Scoring System at the Barracuda Championship: Players Get -1 For Bogeys and +2 For Birdies

The Barracuda Championship is all set to begin on August 5 and it is the only PGA Tour event with a unique scoring system. The Tahoe Mountain Club, California, is the host of this special event. However, the field has an absence of prominent players as most of them are competing at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which is taking place in Memphis. 

But Barracuda Championship has always been a talking point because of its unique scoring system. And for any naïve fan, the scoring system might look overwhelming at first sight. So here’s how the scoring system works at the Barracuda Championship.

Points structure for Barracuda Championship

The Barracuda Championship is the only PGA Tour event that uses the Modified Stableford scoring format that encourages aggressive play. In the traditional scoring method, the aim is to have the lowest score. However, in a Modified Stableford system, the goal is to have the highest score. 

Moreover, the Modified Stableford awards point based on the number of strokes taken at each hole. Here’s how the scoring looks like:

• Double Eagle – 8 points
• Eagle – 5 points
• Birdie – 2 points
• Par – 0 points
• Bogey– -1points
• Double Bogey or worse – -3 points

Strategy for this format

So the strategy in this format is simple, and it can be summed up as “Go for it.” This scoring format will reward risk-taking on the golf course. Like, if a player is facing carry-over water, which he may normally avoid, the Modified Stableford system forces a player to go for it as they are huge incentives if he succeeds. 

A birdie will be worth 2 points, while a bogey will be penalizing with -1 points. Eagles and Double Eagles offer huge payoffs at 5 and 8 points, respectively. Moreover, the worst a player can do is a double bogey, where he will be penalized -3 points. But it is interesting to note that if the ball is not holed within a double bogey, then the player may just pick his ball and carry on to the next hole since there is nothing worse than a double bogey. 

So, it is going to be an interesting weekend as this is not something that we are used to watching in golf. And the golfers who make fewer bogeys and make a lot of birdies or eagles are more likely to remain at the top of the leaderboard. 

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