A Ryder Cup compressed into one round. Four golfers, two a side, and three different formats over eighteen holes — six holes of fourball, six of foursomes, six of singles. Play it as a Saturday two-on-two, or run twenty of them at once as a team tournament.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Each six-hole segment is its own match. Fourball and foursomes are one match each; the singles split the group into two, so a round of four golfers produces four matches and four points. Win a match and your side takes its point, halve it and the point splits. 2½ wins the cup, 2–2 ties it.
ONE GROUP · FOUR POINTS
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Blue{{ blueScore }}
{{ redScore }}Red
2½ points to win the cup
FOURBALL · 1–6
Ann / Ben vs Rob / Wes
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Blue 2 up
FOURSOMES · 7–12
Ann / Ben vs Rob / Wes
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Halved
SINGLES · 13–18
Ann vs Rob
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Red 2 & 1
SINGLES · 13–18
Ben vs Wes
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Red 1 up
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Blue leads after two segments and loses both singles. Four matches, four points, and the cup decided on the last green.
4
golfers, two a side
3×6
holes, three formats
4
points per group
½
each for a halved match
3
only in a team event
The shape of the round
Four golfers split into two sides of two and stay in that pairing for twelve holes. The round is cut into three six-hole segments, and each segment is played under a different match-play format. Nothing carries between segments: a side that is four down after the fourball starts the foursomes all square.
The last segment is the one that changes shape. On the 13th tee the partnerships break up and the four golfers play two singles matches at once over the same six holes, which is why a group of four produces four matches rather than three.
Eighteen holes, four matches
The hole ranges are fixed and the same for every group.
HOLES 1–6
Fourball. Everyone plays their own ball and each side counts its better score. One point.
HOLES 7–12
Foursomes. One ball per side, partners alternating shots. One point.
HOLES 13–18
Singles. Two one-on-one matches running side by side. Two points.
Half the cup is decided on the last six holes
Two of the four points live in the singles, so a side can lose the fourball and the foursomes and still square the cup by winning both singles. That is deliberate. It keeps the weaker pairing playing for something on the 18th tee, and it is why the format survives a lopsided first twelve holes.
The three segments
All three are match play: you are winning holes, not counting a total. A side that goes more holes up than there are holes left has closed the match out — three up with two to play is 3 & 2, and the remaining holes of that segment are dead.
Fourball
HOLES 1–6
Four balls in play, every golfer holing out their own. The lower net score in each pair is that side’s score for the hole, and the lower of the two sides wins it. The gentlest of the three formats to start on, and the one where a high-handicap partner can win a hole on their own with a stroke.
Foursomes
HOLES 7–12
Alternate shot. Each side plays one ball, partners hitting every other stroke, and they alternate tee shots as well — one takes the odd holes of the segment, the other the even. Decide who starts before the 7th tee, because the order does not change once the segment begins. Six holes is about the right dose: long enough to matter, short enough that nobody has to apologise all afternoon.
Singles
HOLES 13–18
The pairs break up and each golfer takes one opponent for the last six holes. Two separate matches, two separate points, played in the same group off the same tees. Who plays whom is the captain’s call, or by index if nobody wants to make it.
Points and halves
Every match is worth one point. Win it and your side takes the point; end it all square and the point splits, half to each side. A match won 4 & 3 is worth exactly what a match won on the last green is worth — the margin never matters.
Four points on the table
One group of four, one round.
TO WIN
2½
more than half of four
TO TIE
2–2
a real result, not a failure
A HALVED MATCH
½ & ½
always, in every format
A point is not earned until its match is decided
Mid-round the interesting number is not how many holes have been played but how many points have been settled. Two matches closed out and two still running is a different position from three closed and one running, even at the same score.
Handicaps by format
The three segments do not take the same allowance, because they are not the same game. Fourball has four balls competing and needs damping; foursomes has one ball per side and needs the pair reduced to a single number; singles is straight. These are the USGA standards and they are what a group should use unless somebody has a reason.
Fourball
90% of course handicap, each golfer. Everyone plays a ball, so everyone carries their own strokes.
Foursomes
50% of the low plus 50% of the high, combined. The side plays one ball, so the side gets one handicap.
Singles
100%, off the low golfer in the match. Two golfers, one difference, applied on the hardest holes of the segment.
Strokes are allocated inside the segment, not across the round
Each match only owns six holes, so a golfer’s strokes for that match fall on the hardest of those six by stroke index. The same golfer can be getting a shot a hole in the fourball and two shots in their singles — different match, different opponent, different allowance.
Scaling it to a team event
The Triple Cup works as a standalone two-on-two, and it is the same game when twenty groups play it at once. Every group is two against two, every group produces four points, and all of those points go into one cup total. Sixteen golfers a side, eight groups, thirty-two points, and 16½ to win it.
That is the whole appeal for a one-day event: a Ryder Cup needs three sessions across two or three days, and this gets the same three formats, the same partnerships and the same singles finish into an afternoon.
Every group plays the same thing
The format owns all eighteen holes, so no group can be running a different game alongside it.
Four points per group
Multiply by the number of groups for the cup total, and halve it plus a half for the number that wins.
Tee times, not a shotgun
Segments are defined by hole number, so a group starting on the 9th would play them in the wrong order.
An odd number on a side
A group that cannot be filled two against two takes a phantom golfer: the short side borrows a teammate from another group, and that golfer’s card is scored into this match as well as their own. The group still produces its four points and the cup total stays whole. This is the one thing a team event can do that a standalone round cannot — with no other groups to borrow from, three golfers have nobody to fill the seat, which is why a standalone Triple Cup needs four.
Settle these first
Four decisions. Three of them take ten seconds on the first tee and the fourth is worth a conversation.
Who hits first in the foursomes?
One partner takes the odd holes of the segment and the other the even, and it holds for all six. Settle it on the 7th tee, not on the 8th.
How are the singles paired?
By index is the neutral answer and takes no negotiation. Captain’s choice is more fun in a team event, and in a friendly the two who have been needling each other for twelve holes usually pair themselves.
Are putts conceded?
This is match play, so a concession is part of the game and a conceded hole ends it. Worth saying out loud once, because groups that normally hole everything out will otherwise do it out of habit and slow the round down.
What does a 2–2 tie mean?
In a friendly it is a tie and the stake is returned. In a recurring event, borrow the Ryder Cup answer: the side holding the cup keeps it. Either is fine, but a cup that can end level needs the rule stated before it happens.
Scoring it without a spreadsheet
On paper the Triple Cup is four scorecards pretending to be one. Three different allowances, a pairing that changes on the 13th tee, two matches running at once over the same six holes, and a cup total in halves. In a team event, multiply all of that by the number of groups on the course and add the problem of nobody knowing the score until the cards come in.
Halved runs it as four matches. You post gross scores. It applies the right allowance to each segment, tracks all four matches, closes them out when they are decided, and rolls every group’s points into one live cup total.
Four matches, stacked
Every segment and both singles on one screen, each with its own state and margin.
The allowance is already right
90, combined, 100 — applied per segment without anyone doing the arithmetic on the 7th tee.
One live cup total
Points decided across every group, with the number it takes to win stated next to it.
Every match, where it stands
Score entry with the segment cards under it: the fourball closed, the alternate shot one up through one.
The only number anyone asks for
Two groups, eight points, and the four matches inside each one with what is still to come.
Three formats, four matches, one score that everyone can see.
Free for the group. Post gross scores and Halved handles the allowances, the four matches and the cup total.
What is the difference between fourball and foursomes?
Fourball is four balls: everyone plays their own and the side counts its better score. Foursomes is one ball per side, partners hitting alternate shots. The names are the single most confusing thing about the format, and they are worth getting right before the 7th tee.
How many points is a Triple Cup worth?
Four per group of four golfers: one for the fourball, one for the foursomes, and one for each of the two singles. In a team event every group adds another four to the same cup total.
Does a lead carry from one segment to the next?
No. Each segment is a separate match that starts all square, and the margin never matters — 5 & 4 and 1 up are both worth one point.
Can a Triple Cup use a shotgun start?
No. The segments are defined by hole number, so a group starting on the 9th would play foursomes over the wrong holes and finish the singles before it reached them. Triple Cup rounds go off tee times.
Can you play it with three golfers?
Not on its own — the format needs two sides of two, so a standalone Triple Cup takes four golfers. In a team event it works, because the short side can be filled by a phantom golfer: a teammate playing in another group whose card covers the missing seat. The group still produces its four points.
Do handicaps change between segments?
Yes. Fourball takes 90% per golfer, foursomes takes a combined side handicap of half the low index plus half the high, and singles is played at 100% off the low golfer in that match.
