There are many variations on the basic game of golf. They are however, only variations of stroke play and match play. Stroke play allows you to compete against everyone else on the course that day while match play is a hole by hole contest between two players (or pairs).
Stroke play – the score for each hole is recorded on the scorecard and totalled at the end of the round. The player with the lowest score is the winner. If there is a handicap event, handicaps are deducted from the gross totals and the player with the lowest nett score wins the handicap section. Par and Stableford are variations of stroke play based on each hole.
Match play is a head to head contest between two players (or two pairs) and can be off scratch or using handicaps. A hole is won by the player who has the lowest score or nett score on that hole. The player who wins the most holes out of 18, wins the match. If a player is leading by a number of holes greater than the number of holes remaining, they have won the match.
Foursomes is a variation where two players from a team use one ball, hitting alternate shots.
Four ball is another team game, but each player has their own ball