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). Players who are away don't count — if a player above you is away, your reach passes over them to the next active rung.
- 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. One exception: if the winner isn't in another match within 48 hours of the result being confirmed, the loser may challenge them straight away (a challenge the winner passed on or that was withdrawn doesn't count). Once open, that stays open until the two play again. After a halved match the challenger takes the loser's role.
- If a player passes on your challenge (see below), for 14 days — or until your next match settles — they don't count toward your reach, exactly as if they were away, so you can challenge past them.
3 Accepting & Scheduling
- A challenge can't be ignored: the defender either plays it or passes on it. The job of finding a time falls on the defender: within 3 days, offer the challenger two or three reasonable options on different days.
- Passing. Can't take the match? The defender may pass — from the challenge email or their match card — with an optional word to the challenger. Nobody moves. The challenger may challenge again at once, and for 14 days the passer doesn't count toward that challenger's reach. Passes are public in the match history. The player on rung 1 can't pass.
- Play the match within 14 days of the challenge. Once you've agreed on a day, tap “We've set a date” in the challenge email (or set it on your match card): the ladder shows it, and your play-by extends to two days after that date (dates up to 30 days after the challenge).
- If the ladder hears nothing from either player, it sends a reminder after 48 hours (both players) and 96 hours (the defender). “Still working on it” pauses the reminders without moving the play-by.
- 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 a different opponent before challenging that same player again — unless the winner sits out of any match for 48 hours after the result, in which case the loser may re-challenge at once. |
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
Once the opening group has joined, the scratch ladder is shuffled into a random order — no rankings, no qualifying rounds, nothing to argue about. 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.