a Stableford system is used, and a pretermined number of low scores per hole make up the team score.

Also Known As: Irish Stableford

Alternate Spellings: Irish 4-Ball, Irish Fourball