Match play is one of the most exciting formats in golf, but what happens when you’re down a few holes and the round starts to feel out of reach? Don’t concede just yet. A “press” can change everything. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to inject new life—and a new wager—into your match, giving you a chance to claw your way back.
What is a Press?
Simply put, a press increases the stakes in a golf match.
A press starts a new match while the round is already underway, for the remaining holes, effectively upping the stakes. It gives players that are behind a chance to cut their loss. Presses makes match play more interesting as the holes left to play have something extra riding on the outcome.
Think of a classic Nassau game where initially there are three matches – the front 9, the back 9 and the overall. If you’re down 4 after 6 holes the front 9 match is over and holes 7 thru 9 only matter for the overall, which isn’t in great shape as you’re already 4 behind. A press for holes 7 thru 9 opens a window to claw back some of the front 9 loss and perhaps build momentum for the back 9 match to come. It also puts “pressure” (probably how the term originated) on both sides, because now the stakes are higher. Pressure on one side to maintain their gain and on the other to not go down further.
Nerves, money and golf, an intoxicating, adrenalin inducing mix, all enhanced by the press!
How Does it Work?
Presses come about after a few holes have already been played, essentially to give a side that is down room to recover or, if they don’t play better, risk falling further behind.
The press is a new match for the remaining holes and they start (or open) when one side has taken a lead. This feature definitely adds to the excitement of match play. Traditionally associated with Nassau (front/back/overall) type games, it increases the action by keeping every hole meaningful – with presses there’s always something to compete for. In addition to the basic front 9, back 9 and overall match, a press (or presses if more than one) commonly apply only to the front and back 9 matches.
When a press starts it’s a sub-match within the base match. Let’s say you’re in a 9-hole match and go down 3 after hole 7; the 9-hole match is over (3 & 2) and holes 8 and 9 are largely inconsequential. But with a press open, holes 8 and 9 give you an opportunity to recover (or conversely go down further). Or let’s say you’re only down 2 after 7. By winning holes 8 and 9 you can halve the base match and win the press, coming out ahead.
Once a press opens it runs together with the base match thru all 9 holes. For example, if a press begins after the 2nd hole the press match covers 7 holes, holes 3 thru 9. Depending on the score and format you choose, a 2nd press may come in a few holes later and even a 3rd or 4th one after that.
Press Value
While it can be thought of as a doubling of the stakes (and indeed many define it that way), most instances keep the press value at half that of the base match in order to give the base match more weight, as it should be since it covers more holes.
Presses Done Right: The 2-Hole Automatic Press
Make Every Hole Count for Something
Automatic presses are the fairest and most sportsmanlike way to go about tweaking match play.
Because a press is a new match within the existing match it’s important to agree on how they’ll come into play and to avoid argument obviously better to do so before teeing off. The most widespread convention is the 2-hole automatic. This method opens a press when one side gets a two hole advantage, initially in the base match and then in the latest press:
- 1st press opens when one side takes a 2-hole lead in the base match
- 2nd press opens when one side takes a 2-hole lead in the 1st press
- 3rd press opens when one side takes a 2-hole lead in the 2nd press
- 4th press opens when one side takes a 2-hole lead in the 3rd press
Note that a 2-hole swing or win streak doesn’t necessarily open a new press. Like if a press is open and you’re up +1/-1 and win the next hole you’re +2/0 then and then win another it’s +3/+1. The press itself has to get to +2 or -2 in order for a new press to open.
Press Notation
The base match is shown 1st followed by the press (or presses in order) with a slash mark “/” used to separate e.g. +2/0, -1/+1, +3/+1, 0/+2/0, -1/+1/-1, +3/+1/-1/+1
In the extremely rare case of winning every hole it could get to +9/+7/+5/+3/+1, which in some circles is also known as a “Kerby” because 97531 is the zip code for Kerby, Oregon. Clearly not as much fun for the recipient -9/-7/-5/-3/-1, wherever the match happens to take place.
Press Mechanics
In 2-Hole Automatic, because a press only opens after a 2-hole lead, there’s a defined set of what the score can be after every hole, basically following a tree pattern since every hole has 3 possible outcomes – win, lose or tie. This set is bigger than most players imagine and in fact within 9 holes you can have up to 4 presses and 93 different outcomes!
Note that presses often times offset one another. Once a press opens it runs for the duration but fortunately a new press can cancel out an existing one, as long as you don’t get faced and keep losing!
Takeaway – Presses clearly put a premium on playing the last few holes of a match well.
Press Example
Al and Bob team up in a match versus Chip and Dave:
Hole 1 tied, match is even, noted as E, 0 or blank on the card
Al/Bob win Hole 2, they are 1 UP (or +1)
Al/Bob win Hole 3, they are 2 UP so a press opens for holes 4 thru 9, noted as +2/0 (up 2 in the base match, 0 in the press as it just opened)
Chip/Dave win Hole 4 – Al/Bob are now only 1 UP in the base match and 1 DN (down) in the press, noted as +1/-1 (or -1/+1 from Chip/Dave’s point of view)
Al/Bob win Hole 5 – Al/Bob are back to 2 UP in the base match and even in the press (same as after hole 3), noted as +2/0 (-2/0 from Chip/Dave’s point of view)
Al/Bob win Hole 6 – Al/Bob are now 3 UP in the base match and 1 UP in the press, noted as +3/+1
Al/Bob win Hole 7 – Al/Bob are now 4 UP in he base match and have won it since there are only 2 holes left. They’re also 2 UP in the 1st press with a 2nd press now opening since the 1st press score got to 2, noted as +4/+2/0
Chip/Dave win Hole 8 – Al/Bob are 3 UP in the base match, 1 UP in the 1st press and 1 DN in the 2nd press, noted as -3/-1/+1 (from Chip/Dave’s perspective)
Hole 9 still means something even though the base match is over. In play are the two presses. If Hole 9 is tied the presses cancel out, noted as -3/-1/+1, but if Chip/Dave win 9 the 1st press is tied and they win the 2nd press (-2/0/+2), offsetting the base match loss. However if Chip/Dave lose 9 the 1st press is lost and the 2nd press is tied, adding to their base match loss (-4/-2/0). If the base match was for $10 and the presses $5, the damage is $10 (tie 9), $5 (win 9) or $15 (lose 9)
By opening a new press upon any 2-hole lead it gives each side multiple chances to gain or recover.
Old School (2016) Card with Presses
(Team Match plus Four Indies with multiple Presses)
This was a Team Match plus Four Individual Matches each one of which had a press or two open. One can easily see why automation might help things along here.
Also Read: How to Allocate Handicap Strokes in Golf
FAQs
What is a manual press?
As opposed to an automatic press with defined guidelines, a manual press opens randomly whenever the player or side that’s behind chooses. While it could be thought of as a strategic move, most groups prefer to play with more certainty regarding the possible outcome.
Why is a 2-hole automatic the fairest press?
You may have noticed we didn’t spend much any time on manual presses and here’s the reason. Random presses are prone to abuse like if one side happens to be stroking before the next hole they could take advantage. Or having lost badly on the previous holes try to make it back by springing a press on each of the last holes in a last ditch attempt to save face – an unsavory practice in a game amongst friends.
If you’re keen to play a game where the stakes indiscriminately vary perhaps try Hammer, Vegas or Wolf where you can double (2x) and re-double (4x) the stakes at will.
What is Doubling?
Doubling is another way to juice the action beyond presses by making the back 9 match worth double what the front was, including the press value. Say you’re playing a $10 Nassau (10 front, 10 back, 10 overall) with $5 presses. Doubling makes the back 9 match worth $20 and any presses therein worth $10. The option to double is normally at the discretion of the individual or team that lost the front 9 match.
What is an Aloha Press?
An Aloha Press is a last ditch effort to cut your losses putting up to half the amount guaranteed to the winning side in play for the final (18th) hole. This often happens when one side has gone down big and the risk of cutting the loss by 50% outweighs (in the player’s mind anyway) the risk of going down another 50%. It could be a fun if somewhat stressful way to end the round. More detail on Aloha mechanics will be provided in a future post.
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Final Thoughts
Obviously more presses give you more opportunities to recover and sometimes you only have to win one hole to cancel out a previous press or tie the match the press belongs too. Once again, presses place a premium on playing well in the final holes of a match, making match play truly exciting.
Given all the possibilities, presses can certainly get confusing, particularly if multiple ones open up, as will happen when there are a lot of back and forth in the match or by the same token, a steady beatdown. Go up 2 a 1st press opens, claw back 2 (or go down 2 more) a 2nd press opens, then a 3rd press or even a 4th. Instead of doing all the accounting, it’s easier to let Golf Crow track it for you – all you have to do is correctly enter the hole scores. Which you can of course also edit after the fact if a mistake was made and have everything adjust in an instant. If you place a premium on accurate scorekeeping and would rather focus on playing your best, Golf Crow is the perfect answer to tracking any match, especially ones with automatic presses.
Have fun, hit ‘em straight and not too often!