Chapman Tournaments
Create and manage Chapman team tournaments — the two-player partner format where you swap drives, pick the better ball, then alternate shot to the hole.
Overview
Chapman is played by two-player teams. Both partners tee off, then they switch balls — you play your partner's drive for the second shot, and they play yours. After both second shots, the team picks the better of the two and plays alternate shot with that ball until it's holed.
The team records one score per hole.
Also known as the Pinehurst System, Pinehurst Foursomes, or American Foursomes.
Key Features:
- Two-player teams (fixed — this is what defines the format)
- Switched drives, then alternate shot from the third stroke
- One team score per hole — quick to enter, quick to follow
- USGA Chapman handicap: 60% of the low handicap + 40% of the high
- Real-time leaderboard with gross and net standings
- Flights, shotgun starts, skills contests, tournament branding
- Guests welcome — a partner without an account can still be added and scored
Premium Feature: Creating Chapman tournaments requires an active Premium subscription. All users can participate.
How a Hole Is Played
- Both partners tee off. Both balls stay in play.
- Switch balls. You play your partner's drive; they play yours.
- Pick the better ball. After both second shots, choose the one you want to finish with.
- Alternate shot to the hole. The partner who did not hit the selected second shot plays the third. From there you simply alternate until it's holed.
Worked example — par 4
- You and your partner both drive.
- You play their drive → lands on the fringe.
- They play your drive → lands in a bunker.
- You take the fringe ball. Because you hit that second shot, they play the third.
- They chip, you putt, they hole out.
- Team score: 5.
The rule people get wrong: the third shot is played by whoever's second shot was not selected. If you keep alternating correctly from there, the order takes care of itself.
How Scoring Works
Team Score
One gross score per team per hole — the strokes the team actually took. There are no individual scores to enter, so score entry is a single number per hole.
Handicaps
Chapman uses the USGA-recommended 60/40 allowance:
Team Handicap = (lower course handicap × 60%) + (higher course handicap × 40%)
Rounded to the nearest whole number (0.5 rounds up).
Example: an 8 and a 16
| Player | Course Handicap | Allowance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 8 | 60% | 4.8 |
| B | 16 | 40% | 6.4 |
| Team | 11.2 → 11 |
The app calculates this automatically from each player's handicap and allocates the strokes across holes by stroke index. Plus handicaps (better than scratch) are handled correctly.
NET vs GROSS
Choose the scoring type when you create the tournament:
- Gross — raw team scores, no handicap applied
- Net — the team handicap is applied, so teams of different abilities compete fairly
Both are shown on the leaderboard regardless; the scoring type decides which one ranks the field.
Chapman vs Other Team Formats
| Format | Team Size | Balls in play | Team score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapman | 2 only | Two, until the pick — then one | One per hole |
| Scramble | 2-4 | One, from the first pick onward | One per hole |
| Shamble | 2-4 | Everyone plays their own after the drive | Best 1 or 2 individual scores |
| Best Ball | 2-4 | Everyone plays their own throughout | Best 1, 2 or 3 individual scores |
Choose Chapman when you want a genuine two-person team test. Both partners contribute on every hole — you can't hide, and a good drive from the weaker player still matters because your partner has to play it.
How to Use
Creating a Tournament
- Go to Tournaments → Chapman and tap Create Tournament
- Step 1 — Details & Course
- Tournament name and optional description
- Tournament date
- Search for your golf course, then pick the tee
- Course rating and slope auto-fill from the course data; you can correct them if the course data is wrong
- Step 2 — Settings
- Maximum teams
- Scoring: Gross or Net
- Start configuration: shotgun time or first tee time
- Visibility: Private, Unlisted, or Public
- Tap Create Tournament
Team size isn't a setting — Chapman is always two players.
Flights, skills contests, tournament branding and custom rules are configured in Settings after the tournament is created, the same as every other format.
Adding Teams
- Open the tournament and go to the Teams tab
- Tap Add Team
- Name the team and add exactly two players — search your buddies or add a guest
- Repeat for each team, then assign playing groups if you're running a shotgun
Entering Scores
- From the tournament, tap Enter Score on your team
- For each hole, enter the team's gross score
- Strokes received and the net score display automatically
- Scores save per hole and sync live to the leaderboard
- Tap Complete Round when you're done
There's no drive selection to record — both partners always play a drive in Chapman, so there's nothing to pick.
Playing Over More Than One Day
A tournament can run 2, 3 or 4 rounds — the same teams, the same course, one round a day. Every round's score adds to the team's running total, so a team that is −2 on day 1 and +3 on day 2 sits at +1 overall. There is no conversion or normalisation: everybody plays the same schedule, so the totals compare directly.
Setting it up. Create the tournament as normal, then open Settings → Number of Rounds and pick 2, 3 or 4. The count is locked once play starts, and a round that has already been played can never be removed.
Running it. A multi-day tournament gets a Round Controls panel on the Manage tab:
- Start a round when the field is ready to tee off. Rounds run in order — Round 2 stays locked until Round 1 is marked complete, and the reason is shown right on the row.
- Complete a round once every team has posted. That does not end the tournament.
- Reopen a round you completed too early. Only one round can be in play at a time, so if another round is currently active you'll be asked to complete that one first. A finalised tournament can't reopen a round.
- Complete Tournament stays disabled until every round is complete, since finalising is what settles the results.
Scoring. Players scoring a multi-day tournament land on the round that's in play automatically, and the button names it — Enter Scores — R2 — so there's no doubt which card you're filling in. Each round is its own 18-hole card: day 2 starts fresh at hole 1 (or your shotgun hole) rather than continuing day 1's card.
Between rounds — when no round is in play — the Enter Scores button is replaced by a line telling you why, either "Round 2 hasn't started yet." or "All rounds are complete." (Single-round tournaments are unaffected; their button behaves exactly as it always has.)
The leaderboard gains a row of buttons: one per round, plus Total. A round view ranks that day's card; Total ranks the sum across every round, and a red dot marks the round still in progress. Golf convention applies — a team at −14 after one round leads a team at −9 after two; the "thru" column shows who still has golf to play.
Skills contests can run either way. By default a multi-day tournament awards a winner per round on each contest hole; switch it off in the contest settings to run one winner per hole for the whole event.
Results. The final PDF gains a column per round alongside the overall total.
Running Chapman as an Event
Chapman is available as an event type. Create an Event, choose Chapman Tournament as the format, and a linked tournament is created automatically when you publish. Team registration through the event works the same as the other team formats, with teams capped at two players.
Troubleshooting
"Who plays the third shot?"
The partner whose second shot was not selected. If you chose your partner's second shot, you play the third.
"Can we play Chapman with three or four players?"
No. The format is defined by two partners swapping drives, so teams are always exactly two. For larger teams use Scramble, Best Ball or Shamble.
"Is Chapman the same as Pinehurst?"
Yes — Chapman, Pinehurst System, Pinehurst Foursomes and American Foursomes all describe the same format. The app lists it as Chapman.
"Why is our team handicap lower than I expected?"
The 60/40 split intentionally gives less than the average of the two handicaps. A 60/40 of an 8 and a 16 is 11, whereas the plain average would be 12. That's the USGA recommendation for this format — alternate shot with a chosen ball plays easier than either player's own ball, so the allowance is tighter.
"Can a partner without an account play?"
Yes. Add them as a guest when building the team. They'll appear on the scorecard and leaderboard, and their handicap is used in the 60/40 calculation.
Related Documentation
- Shamble Tournaments - Shamble format user guide
- Best Ball Tournaments - Best Ball format user guide