Activities Sports & Athletics How to Play a 'Bowmaker' Golf Tournament Plus the Pro Tour Event That Was Called a Bowmaker Share PINTEREST Email Print redmal/E+/Getty Images Sports & Athletics Golf Basics History Gear Golf Courses Famous Golfers Golf Tournaments Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Cricket Extreme Sports Football Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Paintball Soccer Swimming & Diving Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Activities Learn More By Brent Kelley Brent Kelley is an award-winning sports journalist and golf expert with over 30 years in print and online journalism. our editorial process Brent Kelley Updated June 05, 2018 A Bowmaker golf tournament is one that uses 4-person teams, and on each hole two or more of the team members' scores are combined to create the team's score. Scoring is typically based on Stableford points in a bowmaker. The term "bowmaker" for this type of event is more likely to be encountered in the U.K. That name is rarely used in the United States, but the format is a familiar one. Among the similar formats are 1-2-3 Best Ball, Fourball Alliance, Arizona Shuffle and Low Ball/High Ball. All combine two or more team members' scores to form the team's score on each hole. The thing that typically distinguishes the bowmaker tournament from those other formats is the use of Stableford points. Example of Bowmaker Scoring One of the most common ways of playing a bowmaker is to combine the two best scores among the four golfers on the team on each hole. The two low balls count for the team score, in other words. If the best scores among the four team members on Hole 1 are a 3 and 5, then the team score is 8 on that hole. Simple. Just remember that bowmakers often use Stableford scoring. If the one you're playing does that, you'll be combining Stableford points, not stroke totals, on each hole. Variations Involve the Number of Scores Used Per Hole In addition to the simplest versions (two-low-balls-per-hole scoring), there are multiple variations in the number of scores per hole that count and that can be used in a bowmaker. One common variation is this: On Holes 1-6, only the one low score on the team counts;On Holes 7-12, the two best balls are combined for the team score;On Holes 13-18, the three low scores are combined on each hole. Another variation is to use the one low ball on par-3 holes, two low balls on par-4 holes and three low balls on par-5 holes. But a bowmaker always boils down to this: It's a 4-person-team event in which members of the team are playing their own golf balls throughout, and a specified number of the team members' scores count on each hole. The Former Pro Event Named 'Bowmaker Tournament' For nearly 15 years, ending in 1971, golfers on the precursor to the European Tour had a tour stop in England that was named "Bowmaker Tournament" or "Bowmaker Cup." The event was a pro-am that usually took place at Sunningdale Golf Club in England. It was a 36-hole tournament; in some years, it used a team format and in other years singles stroke play. It did not use the bowmaker format described above, so why it took that name is unclear. The English Bowmaker Tournament was played from 1957 through 1971 and among its champions were Hall-of-Famers Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle. Here is the list of winners: 1957—Bobby Locke/Frank Jowle1958—Bernard Hunt/Peter Mills1959—Bobby Locke1960—Peter Thomson1961—Bob Charles1962—Kel Nagle1963—Peter Butler1964—Neil Coles1965—Kel Nagle1966—Fred Boobyer1967—Peter Butler1968—Clive Clark1969—Tony Grubb/Brian Huggett1970—Neil Coles1971—Peter Oosterhuis It's clear from that list that the tournament was a well-liked one by the touring pros of the time, despite being only 36 holes and not offering much of a purse. Visit the Wikipedia page on the tournament for more info.