Golf · Rules and guides
Golf scoring rules and guides
Guides to keeping score in golf, from counting strokes in stroke play to reading match play results such as 3&2, 1 up and dormie. New to it? Start with how to keep score in golf.
Most golf scoring questions come down to which format you are playing. In stroke play you add up every hole and compare totals, usually over 18 holes, so one bad hole stays on the card. In match play each hole is its own contest, won, lost or halved, and the score is kept in holes: 2 up, all square, dormie. That is where results such as 3&2 and 1 up come from.
That guide covers strokes and penalty strokes, par, the scorecard and gross versus net, then plays the same four holes both ways. For match play, read match play scoring for holes up, concessions and extra holes, what 3&2 and 1 up mean for every result a match can produce, and what dormie means for the moment a leader can no longer lose.
Every rule here is checked against the Rules of Golf, written by the R&A and the USGA. To keep the card on your iPhone or Apple Watch, the golf score tracker app scores stroke play, match play and Stableford over 9 or 18 holes. It counts gross strokes only and does not work out handicaps.
Scoring guides
Rules explained
Last reviewed September 25, 2026
Keep your golf card on your wrist.
Sport Score Tracker keeps stroke play, match play and Stableford on iPhone and Apple Watch. Enter each hole and the totals, score to par and match status update themselves. Offline, no ads, no account.