How it plays
- 1Four players start. Everyone plays their own ball, net scoring as usual.
- 2After hole 3, the worst net total is eliminated.
- 3After hole 6, the worst net total of the remaining three is eliminated.
- 4The last two wipe the slate and play holes 7–9 head to head. Lowest net over those three takes the day.
Scoring and handicaps
- Cuts run on cumulative net, not on the segment alone — a disaster on the first hole follows you to the second cut.
- The finalists start level. Everything they shot to get there is forgotten, which is what separates this from a long medal round.
- Finishing order is elimination order reversed: the winner, the runner-up, the man cut at 6, the man cut at 3.
- Ties at a cut go to countback — the worse score on the last hole of the segment, then the hole before it.
- The league pays 10 / 6 / 3 / 1 on that finishing order, the same as every other week.
Over nine holes
Nine holes split into three makes a shootout almost too neat: four men, three acts, one match at the end. It is the only format in our rotation where a player can be mathematically finished before the turn, and the only one where the man who scrapes through by a shot gets a completely clean shot at the man who led all day.
How to actually win it
- Know the number. Before the third and sixth greens, work out what you need — the format punishes a man who does not realise he is on the line.
- Play the cut, not the course. Surviving is the only thing that matters in the first six holes; nobody gets extra credit for leading them.
- If you make the final two, forget the first six holes entirely. So has the format.
- Put the cuts where the course is hardest if you want carnage, or after the easy stretch if you want the cut to be about nerve.
Questions people ask
How does a golf shootout work?
Players are eliminated as the round goes on. With four players over nine holes, the worst net score after three holes is out, the worst of the remaining three after six holes is out, and the last two play the final three holes head to head for the win.
How do you break a tie at the cut in a shootout?
Countback. Compare the players' scores on the last hole of the segment; the worse one goes out. Still level, compare the hole before that, and so on. Our league falls back to the season standings if they are level on every hole — decided in advance, so there is nothing to argue about on the tee.
Do the finalists carry their scores into the last holes?
In our version, no — they start level. Carrying the totals forward usually means the leader has the match won before the seventh tee, which removes the drama the format exists to create. Groups that prefer a reward for leading can carry the strokes over instead.
How many players do you need for a shootout?
Four is the natural number over nine holes: two cuts, three segments of three holes. With three players use one cut at the halfway point; with five or six, cut two at the first stage or add a third cut.
Watch it played
We film The Shootout live, badly, every season
Four golfers, real handicaps, nine holes, and a forfeit waiting for whoever finishes last. The board opens on every The Shootout week and the full round card is here the day the episode drops.