A golf-match is sometimes played by a 'foursome' and, as the term implies, four persons engage in it, two playing against the other two. The play is in no particular different from that in a single above described, except that, after the tee-shot, each of the two players who arc partners take alternate strokes at the ball, and they drive off from the tees alternately.

A three-ball match is another variation in which three persons play each his own ball, and the game may be arranged in two ways. First, each person may play against each of the other two, counting in the usual manner. Such an arrangement does not, however, make a very good match - not so good as a single - and it is somewhat troublesome to keep a note of the state of the game, as, of three players (who may be called A, B, and C, for the purpose of illustrating what I mean), A may be two up with B and three down with C, while B is one up with C; and besides all this, it is a three sided match, and the adage about three being no company applies in golf as in other things. The second mode of arranging a three-ball match is for one person to play against the 'best ball' of the other two; that is to say: - Suppose A, B, and C play a three-ball match, in which A plays against the best ball of B and C: if A takes five strokes to a hole, while B and C each take six, A would win that hole; but if A takes five strokes, while either B or C also takes five and the other takes six or seven or any greater number, the hole would be halved: and again, if A as before takes five strokes, and either B or C takes only four, while the other takes more, then A would lose the hole. It will thus be seen that A plays against whichever of B and C takes the fewest strokes at any hole. This makes a capital match, if, in the case supposed, A is a considerably better player than both B and C. In a three-ball match of this description there arc only two sides, and it is a hard match for the single ball to win, because the other side has two chances against his one.

Four-ball matches are sometimes, but not very frequently, played; and in them sides are chosen, two balls playing against the other two, and the best ball on each side counting.

It is not always the case that a golfer can find an opponent of his own calibre, and when a good and an inferior player make a match, it is usual for the good player to give to the other 'odds,' depending upon their respective merits. This may be done in two ways. - first, by allowing him a certain number of holes of start, which they arrange between themselves. For example, A, a good player, makes a match with B, an inferior player, and allows him say live holes of a start: unless A beats B (counting actual play) by more than live holes he loses the match; if he beats him by live holes (counting actual play) the match is halved. B having that allowance: it' A beats B by four holes (counting actual play), B wins the match by one hole, in virtue of his allowance: but. on the other hand, if A finishes six up (counting actual play), then he (A) wins the match by one hole. The second method of giving odds is by giving strokes at certain holes to the inferior player. Thus A may allow B 'a stroke a hole,' that is to say, B's second at each hole will count as his first, and his third as his second, and so on; or the allowance may be a stroke at every alternate hole, which is called giving 'half one'; or it may be a stroke at every third hole, giving a ' third' - or any variation of this nature. Handicapping is more fully dealt with in the chapter devoted to that subject.

It will readily be understood that if club competitions were conducted on the lines of match play it would not be possible, when a large number of competitors enter, to finish the competition in less than three or four days. The competitors would require to be drawn against each other, and to play successive rounds of the links until, by a process of survival of the fittest, the ultimate winner vanquished all his opponents. To obviate this, club competitions, with the exception of club tournaments, are usually played under Medal Rules. In medal play it matters not how many or how few competitors there are, as each individual player counts the number of strokes he takes to each hole, and the total for the eighteen holes forms his score. The player having the lowest score, either actual or after deduction of a handicap, is the winner of the competition.

'Bogey' Competitions. - An innovation in competitions has recently been made by each competitor playing against what is termed a 'Bogey' score. The method of play is as follows: - The committee in charge of the competition fix a fictitious score for each hole, say four strokes for the first hole, six for the second, five for the third, and so on. This 'Bogey' score usually represents par play over the green, and it is made known before the competition begins, so that each competitor knows what he has to do at every hole. Each player counts his score at every hole, and if he holes out at that particular hole in fewer strokes, or in the same number, or in more than the appointed number, he wins, halves, or loses the hole to 'Bogey' as the case may be. At the end of the game the number of holes won from 'Bogey' are placed against those lost to 'Bogey,' and the player who is the greatest number of holes up or the fewest down wins the competition.

In competitions for prizes ties are invariably played off by the parties who have tied. In ties under 'Bogey' play the cards of the competitors who tie may, however, be compared against each other, and the one who is up on the others declared the winner. But this can only be done with fairness when these competitors have actually played out every hole.

The rule before stated in regard to the ball farther from the hole being played first, and as to the honour, ought to be strictly observed both in match and medal play, subject, as regards the latter, to the special rule for medal play $ (9). Although in medal competitions holes are not won or lost as in match play, the honour is invariably accorded to him who takes the fewest actual strokes to the previous hole.

Matches between Golf Clubs or Golf Societies are frequently played. In these each club selects from its best players a team of a certain number agreed on beforehand, and arranges the players of the team in their order of merit, the best players being placed at the top of the list. The player first on the list of the one team is matched against the player first on the list of the other team, and so on. Each couple plays the full number of holes, and at the end of the play each team counts up the number of holes by which its individual members have beat their opponents, and the club whose team has the largest number of holes to its credit is the winner.

It may be noticed that the Open Golf Championship is played under Medal Rules. At present the play extends over two days, thirty-six holes being played each day, and the player with the lowest aggregate score is the winner. On the other hand, the Amateur Golf Championship is played by matches. If the number of entrants be not such as will result in their being ultimately reduced to one, without byes at the later stages of the game, a sufficient number of byes is drawn at first to attain this object. The competitors are in the first stage drawn in couples, the defeated player of each couple being forced to retire at the finish of each stage, and the successful player of couple number one engaging the successful player of couple number two, and so on in successive stages until only one player remains, who is the amateur champion for the year,

Club Tournaments by matches are played on lines similar to the Amateur Championship, the only difference being that between each stage a week or more is usually allowed to elapse, so as to give the competitors ample time to play off their matches without inconvenience.