What’s The Best Format For The Club Championship?

Two golfers shaking hands — Should club championship be decided by stroke play or match play?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The club championship should be the biggest event on any golf club’s calendar. Establishing and celebrating the best golfer of the year is a fundamental reason for running and being part of a golf club.

But what is the best way to find the most deserving golfer? Should clubs use a stroke play format, like the biggest events in elite professional golf?

Or should they use a format that’s favoured in the top-level amateur competitions, a mixture of stroke play and match play?

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Or, maybe the club championship should be straight match play…

What are your thoughts on the best club championship format? Let us know in the comments below.

When travelling around the UK, and further afield, you’ll find no set format for the club championship. But it would seem the most common is to hold a stroke play qualifier leading into a match-play knockout phase.

There is, of course, no right or wrong and there is something to be said for stroke play and match play. Some clubs favour a full match play format for the following reasons:

Firstly, having a little more variety might be welcome. If the championship is match play, it’s a nice break from the steady run of stroke play club medals and Stablefords.

On tour, there is a reluctance to include match play events – lesser-known players can knock out the big names with a stellar performance, and the latter stages can be less star-studded and that has an impact on TV viewing figures. Sponsors don’t like that.

But, at club level, is it not refreshing for a few more members to have a chance of making an impact and getting their name on the board?

More often than not, the best players will prevail, but the occasional upset would keep things interesting. A multi-round stroke-play event might be too much for a slightly higher-handicap player to come out on top, but in match play, they might just have a chance.

Four golfers walking on fairway — Should the club champs in all categories be stroke play or match play?

I like the idea. But, for me, stroke play is the only way to sort the wheat from the chaff and find the club’s true 'champion golfer for the year'. The vagaries of match play are too great. In stroke play the cream will always rise to the top.

Over four rounds of stroke play, there is no doubt the victor has earned the honour of being club champion. They have beaten the field to take the title.

And one of the great things about a stroke play championship is that more members will be involved competitively to the very end of the event.

There might be a finals day when the last round of the men’s, women’s, juniors and senior’s championships are all played.

That means more people around the club to watch the final stages, better atmosphere and more chance of a party afterwards.

Most clubs have knockout tournaments, and these have an important place. Always throwing up some unlikely results, they’re great fun, but should be used to find 'match play' rather than 'club' champions.

'The best way to decide the club champion'

What about mixing the two though? As mentioned, many clubs have a stroke play qualifying element to their championship. Perhaps 36-holes with the top 16 progressing to the match play stages.

That’s what the highest-level amateur championships of Britain and the USA do (with more participants of course.) You must excel at both stroke play and match play to claim the win.

The problem I have with that format at club level is that, when it comes to the final, it’s just two players on the course. Unless the membership is interested and involved, there might be little support and involvement – how many will realistically come out simply to spectate?

In my opinion, 72 holes of stroke play is the best way to decide the club champion for the year. The winner must display consistency over four rounds and make few mistakes.

Like in pro events, there might be a midway cut, but there will still be a number of participants right at the end. That means more people will be involved, both as players and as interested spectators (friends and family members).

You should get a good crowd around the final green to see the club champion crowned for the year. That champion will have thoroughly deserved the plaudits and the celebrations that follow.

The best format for a club championship is multi-round stroke play.

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

Fergus is also a level-three qualified Rules official and referee.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?