Footgolf Competition Rules and Scoring Explained: How to Run a Tournament for Your Friends

A footgolf competition is usually scored by stroke play: every kick counts as one stroke, penalty strokes are added for rule breaches such as kicking out of bounds, and the player with the lowest total for the round wins. To turn a group of friends into a proper tournament, agree on a short set of footgolf competition rules before the first tee shot. Use one scorecard system everyone trusts and decide your tie-break method in advance. If you want a knockout stage, seed a bracket from a stroke play qualifying round. This guide explains each of those choices and gives practical steps you can follow without any event-planning experience.

What are the basic footgolf competition rules?

The basic footgolf competition rules are simple. Each player kicks a football from the tee area towards a large hole. The ball is played where it lies, and the player continues kicking until the ball drops into the hole. The number of kicks, plus any penalty strokes, is that player's score for the hole.

Most organized footgolf follows the rulebook of a national association or the international federation. For a friendly tournament you do not need to memorize a full rulebook. You need everyone to agree on these core points:

• Ball: each player uses their own football, normally a standard size 5 ball, and marks it so it is easy to identify.
• Kicking: the ball must be kicked, not carried, thrown or dribbled. It must be stationary at the moment of each kick.
• Play it as it lies: after the tee shot, the next kick is taken from where the ball stopped, unless a rule or local rule allows it to be moved.
• Holing out: a hole is finished only when the ball has dropped into the cup.
• Etiquette: stay still and quiet while others kick, never kick while a group ahead is within range, and repair any damage you cause to the course.

If your course has its own posted rules, those apply on top of your tournament rules. Read them out at the briefing.

What is the teeing order in footgolf?

The teeing order in footgolf is the sequence in which players in a group take their first kick on each hole. On the first hole, decide the order by a draw or by the order printed on the scorecard. From the second hole onward, the common convention is that the player with the lowest score on the previous hole tees off first, followed by the next-lowest. If players tied on that hole, they keep their order from before.

After everyone has teed off, the player whose ball is farthest from the hole kicks next. This continues until all players have holed out. For a casual event you can allow ready play, where whoever is ready and safe kicks first. Announce it at the briefing so nobody feels the order is being ignored.

How do out of bounds and penalties work in footgolf?

A penalty in footgolf is an extra stroke added to a player's score for a hole when the ball goes somewhere it cannot be legally played, or when a rule is broken. The most common penalty situations are:

• Out of bounds: the ball crosses a boundary marked by stakes, lines or fences. The usual treatment is a one-stroke penalty. The ball is then replayed from near the point where it crossed the boundary.
• Water or other hazards: the ball enters a pond, stream or marked hazard. The usual treatment is a one-stroke penalty, after which the ball is placed outside the hazard near where it entered.
• Lost ball: the ball cannot be found within a reasonable search time. Treat it the same as out of bounds unless your local rule says otherwise.
• Kicking a moving ball, or the wrong ball: this normally costs a penalty stroke, and the player must then play their own ball correctly.

Exact relief procedures differ between rulebooks, so write your version down in one sentence per situation. For example: Out of bounds: add 1 stroke and place the ball within one step of where it crossed the line, no closer to the hole. A clear written sentence prevents most arguments on the course.

How does scoring work in a footgolf competition?

Scoring in a footgolf competition works like golf. Each hole has a par, which is the expected number of kicks for a good player. Each player records their actual number of kicks plus penalty strokes for every hole. The scores are added up at the end of the round.

Scores can be shown in two ways:

• Total strokes: for example, 62 kicks for 18 holes.
• Relative to par: if the course par is 72 and a player takes 68 kicks, the score is 4 under par, written as -4. A player who takes 75 is +3.

Both methods produce the same ranking. Relative-to-par numbers are easier to compare mid-round, when players have completed different numbers of holes.

How should scorecards be filled in?

Scorecards are most reliable when someone other than the player writes the score. Use this simple marker system:

1. Give each group one scorecard with all players' names on it.
2. Assign one player in the group as the marker. Alternatively, have each player mark the score of the player listed below them.
3. After each hole, the marker asks every player for their score, including penalties, and writes it down immediately.
4. At the end of the round, each player checks their hole-by-hole scores and signs the card. The marker signs too.
5. The group hands the card to the organizer before leaving the scoring area.

Decide in advance what happens if a card is wrong. A friendly rule is that the organizer corrects obvious adding errors. A hole score that is too low after the card is signed is changed to the correct score plus one penalty stroke.

Should you cap the maximum score per hole?

A maximum score per hole is a local rule that stops one bad hole from ruining a beginner's day and slowing the whole field. A common choice for friendly events is double par, so the maximum is 6 on a par 3 and 8 on a par 4. A player who reaches the cap picks up the ball, records the maximum and walks to the next tee. This rule is optional, but it is very helpful when experience levels in your group vary widely.

Which format should you choose: stroke play, match play or both?

Choose stroke play if you want one simple leaderboard. Choose match play if you want head-to-head knockout drama. A combination, with a stroke play qualifying round followed by a match play bracket, gives everyone a full round before the eliminations start.

Format	How the winner is decided	Best for	Main drawback
Stroke play	Lowest total strokes over the round	Any group size, half-day events, beginners	No head-to-head finale
Match play	Win more holes than your opponent; each hole is won by the fewest kicks	Small groups, competitive friends	Players are eliminated early
Stroke play qualifying + match play bracket	Qualifying ranks players; the bracket decides the champion	Full-day events with 6 to 16 players	Needs more time and planning

In match play, a match ends early when one player leads by more holes than remain. For example, a player who is 4 holes up with 3 holes to play has won. If the match is tied after the last hole, play extra holes until one player wins a hole.

How do tie-breaks work in footgolf tournaments?

A tie-break is the method used to separate players with the same score. Announce your method before the event starts. The two common methods are:

• Sudden-death playoff: tied players replay one hole, or a sequence of holes, until one player scores lower on a hole. This is best for deciding the winner or the final bracket place.
• Countback: compare scores over the last 9 holes, then the last 6, the last 3 and finally the last hole. The lower score wins. This is best for seeding positions further down the order, because no extra playing time is needed.

A practical combination is to use a playoff for first place and for the last qualifying spot in the bracket, and countback for every other tie.

How do you build a footgolf bracket from a qualifying round?

A footgolf bracket is a knockout draw in which players are seeded by their qualifying scores. The best qualifiers are kept apart until the later rounds. Follow these steps:

1. Rank all players by their stroke play qualifying score, lowest first. Break ties with your announced tie-break.
2. Decide the bracket size. Brackets work cleanly with 4, 8 or 16 players. If your number is in between, either cut to the nearest smaller size or use byes.
3. Calculate byes if you keep everyone in. The number of byes equals the next bracket size minus the number of players. With 12 players, 16 minus 12 gives 4 byes.
4. Give byes to the top seeds. Players with byes go straight into the second round.
5. Pair the remaining players highest against lowest, so the best remaining seed meets the weakest remaining seed.
6. Place seeds 1 and 2 in opposite halves of the bracket so they can only meet in the final.

Example: an 8-player bracket

With 8 qualifiers there are no byes. The quarter-finals are:

• Top half: Seed 1 vs Seed 8, and Seed 4 vs Seed 5
• Bottom half: Seed 2 vs Seed 7, and Seed 3 vs Seed 6

The winners of the top-half matches meet in one semi-final, the bottom-half winners meet in the other, and the two semi-final winners play the final.

Example: a 12-player bracket with byes

With 12 players, seeds 1 to 4 receive byes. Seeds 5 to 12 play an opening round:

• Seed 5 vs Seed 12
• Seed 6 vs Seed 11
• Seed 7 vs Seed 10
• Seed 8 vs Seed 9

In the quarter-finals, Seed 1 plays the winner of 8 vs 9, Seed 4 plays the winner of 5 vs 12, Seed 2 plays the winner of 7 vs 10, and Seed 3 plays the winner of 6 vs 11. Players with a bye can rest or help as markers during the opening round.

Example: a 6-player bracket

With 6 players, 8 minus 6 gives 2 byes, for seeds 1 and 2. The opening round is Seed 3 vs Seed 6 and Seed 4 vs Seed 5. In the semi-finals, Seed 1 plays the winner of 4 vs 5, and Seed 2 plays the winner of 3 vs 6.

How do you plan a realistic footgolf tournament schedule?

A realistic footgolf schedule is built from the time it takes one group to play one round, plus buffers for briefing, breaks, score checking and delays. Do not guess. Ask the course how long a typical round takes for a group of your size, or time your own group on a practice round.

1. Get the round time from the course for 9 and 18 holes, and confirm whether your groups can start on different holes at the same time (a shotgun start) or must start one after another from the first tee.
2. Set group sizes of 3 or 4 players. Smaller groups play faster. Larger groups mean fewer groups and less waiting between tee times.
3. Shorten knockout rounds. If a full 18-hole round per match would take too long, play knockout matches over 9 or 6 holes.
4. Run matches in parallel. Send each knockout match off at the same time from a different starting hole, if the course allows.
5. Add buffers. Plan time after each round for collecting cards, settling ties and announcing the next pairings.
6. Agree a latest finish time with the course and work backwards from it.

Example schedule for 12 players

This example assumes the course estimates about 1 hour for 9 holes for a group of 4, and that knockout matches can start simultaneously on different holes. Replace these figures with your course's real times.

Time	Activity
09:30	Arrival, ball marking, payment of green fees
09:50	Briefing: rules, penalties, scorecards, tie-breaks, schedule
10:00	Qualifying: 9-hole stroke play, 3 groups of 4
11:00	Cards in, tie-breaks settled, bracket posted
11:20	Opening round: 4 matches over 6 holes; seeds 1 to 4 rest or mark
12:00	Lunch break
12:45	Quarter-finals: 4 matches over 6 holes
13:30	Semi-finals: 2 matches over 6 holes
14:15	Final over 9 holes, with eliminated players watching or playing a consolation round
15:15	Results and prizes

Where should breaks go?

Breaks belong at the points where you need time anyway: after qualifying, while you check scores and post the bracket, and around the middle of the day for food. A break of 15 to 20 minutes between knockout rounds gives players time to walk back, drink water and find their next opponent. If you are behind schedule, shorten a break before you shorten a match. That keeps the competition fair for everyone.

How do you make the next round clear to everyone?

The next round is clear when every player knows four things: who they play, which hole they start on, what time they start and how many holes the match lasts. Communicate this in more than one way:

• One central board: draw the bracket on a whiteboard or a large sheet at the clubhouse and update it as soon as each result comes in.
• Group chat: post a photo of the updated bracket and a short message such as: Quarter-finals start 12:45. Anna vs Tom at hole 1, Ben vs Lea at hole 4, 6 holes each.
• Verbal call: gather players for one minute before each round and read out the pairings and starting holes.
• Result reporting rule: the winner of each match reports the result to the organizer in person or in the chat before leaving the course area.

A clear reporting rule is the most important of these. It stops the bracket from stalling while you wait for a missing result.

How do you handle changes on tournament day?

Changes on tournament day are easiest to handle when you decide the responses in advance and announce them at the briefing.

• A player withdraws before the bracket is drawn: rebuild the bracket with the new number of players. For example, if one of 12 players leaves, 11 remain, so the top 5 seeds get byes.
• A player withdraws during the knockout stage: their opponent advances by walkover, and the bracket continues unchanged.
• A late arrival: set a cut-off, such as the start of the player's group. A player who misses it either joins as a non-scoring guest or records the maximum score for the missed holes.
• Running behind schedule: reduce the remaining knockout matches from 9 to 6 holes, or from 6 to 3, and tell all players at once.
• Bad weather: if play stops for safety, decide in advance whether results stand on holes completed so far, or whether the current round is replayed later or settled by qualifying rank.

What should you decide before the tournament starts?

Before the tournament starts, write down your decisions on one page and share it with every player. That page should cover:

1. The format: stroke play only, or qualifying plus a match play bracket.
2. Number of holes for each round.
3. Teeing order rule and whether ready play is allowed.
4. Out of bounds, hazard and lost ball penalties, with the relief procedure.
5. Maximum score per hole, if used.
6. Scorecard procedure and what happens with wrong cards.
7. Tie-break method for first place, bracket places and other positions.
8. Schedule with start times, breaks and latest finish.
9. How pairings and results are communicated.
10. What happens with withdrawals, late arrivals, delays and weather.

With these points settled, your friends can focus on playing. Your footgolf competition will feel organized, fair and easy to follow from the first tee shot to the final.