Playoff (golf)

Playoff (golf)

A playoff in the sport of golf is an extra hole, or holes, played when, at the completion of regulation play in a competition or tournament, there is a tie and it is desirable to determine an outright winner.

Playoffs are a common occurrence in professional tournaments when the players are readily available to participate at the completion of normal play. However in most amateur tournaments, and particularly in club competitions, that is not the case and other methods may be used to determine the winner, such as scorecard count back, whereby the player with the lowest cumulative score over the last 18, 9, 6, 3 or 1 hole(s) is declared the winner.

There are three types of playoff that are used in golf tournaments. They are a full 18-hole playoff, sudden death, and an aggregate playoff. The first is normally scheduled for the following day, whereas both the others are usually played directly after completion of the final round.