How to play 4BBB Stableford in golf
4BBB, short for four-ball best ball, is a Stableford game for two pairs and a favourite at club days. You and your partner both play every hole, and only the better of your two Stableford scores counts. If your partner has a hole covered, your blob doesn’t matter.
- Players
- 4 (two pairs)
- Scoring
- Stableford points, better ball per hole
- Best for
- A four-ball, and mixed abilities
How it works
- Split into two pairs.
- Everyone plays their own ball and scores Stableford points with their full handicap: net par 2, net birdie 3, net bogey 1, worse 0.
- On each hole, the better of the two partners’ points counts for the pair.
- Add up the pair’s points: the highest total wins.
An example hole
A par 4, stroke index 1. Mike (handicap 0) takes 4 for 2 points; his partner Sam takes 3 for 3 points, so their pair scores 3. Laura (handicap 18) takes 5, a net par, 2 points; Chris (handicap 9) takes 5, also a net par, 2 points. Their pair scores 2.
Handicaps
Everyone gets their strokes on the hardest holes, as in normal Stableford. Club competitions often use 85% of each player’s handicap for four-ball; with mates, full handicaps are the usual way, and it’s what LiveBirdies uses.
Pick up when you’re out of it
Once your partner has the hole covered, or you can’t score, pick up. It keeps the game moving and costs your pair nothing.
Ties
Level on points? The usual tie-break is a countback: the pair with more points over the back 9, then the last 6, then the last 3, then the 18th hole.
Scoring 4BBB with LiveBirdies
Everyone enters their own score. LiveBirdies works out each player’s points and the better ball for each pair, shows both pairs’ points on every hole, and keeps the live leaderboard and countback for you.