Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf.¹ In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play², the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes.³ In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the course of the round, or rounds. Other forms of stroke play include Stableford, whereby points are gained based on hole scores, maximum score, in which there is a limit to the number of strokes that may be taken on each hole, and par (or bogey), where holes are won or lost against a target score on each hole.⁴

Although most professional tournaments are played using the regular stroke play scoring system, some notable exceptions exist. In match play, the player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents. Match play scoring is used in the WGC Match Play, the Volvo World Match Play Championship, and most team events, for example the Ryder Cup. A few tournaments such as the Barracuda Championship⁵ have used a modified Stableford system.⁶