The rules
Eclectic runs alongside the main event of a multi-round tournament. Nobody plays it differently on the course. It is worked out entirely from the scores already on everyone’s card.
After each round, every hole is compared with the same hole number in the rounds before it. If the new score is better, it replaces the old one. If it isn’t, nothing changes. A bad round costs you nothing, because the scores you already have stay on your card.
1
Play every round
Each round is another chance at all eighteen holes. The first round sets your card.
2
Keep the best
On each hole number, your best score to par from any round stays. Worse scores are ignored.
3
Lowest card wins
When the last round is in, the eighteen kept scores are added up against par. Lowest total wins.
Eclectic scores are low
Every hole is the best of several attempts, so an Eclectic card is always better than any round that went into it. A 12-handicap who shoots 84, 86 and 85 can easily finish with an Eclectic in the low 70s. Don’t compare it with a round score. Compare it with the rest of the field.
Rounds on different courses
Holes are matched by hole number: the 7th against the 7th, whichever course it was on. Scores are compared against that day’s par, so a hole that is a par 5 on one course and a par 4 on another still compares fairly.
On a single course this makes no difference, because the lowest score is also the lowest to par. It only matters when the event moves.
1
Friday, North Links 2nd, par 4. You make 4. That’s level par, and it goes on your card.
2
Sunday, The Ridge 2nd, par 5. You make 4 again. This time it’s a birdie.
3
The birdie replaces the par. Same gross, but one under beats level, so your Eclectic 2nd is now −1.
Every round has to be 18 holes
Hole numbers only line up if every round has all eighteen. An event with a 9-hole round in it can’t run an Eclectic. Apart from that the courses can be as different as you like.
Gross and net
Most events run both, as two separate pools with their own entry. You can win one, both or neither.
Gross
Your best actual score to par on each hole. No strokes. This is the pool the low handicaps are playing for.
Net
Strokes come off each round first, using that day’s course handicap and that course’s stroke index. Then the best net score on each hole is kept. A hole where you got a stroke on Friday and none on Sunday is compared as the two nets they actually were.
WHY PER ROUND
Your course handicap changes with the course and the tees. Working out net on the day keeps every score what it was when you made it. A single tournament handicap on a blended stroke index would hand out strokes on holes that never got one.
Ties, missed rounds and the money
Ties split
No countback. Golfers who finish level share the places they cover. Two tied for 2nd with nothing paid below them split 2nd place between them.
Miss a round, stay in
You keep the scores you have, with one fewer chance to improve each hole. Nobody is dropped for missing a day.
Settled at the end of the event
Any hole can still improve until the last card is in, so nothing is paid until then. Entry is taken at signup with the other side games.
Scoring it without a spreadsheet
An Eclectic is simple to explain and tedious to work out. Fifty-four scores per golfer, compared hole by hole, twice if you run gross and net, and done again for the whole field every time a card comes in.
Halved does it from the scores you already post. There’s no second card. The tournament director switches it on at setup, and everyone’s Eclectic updates as they play.
Its own leaderboard
Gross and net on one tab, ranked live, with the projected prize beside each name.
Every kept score shown
Open any golfer to see all their rounds, with the score kept on each hole highlighted.
Told when a hole improves
The lock screen says so on the hole it happens, and where it leaves you.
Your best golf of the weekend, on one card.
Free for the group. Post gross scores and Halved keeps every golfer’s Eclectic, gross and net, from the first round to the settlement.
Questions people ask
Can you play an Eclectic over one round?
No. With one round, your Eclectic card is just that round. It needs at least two rounds to pick from.
Is there a net double bogey cap?
It isn’t needed. Only your best score on each hole counts, so a blow-up only matters if every round went wrong on that hole.
A par 3 on one course is a par 5 on the other. Is that fair?
Fair enough for a side game. Everything is compared to par, so a birdie is a birdie on either hole, and everyone in the field has the same pair of holes to play.
What if I miss a round?
You’re still in. You just have one fewer score to choose from on every hole.
How are ties broken?
They aren’t. Tied golfers split the places they cover.