FootGolf Scoring Explained: Stroke Play, Match Play and Penalties

FootGolf is scored in kicks, and fewer is better. Beyond that, the FIFG Rules of the Game (2025 edition) define two competition formats, a set of penalties and a few scorecard rules that most guides skip. This is how each works.

Stroke play: lowest total wins

In stroke play, everyone plays the prescribed round or rounds and hands in a scorecard showing their kicks on every hole. The player with the lowest total number of kicks wins. It is the format behind most tournaments and the one that matches how golf is usually scored.

Match play: win the hole, not the round

In match play, two sides play against each other hole by hole. Whoever holes out in fewer kicks wins that hole. If both take the same number of kicks, the hole is halved.

Golf-style match play

The status of the match is described in golf terms: a side can be "holes up", the match can be "all square", and a side is "dormie" when its lead equals the number of holes left. The match is won once one side leads by more holes than remain. If it ends level, the rules let the committee add holes until there is a winner.

Football-style match play: win a hole, score a goal

The rulebook also describes a football-style version. Every hole is played, each hole won counts as a goal, and a halved hole scores no goals. The winner is whoever has more holes won after all 18, and the result is recorded like a football score. In the rulebook's example, one player wins 7 holes and the other wins 4, so the match ends 7-4.

Penalties and what they cost

• General penalty: one extra kick for breaking a rule, unless the rules set a different penalty
• Unfinished hole: if you do not hole out and do not correct it before kicking off from the next tee (or before leaving the last green), you score par plus 10, so a par 3 is recorded as 13. This does not apply where a putt or hole was conceded
• Withdrawing mid-round: you may score par plus 10 on the remaining holes if at least half the competition is complete. Otherwise you are disqualified

Scorecard rules that catch people out

The committee provides your scorecard, and both you and your marker are responsible for it. If you sign a card that records a hole lower than you actually scored, you are disqualified. If it records a hole higher than you scored, the higher score stands. The committee adds up the total and declares it final.

How ties are settled

The rules require the committee to announce in advance how it will settle a stroke play tie or a halved match. One option the rulebook describes is penalty putts from 5 to 10 meters: each player takes five alternate putts, followed by sudden death until someone wins. A blind approach is another permitted method.

What about casual rounds?

These are competition rules. A casual round with friends is usually simpler: count every kick, add any penalties, and compare the total to par. Our how to play guide covers par, birdies and bogeys, and our beginner tips cover the rules that cost new players kicks most often.