Tournament & Competition

Scorekeeping

Keep an accurate card without slowing the group.

Why it matters

Keeping the card is a small responsibility that goes wrong in predictable ways, and a disputed score at the end of a round is both awkward and avoidable. It is also, quietly, the best way to learn the vocabulary and to pay attention to the whole group.

How to do it

Confirm every player’s score out loud before leaving the hole, while everybody is still standing there.
Record it immediately rather than carrying two or three holes in your head.
Use a digital card where the event allows — it sums automatically and syncs live, which removes the arithmetic errors entirely.
Where there are two cards, check them against each other at the turn rather than at the end.
Include penalty throws as you record them, not afterwards.

Common mistakes

Carrying several holes in your head to keep pace.Record at the hole. It takes seconds and it is where almost all scoring errors come from.

Confirming scores only at the end of the round.Confirm at each hole while everybody remembers. A dispute on hole 18 about hole 6 is unresolvable.

Forgetting to add a penalty throw.Add it as it happens. Penalties are the single most commonly omitted stroke.

Key points

Confirm each player's score before moving to the next tee.
A digital scorecard (UDisc) speeds things up and syncs live.

The drill

Drill · Keep the card — 1 round keeping the card for the whole group. Volunteer to keep the card for a full round, confirming every score at every hole. You will pay more attention to the group and the round than you ever have, and the vocabulary stops being something you have to think about.

Watch: PDGA TD School | Episode 13 | Scorekeeping & Digital Scorecard — PDGA