The Chapman Format Explained: Rules and Strategy

The Chapman format is a two-player partnership game where both golfers tee off, then swap and hit each other’s drive for the second shot. After those two second shots the team chooses the better ball, picks the other up, and plays alternate shot with the chosen ball until it is holed. It is also called Pinehurst, and the USGA lists it under that name in its handicap allowance tables.

That single-sentence answer hides a format that plays very differently from the alternate-shot and scramble games it borrows from. Here is exactly how a hole unfolds, how to set handicaps, and where the strategy sits.

The shot sequence, stroke by stroke

Every Chapman hole runs through the same five steps. The swap on the second shot is the part newcomers forget, so it is worth mapping out clearly.

Stroke	Who plays it	Ball in play
Tee shot	Both partners	Each plays their own drive
Second shot	Both partners, swapped	Player A hits B’s drive; Player B hits A’s drive
Selection	The team decides	Keep the better of the two second shots; pick up the other
Third shot	The partner who did not hit the chosen second shot	One ball
Remaining strokes	Alternate shot	One ball until holed

The rhythm to remember: two drives, two swapped seconds, then one ball played alternately to the cup. Because you play your partner’s ball on the second shot, a wild drive from either player is only half a problem, since the team still has the other drive to work with.

How Chapman differs from other pairs formats

Chapman gets confused with three neighbouring games. The differences decide how hard the format plays and who it suits.

• Scramble: both players hit every shot from the best of the two positions, all the way in. It is the most forgiving pairs game and the easiest to score low in. Chapman only gives you two balls in play on the tee and the second shot; after that you are down to one.
• Best-ball (four-ball): each golfer plays their own ball for the whole hole and the team counts the lower score. Nobody ever swaps or shares a ball. Our four-ball vs foursomes guide breaks that pairing down in full.
• Foursomes (alternate shot): partners share one ball from the tee and alternate every stroke. Chapman is gentler because both players drive and both play a second shot before the single-ball phase begins.

Set on a scale of difficulty, Chapman sits between the safety of a scramble and the exposure of straight foursomes. You get two attempts at the two most important shots, then the discipline of alternate shot for the finish.

Setting handicaps for Chapman

Because both players contribute to every hole, Chapman uses a blended team handicap rather than full strokes for each golfer. The USGA recommended allowance is 60% of the lower partner’s Course Handicap plus 40% of the higher partner’s Course Handicap. Add the two figures together first, then round the combined total.

Take a pair with Course Handicaps of 8 and 18. The low partner contributes 60% of 8, which is 4.8. The high partner contributes 40% of 18, which is 7.2. Added together that is 12.0, so the team plays off 12. The lower-handicap player is weighted more heavily, which reflects how often their ball carries the team.

If you are still working out your own number before you pair up, our golf handicap explained and how to determine your handicap guides cover the Handicap Index and Course Handicap steps that feed into this calculation.

Modified Chapman and common variations

Committees run several tweaks under the “modified Chapman” label. The core swap-and-select structure stays, but one rule changes:

• Choose-the-drive Chapman: the team decides which drive to play before hitting the second shots, rather than both players hitting a swapped ball. This speeds up play and rewards the better driver.
• Capped-score Chapman: a maximum score per hole (often double bogey net) keeps a blow-up hole from wrecking the card, useful in charity events with mixed abilities.
• Greensomes-style start: both drive, the team picks the better drive, then plays alternate shot from there with no ball swap. Strictly this is greensomes, but it is frequently marketed as a modified Chapman.

Whatever the variation, the 60/40 allowance is the default unless the committee posts a different local rule on the tee sheet.

Strategy: play to the swap

The winning Chapman mindset is built around the second shot, not the drive. Since your partner plays your ball on the approach, the smart tee strategy is for one player to swing freely for position while the other plays a controlled drive into the fairway. That guarantees the team at least one ball your partner can attack from a clean lie.

On the selection, resist the reflex to keep the ball nearest the pin. Keep the one that leaves the easier next shot for the player who has to hit it. A ball 15 feet from the hole on a slick downhill putt can be a worse keep than one 25 feet away on an uphill line, especially when your partner is the weaker putter and hits next.

Order matters too. Decide before the round who takes odd holes and who takes even, and who putts first when the team is scrambling, so the alternate-shot phase never stalls while you argue over whose turn it is.

Is Chapman worth running at your club?

Chapman rewards pairs who trust each other’s second shots and communicate about the keep. For a club looking to move beyond the same old scramble, it adds real strategy without the punishing exposure of full foursomes. Set the 60/40 allowance, pair a bomber with a steady iron player, and it produces closer matches than a best-ball nearly every time.

If you are choosing a format for your next member-guest or society day, run Chapman for the field that wants a genuine test and save the scramble for the pure fun event. Pair it with our four-ball vs foursomes explainer so first-timers arrive knowing which ball to hit and when.