What Is A T And F Competition In Golf?

A T and F competition splits the 18 holes into two groups: those holes whose numbers start with a t or an f, and those which do not. What happens next then depends upon which version of a T and F competition you are playing.

The simplest is that you only score on the nine holes which start with a T and or an F – thus 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15. (You still play the other holes, its just that they don’t count for scoring purposes.) The T and F competition format can be played with various type of game such as greensomes, fourball, Texas Scramble etc.

There are obvious disadvantages with such a method of playing. Prime among them is that it is not clear what is the point of playing the non-scoring holes except for practice and to get in the groove maybe. In particular, what is the point of playing the final three holes as you can’t even claim they are useful practice for what is to come when what is to come is merely more practice...

To avoid having holes that won’t count, a modified version of T and F has been created whereby it is played in teams of pairs. In this version, one member of the team scores on the T and F holes; the other player scores on the remainder.

However this can still means that players can know they are playing holes than have no relevance to their team score. A method to get round this is, rather than deciding in advance of the round which pair scores on the T and F holes, and who scores on 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 16, 17 and 18, this decision is left until after the round.

That way both players feel they are in the game for all 18 holes as, at that stage, they do not know whose score on the hole is the one which will count.