Golf Pool Formats and Rules
The five formats private golf pools actually use are the tiered draft, one and done, pick X count Y, salary cap, and head-to-head match play. They differ in how you choose golfers and how scores are totalled, and the right one depends mostly on how much work the commissioner wants to do each week.
Formats compared
| Format | How you pick | Best for | Commissioner effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiered draft | N golfers from each ability tier | Recurring weekly pools among friends | Medium — tiers must be set per event |
| One and done | One golfer per week, never reused | Season-long play with a small group | Low |
| Pick X, count Y | Any X golfers, best Y count | One-off events like the Masters | Very low |
| Salary cap | Any golfers within a budget | Groups who like the optimising | High — prices per event |
| Match play | Head-to-head against one opponent | Small, evenly matched groups | Medium — fixtures each week |
Tiered draft
A tiered draft splits the field into bands by ability and requires each member to take a set number from each band. It is the most popular format for a private pool because the tiers force variety: without them, everyone picks the same four favourites and the pool decides itself.
Golfers are not exclusive — two members can hold the same player. That is what makes it workable for a group that will never all be online at once.
Covered in detail in how a tiered golf pool works.
One and done
In one and done you pick a single golfer each week and can never pick that golfer again for the rest of the season. Scoring is usually prize money earned, sometimes finishing position.
The strategy is entirely about when to spend your best options. Burning Scheffler in January means not having him at Augusta. It is the lowest-effort format to run and the easiest to explain to someone who has never played.
Pick X, count Y
Every member picks any X golfers from the whole field with no tier restrictions, and the best Y scores count. It takes about a minute to set up, which is why it dominates one-off office pools around the majors.
The weakness is concentration: with no tiers, the top handful of golfers appear on nearly every entry, so the pool is often decided by whichever favourite happened to win rather than by anyone's judgement.
Salary cap
Each golfer carries a price and every member fills a roster within a fixed budget. It produces the most genuine strategy of any format, and it is by far the most work to run, because someone has to price the field every single week.
Match play
Members are paired off each week and only the head-to-head result matters, usually on top of a season-long table. It suits small groups of similar ability and creates a rivalry that the pooled formats do not.
Scoring systems
Strokes to par
Add up your counting golfers' scores relative to par; lowest total wins. The most common system, and the most intuitive, because it is the same number shown on the television leaderboard.
Finishing position points
Award points by finishing place — 100 for a win, 60 for second, and so on. Better for season-long tables because the numbers stay comparable across events with wildly different scoring conditions.
Prize money
Score by the dollars each golfer earned. Self-weighting for tournament importance, but heavily skewed by a single win, and it quietly makes majors worth several normal events.
Tiebreaker rules that actually work
A tiebreaker should be a single number submitted before play begins, and it must be independent of the roster. The standard is the winner's final score to par. Closest without going over is a common variant, though pure closest is easier to explain.
Avoid tiebreakers that reward the same picks twice, like total birdies by your own golfers. Whoever already had the best team tends to win those too, which is not a tiebreak so much as a second helping.
Payout structures: how many places should pay?
| Pool size | Places paid | Typical split |
|---|---|---|
| 4–8 | 1–2 | 100 or 70 / 30 |
| 9–15 | 2–3 | 60 / 30 / 10 |
| 16–30 | 3–4 | 50 / 25 / 15 / 10 |
| 30+ | 4–5 | 40 / 25 / 15 / 12 / 8 |
The general rule is to pay roughly the top 20% of entrants. Paying too few makes a long season feel pointless for everyone outside the top two; paying too many makes winning worth so little that nobody sweats Sunday.
Which format should you pick?
- A group of friends playing most weeks — tiered draft.
- A season-long game with minimal admin — one and done.
- A single office pool for the Masters — pick X, count Y.
- A group that enjoys the optimising — salary cap.
- Six or eight people who know each other well — match play.
The Club runs tiered pools.
Tiers generated per event and edited by you, automatic pick locking, live scoring to par, best-N counting, and buy-ins tracked so nobody has to chase anyone. Free during the beta, on iPhone and the web.
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