Four Ball (Best Ball)

In four ball, two players form a team and each plays their own ball for all 18 holes. The team's score on a hole is the better (lower) of the two partners' net scores.

Best ball is the same idea. In match play it is Four Ball, played team versus team. In stroke play it is 2-man best ball, where the team's low balls sum to a total against the field.

1. 1.Both partners play out every hole and record their own gross score.
2. 2.Handicap strokes are applied to each player, producing a net score per partner.
3. 3.The team takes the lower of the two net scores as its result for the hole.
4. 4.Match play: the two teams' best balls are compared and the lower wins the hole. Stroke play: each team's best balls are summed across 18 for a total.

Each player receives a percentage of their own course handicap (commonly 85% in four ball), allocated on their tee's stroke index. Both partners keep their own strokes rather than combining, so a higher handicap partner can still win a hole outright.

Pairs who want a safety net. A blow-up hole for one partner is erased if the other posts a solid number, so it rewards steady partnerships and keeps everyone in the round.