The Match Ladder
Match Ladder — Rules
Scratch format — gross match play, no handicap strokes. Draft v1, subject to committee approval.
The Ladder is an ongoing competition where every member competes on equal footing. Matches are played gross — lowest score on the hole wins it, straight up. You climb by challenging the players above you and winning head-to-head.
1 The Ladder
Every participating member occupies a numbered rung, from #1 at the top down to the last rung. The goal: climb as high as you can — and hold your rung when the challenges come.
2 Issuing a Challenge
- You may challenge any player ranked up to 2 rungs above you (e.g. #8 may challenge as high as #6, but not #5).
- Challenges only go upward — you cannot challenge someone below you.
- You may have one open challenge per ladder at a time. Settle it before issuing another.
- After a match, those two players cannot re-challenge each other until each has played someone else — no instant rematches.
3 Accepting & Scheduling
- A challenged player must accept — you can't decline. The job of finding a time falls on the defender: within 3 days, offer the challenger two or three reasonable options on different days.
- Play the match within 14 days of the challenge.
- Ignore the challenge or offer no workable times, and the challenger wins by forfeit.
- If the challenger turns down fair offers or backs out, the challenge is void and counts as a loss.
- Genuine deadlock (travel, illness)? The challenge is cancelled with no change and no penalty, and may be re-issued later.
4 The Match
- 18-hole match play is standard. A 9-hole match is allowed if both players agree in advance.
- Played under the USGA Rules of Golf and the local rules of the course you play.
- Hole-by-hole: lowest gross score wins the hole; tied holes are halved. No strokes are given.
5 Result & Moving the Ladder
| Outcome | What happens |
|---|---|
| Challenger wins | The two players swap rungs. The challenger moves up. |
| Higher player wins | No change. Position successfully defended. |
| Challenger loses | Must play (and win) a different opponent before challenging that same player again. |
6 Ties
If the match is all-square after the agreed holes, the tie goes to the higher-ranked player — the defender keeps the rung. To move up, the challenger has to win outright.
7 No-Shows on Match Day
Once a time is agreed, a player who fails to show forfeits the match — the result stands as if they had lost. A pattern of no-shows may be marked Inactive by the committee.
8 Going Away (Inactive Status)
Traveling, injured, or need a break? Mark yourself away on your Account page. While inactive you hold your rung but cannot be challenged — and can't issue challenges either. You return at the same position.
9 Pace, Conduct & Disputes
Keep a reasonable pace, call your own breaches honestly, and keep it fun, friendly, and competitive — in that order. Anything two players can't settle goes to the Ladder Committee, whose decision is final.
10 Recognition
The ladder is perpetual — it doesn't reset. From time to time (say, at year's end) we may recognize whoever holds #1 and the "Most Climbed" player — biggest jump from their starting rung.
★ How the Ladder Is Seeded
The opening scratch ladder is ordered by join order — the sequence in which members sign up. It needs no qualifying rounds, and because every match is played gross, the starting order says nothing about who ends up on top: from day one, anyone can climb past anyone by winning matches.