One of the most popular formats for large events, you could call the 4-Person Scramble the great equalizer.  It’s great for charity events or corporate team-builders, because it allows people of all ages and skill levels to compete and contribute to their team’s success.  As an added bonus, this speeds up the pace of play, since newer golfers are often paired with more experienced players.  It’s a lot of fun, and due to its popularity, you can easily find a scramble game at your local course.

The Basics

Typically, teams are made up of 4 players, but this is not a steadfast rule.  You can have larger or smaller groups, depending on the circumstances of your event.  The rules are pretty simple.  Each member of a team will tee off to start.  After everyone has hit, the group decides who had the best shot.  Once this is decided, everyone on the team heads over to where the best shot landed.  Then, everyone hits their next shot from that spot.  The team repeats the process again until they finish the hole.  You record the team’s score and continue playing each hole the same way.  Simple enough, right?

Switching It Up

While the basic 4-person scramble format is pretty easy to follow, it can have its drawbacks.  If one player is far more skilled than their teammates, a lot of players may end up feeling left out.  More experienced groups may feel the format is too simplistic.  This is why many tournaments will have different rules in place to make things a little more fun for everyone.  Events with smaller, highly skilled teams, such as Pro-Ams, will often take a player’s handicap into account when scoring.  This complicates scoring for larger groups, but other rule changes can be put in place to make these events more interesting.  Requiring a certain amount of tee shots from each team member per round would have everyone striving for at least one great drive.  You can also make it so that teams can’t use the same person’s shot on consecutive shots.  This would make the game a lot more inclusive.

Strategy

The beauty of a 4-person scramble is that often enough, teams can utilize their varied skill sets to their advantage.  It works out nicely if one player is great with the driver, while another is great from the fairways or has a nice short game.  Perhaps you have a player that is clutch with a putter.  You also have to take your team’s strengths and weaknesses into account when you are playing a tournament that has changes to the basic format.  Sometimes the best shot, may not be the best shot to use in that particular situation.  Perhaps someone who is generally not good from the tee hits an above average drive.  It may not be the longest shot, but if you need to count at least one drive from each team member, it would be wise to play that shot instead.