IPC WORLD MATCH PLAY 2006 - THE RULES.

Why Match Play?

When it originated in Scotland centuries ago, golf was a match-play game, so it follows that the first specific rule addresses that form of play, where players compete directly against each other.

That confrontational nature makes match play more like other sports. In how many other games does a player compete against those he cannot even see, as is the case in a large stroke-play competition?

The Rules in match play, where each hole is a separate contest, tend to be less complex than in othergames. The concept of concessions works in match play because the only player who has an interest in what the player's score is for that hole, is present.

The head-to-head nature means that match play can sometimes be a friendlier game. Due to the fact that match play is a hole-by-hole contest, a player's inadvertent breach of the rules goes unpenalised if a claim is not made by his opponent before either player plays from the next tee. A definition of the most misused term in match play, "dormie," which refers to the leader who is as many holes up as there are holes left to be played.

The term is widely accepted as having come from the French verb dormir, to sleep. In other words, the player leading can almost fall asleep and still win the match as all he needs to do is halve one of the remaining holes. Even though the word appears to have negative connotations, remember that being dormie is most desirable.

We wish you some pleasant rounds..