How it plays
- 1Play each hole normally, then convert the score to points instead of writing down strokes.
- 2Once a hole is gone it is only ever worth minus two, so pick up and walk.
- 3Add the nine hole points together. Highest total wins — and totals can be negative.
Scoring and handicaps
- The Sandbaggers League scale: double bogey or worse −2, bogey −1, par 0, birdie 3, eagle or better 4.
- The traditional club scale (double bogey 0, bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4) pays you for showing up. Ours does not.
- Net Stableford applies your handicap strokes first: a shot on a hole turns a 5 into a net 4, and the points come off the net score.
- A negative total is perfectly possible, and it is the format working as intended.
Over nine holes
This is the modified Stableford used on the PGA Tour at the Barracuda, scaled down. A birdie is worth three times what a bogey costs, so the arithmetic tells you to take the pin on. Over nine holes that produces the widest spread of any format in the rotation and the most watchable golf in it.
How to actually win it
- Attack everything. A birdie is worth three and a bogey costs one, so taking the shot on pays off unless it turns a bogey into a double.
- Pick up the moment double is certain. Grinding out a triple costs the same minus two and takes four minutes.
- Level par is zero points. Anything positive is a decent nine; plus five usually wins.
Questions people ask
How many points is a birdie in Stableford?
Three points on The Sandbaggers League scale (double bogey or worse −2, bogey −1, par 0, birdie 3, eagle 4). On the traditional club scale a birdie is also three, but there par is worth two and a bogey still pays one — ours pays nothing for par and takes a point off you for a bogey.
What is a good modified Stableford score for 9 holes?
On our scale par is worth nothing, so level par for nine holes is zero points. Anything above zero is a good nine and plus five normally wins a four-man game. Negative totals are common and nobody is embarrassed by one.
Should you use net or gross Stableford?
Net, if the group's handicaps differ by more than a few shots. Net Stableford is the fairest format in common use — it gives strokes where they are needed and still rewards the aggressive play that makes for good video.
Watch it played
We film Stableford live, badly, every season
Four golfers, real handicaps, nine holes, and a forfeit waiting for whoever finishes last. The board opens on every Stableford week and the full round card is here the day the episode drops.